koseven/system/guide/ko7/files/classes.md

Classes

Classes are blueprints for objects. Koseven makes use of the PHP autoloading capability, it uses the spl_autoload() magic function along with the Cascading Filesystem to create an easy means for loading classes. You can find more about this in the Autoloading section of this Documentation.

Models and Controllers are classes as well, but are treated slightly differently by Koseven. Read their respective pages to learn more.

Helper or Library?

Koseven does not differentiate between "helper" and "library" classes like in previous versions.
They are all placed in the classes/ folder and follow the same conventions.

The distinction is that in general, a "helper" class is used statically, (for examples see the helpers included in Koseven), and library classes are typically instantiated and used as objects (like the Database query builders). The distinction is not black and white, and is irrelevant anyways, since they are treated the same by Koseven.

Creating a class

To create a new class, simply place a file in the classes/ directory at any point in the Cascading Filesystem, that follows the Class naming conventions. For example, lets create a Foobar class.

// classes/Foobar.php

class Foobar {
    public static function magic()
    {
        // Does something
    }
}

We can now call Foobar::magic() any where and Koseven will autoload the file for us.

We can also put classes in subdirectories.

// classes/Professor/Baxter.php

class Professor_Baxter {
    public static function teach()
    {
        // Does something
    }
}

We could now call Professor_Baxter::teach() any where we want.

For examples of how to create and use classes, simply look at the classes folder in system or any module.

Namespacing your classes

Koseven Core files are currently not namespaced, but it has integrated support for namespaced classes. They follow the same Convention as none-namespaced classes with the addition that the namespace also is considered as a folder.

Examples:

Namespace	Class Name	Path
Tools	Screwdriver	classes/Tools/Screwdriver.php
Tools	Wood_Saw	classes/Tools/Wood/Saw.php

Please keep in mind, that controllers are treated a bit different then standard classes and therefore can not be namespaced at this moment. For namespaced Controllers you can have a look at this module which is providing that functionality.

Here is an example of a Namespaced class

// classes/Helpers/Arrays

namespace Helpers;

class Arrays extends \Arr {
    public static function combine()
{
            // Does something
    }
}

It does not matter if you use it directly via \Helpers\Arrays::combine or do it via the use statement use Helpers\Arrays and call the class like this Arrays::combine. Both of those ways work and Koseven will automatically load your namespaced class.