I fought it for a long time, but I think I am finally convinced that PHP autoload functionality is a good idea.
In case anyone out there needs an example, the following is a custom autoload function that allows for multiple directories to be checked for class files.
Just a quick note, the 'THEFULLPATH' constant should already be set to your server path, and the directories array should be updated to include the directories that your class files are in.
// global function for autoload functionality
function class_autoload($class_name)
{
// directories where class files are located
$directory_list = array(
THEFULLPATH.'common/',
THEFULLPATH.'models/',
);
// for consistency make sure the class name is lower case
$class_name = strtolower($class_name);
// for each directory in our directory list
foreach ($directory_list as $directory)
{
// does the file exist? notice the naming convention used here
// is classname.class.php, feel free to use your own naming
// structure and modify the following lines to fit, just
// be consistent
if (file_exists($directory.$class_name.'.class.php'))
{
require($directory.$class_name . '.class.php');
// only require the class once, we exit here to cut down on
// processing time
return;
}
}
// if we are dealing with another class that had a different
// naming convention we add it here if you have many classes
// like this (and they should be common libraries, since if
// you are writing them they should follow your convention)
// you may want to change this to a switch statement
if ($class_name == 'phpmailer') {
require(THEFULLPATH."common/PHPMailer/class.phpmailer.php");
}
}
Once you have created your function, you will need to register it with PHP
spl_autoload_register('class_autoload');
Congratulations, you now have a working autoload function!
For more information on PHP autoload, read the manual
Here
