CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpgittestingconfig
Davide Borsatto
Davide Borsatto

Reputation: 103

How to handle config files in PHP library

I wrote a small library (https://github.com/dborsatto/php-giantbomb) that acts as a wrapper for an API. In order to work, the library needs 2 basic configuration options:

What is the suggested way to handle these two files?

The API key is of course personal so it can't be added to the repository. But by doing so, I can't write a functional test for the library as a whole, thus limiting myself to only unit tests for the single parts. Do I give up the functional tests altogether or is there a way to make this work?

About the other config, basically it's a YAML file (https://github.com/dborsatto/php-giantbomb/blob/master/api_config.yml) that includes the base API endpoint, and configuration for each data repository. At the moment this is handled by a Config class that is decoupled in a way that the user must write glue code and inject data into the Config. This way it's easier to test, but as a whole I feel like it's creating a bigger disadvantage than just letting the Config class load the file, parse it and behave accordingly. What is the best way to do this? At the moment there are no tests in the repository, but I'm working on it (along with some code refactoring).

Upvotes: 0

Views: 781

Answers (1)

user5192753
user5192753

Reputation:

I would suggest to leave the configuration outside your library; I've done something similar for the Mandrill mailing service, where I left to the developer the management of the configuration (I was working in a Symfony 2 project). For me there is no Config class, just the service constructor that accepts the API key and an (optional) array of options:

public function __construct($api, $options = array())
{
    // My code
}

When I need to use my service inside the Symfony 2 application, I take the needed parameters and configuration from a place (Symfony's config files) external to my service; this way I can decouple the library from the configuration. Of course the service contructor throws an exception if the mandatory parameters are missing.

Upvotes: 1

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