lithium\core\Libraries::paths()

public static method

Accessor method for the class path templates which Libraries uses to look up and load classes. Using this method, you can define your own types of classes, or modify the default organization of built-in class types.

For example, in a queuing application, you can define a class type called 'job':

Libraries::paths(['job' => '{:library}\extensions\job\{:name}']);

Then, any classes you add to the extensions/job directory in your application will be automatically detected when calling Libraries::locate('job'). Additionally, any matching classes in the extensions/job directory of any plugin or vendor library you add to your application will also be detected.

Supposing you wanted to have the option of further organizing jobs by class type (some jobs are related to updating caches, others to sending notifications, etc.), you can specify multiple paths per class type, with varying levels of specificity:

Libraries::paths(['job' => [
	'{:library}\extensions\job\{:class}\{:name}',
	'{:library}\extensions\job\{:name}'
]]);

This allows you to, for example, have two different classes called Cleanup. One may be located in app\extensions\job\Cleanup, while the other is in app\extensions\job\cache\Cleanup. Calling: Libraries::locate('job'); will find both classes, while Libraries::locate('job.cache'); will only find the second. You can also find individual jobs by name: Libraries::locate('job', 'Cleanup');

See Libraries::locate() for more information on using built-in and user-defined paths to look up classes.

In addition to adding custom class types, paths() allows you to redefine the naming and organization of existing types. For example, if you wished to reference your model classes as app\models\PostModel instead of app\models\Post, you can do the following:

Libraries::paths(['models' => '{:library}\models\{:name}Model']);

Note, however, that this is a destructive, not an additive operation, and will replace any existing paths defined for that type. If you wish to add a search path for an existing type, you must do the following:

$existing = Libraries::paths('controllers');
Libraries::paths(['controller' => array_merge(
	['{:library}\extensions\controllers\{:name}Controller'], (array) $existing
)]);

Parameters

  • mixed $path

    If $path is a string, returns the path(s) associated with that path type, or null if no paths are defined for that type.

Returns

mixed

Source

	public static function paths($path = null) {
		if (empty($path)) {
			return static::$_paths;
		}
		if (is_string($path)) {
			return isset(static::$_paths[$path]) ? static::$_paths[$path] : null;
		}
		static::$_paths = array_filter(array_merge(static::$_paths, (array) $path));
	}