PHP class extending another class outside of folder

Question

I have a general class which i like to have it extended by other classes.

I have my directory set up with folders and class files inside of those folders for example

Classes/users/users.class.php classes/general/general.class.php

I have the users class extending the general class but since they are in different folders I guess the general class is not found.

class users extends general {

}

Can someone please help me out figuring this out.

I should also mention i am using autload function

The reason I want to use the extend is to use $this-> call in my users class which comes from general — Yeak, Jun 26 '12 at 01:12
I don't understand your comment. In order to use class "general" you need to load the file. — Nir Alfasi, Jun 26 '12 at 02:47

René Höhle · Answer 1 · 2015-06-04T08:00:24.890

8

When you have no autoloader then include the class before.

Then the class is known and you can use it.

require_once(__DIR__.'/../general/general.class.php');

edited Jun 04 '15 at 08:00

answered Jun 25 '12 at 16:35

René Höhle

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I do have a autoloader running. – Yeak Jun 25 '12 at 16:43

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 25 '12 at 16:39

3

You need to make sure you load both classes or any other class that are required. For example:

In your bootstrap...:

// Set up the include path so that we can easily access the class files
set_include_path('/absolute/path/to/classes'. PATH_SEPARATOR . get_include_path());
require_once('users/users.class.php');

In users.class.php:

require_once('general/general.class.php');
class User {
  // you class definition
}

As far as getting the absolute path to your classes folder, youll want to configure this based on your bootstrap location. For example:

// bootstrap lives in $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] and classes is one level up outside the doc root
// this code is in the bootstrap...
$path = realpath(dirname(__FILE__).'/../classes');
set_include_path($path . PATH_SEPARATOR . get_include_path());

answered Jun 25 '12 at 16:39

prodigitalson

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I definitely recommend using `set_include_path`. – Mike Mackintosh Jun 25 '12 at 16:50
so the only way to do it is using require? – Yeak Jun 25 '12 at 20:17
Well yes at some point youll always do a `require`. Now you could (and i would recommend) create or use an existing autoloading component like [Symfony's](http://symfony.com/doc/current/components/class_loader.html) or [Zend's](http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.loader.autoloader.html), but internally its just going to map a class name to file and then require it. – prodigitalson Jun 25 '12 at 20:19
Ok thank you. I am currently using a autoload function which i wrote myself for instantiating a class – Yeak Jun 25 '12 at 22:36

PHP class extending another class outside of folder

2 Answers2