The autoload module - is utility. It allows other modules to leverage PHP5 class autoloading capabilities in a unified fashion.

Requirements:

PHP 5.1.2 for Drupal 6 (unsupported)
PHP 5.3.0 for Drupal 7 (7.x-1.x to 7.x-2.x transition)

You do not need this module unless you are developing a module that makes use of classes or you are installing a module that depends on this one.

PLEASE, READ THE DOCUMENTATION BEFORE USAGE!

How it works?

The module scans all Drupal infrastructure, generates a class map with all possible namespaces and stores it to DRUPAL_ROOT . '/autoload.php' (path can be changed by modifying the autoload_file Drupal variable). If a file is not writable (which must not be the case during development) then a class map will be dumped into the database.

Note, that after downloading projects via Drush (e.g. drush dl ctools_api pinmap) the autoloading class map will be automatically rebuilt (only once, no matter how many projects were downloaded).

How to correctly add new classes/traits/interfaces?

Well, since the autoloading - it is a generated static file, you need to update it once you adding new classes, traits or interfaces. Ideally, after removal as well in order to not keep outdated entries inside of the map thereby prevent its expansion.

In short: added a new file? Execute drush aur and continue working.

How to correctly remove a module?

First of all, it's applies only to modules, which use autoloading. If you decided to remove the project from filesystem then after the action execute the drush autoload-rebuild or drush aur to rebuild the autoloading class map.

Usage

You able to use one or both of known autoloading standards - PSR-0 and PSR-4.

Some of the projects using autoloading:

Drupal way

Add autolaod = TRUE inside of module's *.info file and just place the objects inside of lib/Drupal/YOUR_MODULE_NAME and/or src directories.

; All namespaces must be followed by "Drupal\YOUR_MODULE_NAME".
autoload = TRUE

Have a look at tests as an example.

Custom namespaces

Please, avoid usage of custom namespaces due to their non-standardisation. They can cause a pain in the ass and supports only for backward compatibility.

Configure the autoload directive as an array where keys are subdirectories inside of the module directory and values - object namespaces. As many as needed directories and namespaces can be added in this way.

PSR-0

; All objects, namespace path of which starts from "CTools",
; will be searched inside of "<MODULE_PATH>/psr-0".
autoload[psr-0][] = CTools

PSR-4

; All objects, namespace path of which starts from "CTools\Plugins",
; will be searched inside of "<MODULE_PATH>/psr-4".
autoload[psr-4][] = CTools\Plugins

PSR-4 (single namespace)

Take into account the trailing slash! It must be at the end of global namespace to use PSR-4 standard. It looks similar to PSR-0, but that slash telling that it's not true.

; All objects, namespace path of which starts from "Example",
; will be searched inside of "<MODULE_PATH>/psr-4-single".
autoload[psr-4-single][] = Example\

Have a look at tests as an example.

Autoload

Issues

Website inaccessible after enabling autoload moduleActiveCode Created over 5 years ago

Website inaccessible after enabling autoload module
Active
Code
Created over 5 years ago