Framework detection out of scope?

[rask]

I was wondering whether adding feature checks for things like "running on Laravel" or "running on WordPress" are out of scope for the library?

E.g.

if (Morse::featureExists('framework/laravel') {
    ...
} elseif (Morse::featureExists('cms/wordpress') {
    ...
} else {
    ...
}

[drewm]

That's an interesting idea. What sort of projects need that ability?

[telephone]

I can't really think of a proper use for this feature. Dependencies should be handled by Composer, and if a dependency is missing, it'll be obvious via the error message/s

Now an interesting take on this would be checking if framework specific helpers exist (non-namespaced functions). For example, Laravel Helpers or Wordpress functions. In saying that though, I still believe this should be handled by Composer as it deals with dependencies instead of cross-platform environments.

[drewm]

One of the big benefits of Morse is dealing with situations where you aren't in control of the dependancies. e.g. if you know that your code will often be used with WordPress, and if so, you can call out to some WP function to make life easier.

So I'm interested in this - I'm just not sure if this is a theoretical problem or a real problem to solve.

[drewm]

Here's a potential real-world usage example:

https://github.com/michelf/php-markdown/blob/master-stable/markdown.php#L70

[telephone]

@drewm How would you handle version comparison (new functions in v4 versus v5)? Or would you just have a broad check, and leave version comparison to the user?

For frameworks that are decoupled like Laravel, how would you check if one package is installed (such as 'illuminate/database') versus the whole framework?

(Laravel isn't the best example of a decoupled framework 😏).

[drewm]

Valid question.

[rask]

@telephone

I can't really think of a proper use for this feature. Dependencies should be handled by Composer, and if a dependency is missing, it'll be obvious via the error message/s"

Good point.

Regarding individual packages: as far as I know PHP doesn't provide any means for validating namespace existance. Checking a known class inside a package could work, but there's no knowing when the package author decides to remove the class.

Or perhaps validate that the composer.json file exists in the vendor/author/package directory (this would be safest with using the Composer style author/package naming convention for checks)? Can the vendor directory name be defined by Composer users themselves?