Using external libraries in TYPO3 V 6.1 for an Extension

Question

According to this http://docs.typo3.org/typo3cms/CoreApiReference/ApiOverview/Autoloading/Index.html from TYPO3 V6 , using namespaces is encouraged and that any PHP file should contain only ONE class. Quoting from the above link

 - In TYPO3 every class must reside in its own file, i.e. there should
   be only one class per PHP file
 - Use the class naming convention and file location.

My extension is built using extension builder. It uses the twitter API library and there is one file config.php which is to be used. This file contains multiple classes in it.

The question is, to use this config.php , following the two conditions, should I divide the config.php into multiple php files, each with a single class in it ?

Or is there a really neat way to go about this ?

Answer 1

Leave the external code as it is. The coding guidelines are just for the extension and core development itself, you don't need to modify extenal libraries to match that guideline.

Simply include the external scripts with

require_once t3lib_extMgm::siteRelPath('your_extension_key') . 'Path/to/the/Script.php';

and start using them.

Answer 2

By following http://docs.typo3.org/typo3cms/CoreApiReference/ApiOverview/Autoloading/Index.html the right way is to create an ext_autoload.php file in the root folder of your extension containing this:

$libraryClassesPath = \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::extPath('your_ext_key') . 'Relative/Path/Of/Your/External/Library/';
return array(
'class_name_to_call' => $libraryClassesPath . 'class_file.php',
);

An example using "FPDF"

1. Download the library and put it in /typo3conf/ext/myext/Resources/Private/Library/fpdf/

2. Save this code in /typo3conf/ext/myext/ext_autoload.php

   $libraryClassesPath = \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::extPath('myext') . 'Resources/Private/Library/';
   return array(
       'FPDF' => $libraryClassesPath . 'fpdf/fpdf.php',
   );
   

3. clear the cache

4. use FPDF everywhere in your extension by calling:

   $pdf = \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility::makeInstance('FPDF');
   $pdf->AddPage();
   $pdf->SetFont('Arial','B',16);
   $pdf->Cell(40,10,'Hello World!');
   $pdf->Output();