Question

The challenge:

I want to modularize my library folder in my zend framework app. This is fine, if you want to put everything in the same namespace such “App_.” But the problem comes in when you have a dozen packages such as a SignUp package, ACL Package, Navigation Package, Foo Package etc. Now each packages has some view helpers, some controller plugins, some action helpers plus some other base classes. You could add each view helper path individually, but that could junk up your application.ini file/ bootstrap.

So the question is, is anyone aware of ‘Plugin Package’ loader for ZF?

To clarify, it would be nice to have a resource plugin that you pass the package name, it adds the namespace, registers some default options like helper paths and then you can configure it to add helpers to Action Helper brokers. Each plugin package might have to have its own ini file or an init class that where the programmer could initialize the plugin package. Any thoughts or knowledge of something like this would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Your question is difficult to find a solution to. ZF doesn’t seem to be used in the manner you wish.

For example you want the following packages

1. Navigation
2. ACL
3. Sign Up

These are all completely separate and don’t all ‘plugin’ to ZF in a similar manner.

1. Navigation needs to be stored and built for each request that needs the package, the navigation object then needs to be used in Zend_View objects or perhaps not. What happens when the navigation is referenced in a view but it doesn’t exist?
2. The ACL package is so specific, it integrates into ZF in a lot of different ways, it needs a Zend_Controller_Plugin, it needs a way of meaningful way of storing and building the Zend_Acl object for querying on an application to application basis.
3. Sign Up needs a controller, an action and a form which is passed to Zend_View and the form needs to be process. This then needs to be plugged into your ACL object, presumably a database and perhaps various other parts of your site it it requires more specific permissions that fall outside of the use for ACL

Its not impossible to do what you want, but there must be a better way. It almost sounds like your trying to build a CMS with optional, plug-able packages?

The ACL issue I have resolved by having a Library of controllers, helpers, models, forms, etc. A Zend_Controller_Plugin runs and attempts to log in the user, this plugin is run for every app I create, it works well uses an ACL object format which I have used for a while.

For Sign Up I have a RegisterController in my Library, if my application requires registration it has its own RegisterController which extends the RegisterController in the Library. If the application doesn’t need registration then it doesn’t have its own RegisterController.

I hope that helps, I really think that doing this in the abstracted way suggested isn’t worth it and will never be so solid and tight you can truly rely on it because each application is specific.