Laravel extend package class

Question

I added a cart package to my Laravel install, but I need to add a method to the class. If I modify the class directly, will my changes be overwritten when I update to a newer version? If so, what's the best method for modifying a package without breaking future updates?

Thanks for the help! -JB

Answer 1

I don't know if there is any general process to extend Laravel 5.0 package from vendor directory and I am sure this may be different for different packages. But saying that, I faced the same issue when I wanted to extend this cart . But I managed it somehow and steps I followed are below. I hope it may give some hint.

1. Install the package

   composer require "gloudemans/shoppingcart":"~1.3"
   

2. Create directory app/Services/Cart and a new class MyCart under it

   <?php
   
   namespace App\Services\Cart;
   
   use Gloudemans\Shoppingcart\Cart;
   
   class MyCart extends Cart
   {
   
   }
   

3. create CartServiceProvider under app/Providers directory,

   <?php namespace App\Providers;
   
    use App\Services\Cart\MyCart;
    use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
   
   class CartServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider {
   
   /**
    * Bootstrap the application services.
    *
    * @return void
    */
   public function boot()
   {
       //
   }
   
   /**
    * Register the application services.
    *
    * @return void
    */
   public function register()
   {
       $this->app['mycart'] = $this->app->share(function($app)
       {
           $session = $app['session'];
           $events = $app['events'];
           return new MyCart($session, $events);
       });
   }
   

   }

4. Create MyCartFacade under app/Services/Cart directory,

   <?php
   
   namespace App\Services\Cart;
   
   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Facade;
   
   class MyCartFacade extends Facade {
       protected static function getFacadeAccessor() { return 'mycart'; }
   }
   

5. in config/app.php add following in providers array

   'App\Providers\CartServiceProvider'
   

   and following in aliases array

   'MyCart'      => 'App\Services\Cart\MyCartFacade'
   

   That's it. Now in my controller I placed following code. add and content are method in base Cart class.

   \MyCart::add('293ad', 'Product 1', 1, 9.99, array('size' => 'large'));
   echo '<pre>';
   print_r(\MyCart::content());
   exit();
   

   and following is the output,

   Gloudemans\Shoppingcart\CartCollection Object
   (
       [items:protected] => Array
           (
               [0f6524cc3c576d484150599b3682251c] => Gloudemans\Shoppingcart\CartRowCollection Object
                   (
                       [associatedModel:protected] => 
                       [associatedModelNamespace:protected] => 
                       [items:protected] => Array
                           (
                               [rowid] => 0f6524cc3c576d484150599b3682251c
                               [id] => 293ad
                               [name] => Product 1
                               [qty] => 1
                               [price] => 9.99
                               [options] => Gloudemans\Shoppingcart\CartRowOptionsCollection Object
                                   (
                                        [items:protected] => Array
                                           (
                                               [size] => large
                                           )
   
                                   )
   
                               [subtotal] => 9.99
                           )
   
                   )
   
           )
   
   )
   

Now if you want to add or override functionality simply put that function in MyCart class.

The good thing is, you can update the base package.

I hope it helps.