Question

I was wondering if it is advisable to use php .ini files to set up a framework. I have like 10 settings to store and since now I was doing that with constants. But I came across these .ini files. You can parse them and get all the variables you need.

Is is advisable to use .ini files to store framework configurations? How should I store them to make them global? Registry class?

Answer 1

Yes it’s perfectly OK and very common in fact. I might recommend that you store them in a configs folder. E.g. /path/to/docroot/configs (or “config” if you prefer)

You could easily parse them using Zend_Config_Ini http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.config.adapters.ini.html

You don’t have to use the entire framework to use that utility. It’s great and I would recommend it to anyone.

$config = new Zend_Config_Ini('/configs/app.ini');

And yes storing it in a registry class is a great idea. The Zend Framework also has Zend_Registry if you wanted to use that, or just make your own.