Custom repository doesn't read my composer.json?

Question

I've forked https://github.com/jasonlewis/basset and is now trying to add my fork to my project. But it doesn't seem to read my forked composer.json file after I've run composer update, why? What am I doing wrong?

I've added this repository after require: {}:

"repositories": [
{
    "type":"package",
    "package": {
      "name": "marwelln/basset",
      "version":"master",
      "source": {
          "url": "https://github.com/Marwelln/basset.git",
          "type": "git",
          "reference":"master"
        }
    }
}
],

My forked composer.json looks like this (nothing is changed from the original except name):

{
    "name": "marwelln/basset",
    "description": "A better asset management package for Laravel.",
    "keywords": ["assets", "basset", "laravel"],
    "license": "BSD-2-Clause",
    "authors": [
        {
            "name": "Jason Lewis",
            "email": "jason.lewis1991@gmail.com"
        }
    ],
    "require": {
        "php": ">=5.3.0",
        "kriswallsmith/assetic": "1.1.*"
    },
    "require-dev": {
        "mockery/mockery": ">=0.7.2",
        "illuminate/config": "4.0.*",
        "illuminate/console": "4.0.*",
        "illuminate/filesystem": "4.0.*",
        "illuminate/log": "4.0.*",
        "illuminate/routing": "4.0.*",
        "illuminate/support": "4.0.*",
        "symfony/process": "2.3.*"
    },
    "suggest": {
        "aws/aws-sdk-php": "Deploy static assets directly to your S3 buckets.",
        "rackspace/php-cloudfiles": "Deploy static assets directly to your Cloud Files container."
    },
    "autoload": {
        "psr-0": {
            "Basset": "src/"
        },
        "classmap": [
            "tests/Cases/FilterTestCase.php"
        ],
        "files": ["src/helpers.php"]
    },
    "extra": {
        "branch-alias": {
            "dev-master": "4.0-dev"
        }
    },
    "minimum-stability": "dev"
}

With this, the Basset namespace isn't registered in autoload_namespace.php nor am getting "kriswallsmith/assetic": "1.1.*", but if I use the original require: { "jasonlewis/basset" : "dev-master"} it adds it just fine. What is it I'm missing?

Answer 1

You've done some things that are considered not the best practice with Composer.

First of all, you should try to avoid including repositories of the type "package" with all the details of where to find the stuff you need. This will become a maintenance nightmare in the long run. Packages should only be included in your composer.json if you are absolutely sure the maintainer of the software will not include a composer.json file himself. The documentation states on http://getcomposer.org/doc/04-schema.md#repositories:

package: If you depend on a project that does not have any support for composer whatsoever you can define the package inline using a package repository. You basically just inline the composer.json object.

This case does not apply here, because you maintain the repository to be used yourself and should be able to put in a composer.json.

Now the process of forking and extending an existing library and then using that within your code is supported by Composer, but not the way you did it. First of all, you SHOULD replace the name of the vendor, because you take over that role, and your repository and the software should be distinguishable from other packages. So it is the correct thing to rename "jasonlewis/basset" into "marwelln/basset" and only use that name if you want to reference your own version.

Now the problem might be that if you forked a popular library, and are using other libraries that do require the original, you'll end up adding both packages. That's what the "replace" field is for: You can state in your own composer.json that you think your package is able to replace the original software. Some details are here: http://getcomposer.org/doc/04-schema.md#replace

I gave a detailed answer on how "replace" works here: How does the "replace" property work with composer?

In the end, I think you should do the following (and you still can change that):

Clone the original, change the composer.json to bear your own vendor name as the "name" and add a "replace" with the version of the original software you are changing. You should probably be strict about the version, because you really only replace the version you know about. If later you still know you replace a newer version, you can change the "replace" info.

Then you have to add your own repository as you did, and require the software name with your own vendor name.

You probably did most of that at some point in time, but the step with adding the replacement info is the missing link.

Answer 2

I changed repository to this:

"repositories": [
{
    "type":"vcs",
    "url": "https://github.com/Marwelln/basset"
}
],

And then used jasonlewis/basset instead of marwelln/basset. It's now working as it should.