How do i use Composer to install a package without a version (only master)

Question

I am new to composer and i am trying to install this following lib via the composer update

https://github.com/neitanod/forceutf8

so as i understand my composer.json looks like this

{
    "config": {
        "vendor-dir": "libs/vendor"
    },
    "require": {
        "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
        "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
        "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16",
        "forceutf8/forceutf8": "master"
    }
}

Bt for some reason (as i think forceutf8 has no version) its halts with error, all the rest installed correctly, error i get is

Loading composer repositories with package information
Updating dependencies (including require-dev)
Your requirements could not be resolved to an installable set of packages.

  Problem 1
    - The requested package forceutf8/forceutf8 could not be found in any version, there may be a typo in the package na
me.

Potential causes:
 - A typo in the package name
 - The package is not available in a stable-enough version according to your minimum-stability setting
   see <https://groups.google.com/d/topic/composer-dev/_g3ASeIFlrc/discussion> for more details.

Read <http://getcomposer.org/doc/articles/troubleshooting.md> for further common problems.

i tried following version also but no luck still

{
    "config": {
        "vendor-dir": "libs/vendor"
    },
    "name": "career/skillquest",
    "repositories": [
      {
        "type": "vcs",
        "url": "https://github.com/neitanod/forceutf8"
      }
    ],
    "require": 
      {
        "forceutf8/forceutf8": "dev-master",
        "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
        "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
        "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16"
      }
}

Issue was it needs to be

"neitanod/forceutf8": "dev-master"

NOT

"forceutf8/forceutf8": "master"

Sven · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-11T23:19:44.097

First of all, you have the wrong name: forceutf8/forceutf8 Correct name is: neitanod/forceutf8

Composer adds a prefix of "dev-" to every branch name that is not looking like a version number, and a suffix "-dev" to branch names that look like version numbers.

Example: Branch "master" is called "dev-master", branch "feature" is called "dev-feature". Branch "1.0.x" is called "1.0.x-dev".

So this part is wrong:

"require": {
    "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
    "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
    "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16",
    "forceutf8/forceutf8": "master"
}

Correct version would be:

"require": {
    "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
    "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
    "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16",
    "neitanod/forceutf8": "dev-master"
}

Now requiring branches without tagged versions is not the best thing because these info is quite unstable - any new commit can break things, and it is not that easy to point exactly at the commit you wanted to use. To protect you agains this, Composer by default does not load these development branch, but will only load stable versions. You have to enable loading development versions:

"require": {
    "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
    "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
    "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16",
    "neitanod/forceutf8": "dev-master@dev"
}

The "@dev" flag allows to load development versions of the version mentioned (which in this case is a branch, but "1.0.0@dev" would work the same way, allowing all (including dev) versions of 1.0.0, like "1.0.0-alpha", but also the stable "1.0.0").

Note that you could also allow development version for ALL your dependencies by using "minimum-stability", but this is not recommended, because it will load development versions for EVERYTHING according to the version requirement. In your case, you would grab the latest dev version of monolog's 1.7 branch only, but this might be enough to bring a once stable software into a broken state.

I assume that the package is registered on http://packagist.org, but currently that site seems to be down. So you'll have no luck updating anything whatsoever. — Sven, Feb 11 '14 at 11:34
Thank you so, so much for explaining that: 'Composer adds a prefix of "dev-" to every branch name that is not looking like a version number, and a suffix "-dev" to branch names that look like version numbers.' I despise this syntax in Composer. — user3751385, Aug 22 '17 at 22:03

score 25 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 11 '14 at 23:41

25

In composer.json:

{
    "name": "example/example-app",
    "repositories": [
      {
        "type": "vcs",
        "url": "https://github.com/neitanod/forceutf8"
      }
    ],
    "require": 
      {
        "neitanod/forceutf8": "dev-master",
        "raven/raven": "0.7.1",
        "monolog/monolog": "1.7.*",
        "smarty/smarty": "3.1.16"
      }
}

edited Feb 11 '14 at 23:41

mahen3d

7,047
13
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answered Feb 11 '14 at 06:23

Alexandr T

1,471
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24

can you pls add the full json file with other packages, i tried to adding this but failed to get the required file format – mahen3d Feb 11 '14 at 08:25
And where is the forceutf8 software? – Sven Feb 11 '14 at 09:01
Sorry, i'm forgot to add 'forceutf8' in require. Fixed – Alexandr T Feb 11 '14 at 09:47
tried but still didnt work i get Problem 1 - The requested package forceutf8/forceutf8 could not be found in any version, there may be a typo in the package na me. – mahen3d Feb 11 '14 at 09:49
in _require_ write *"neitanod/forceutf8" : "dev-master"* instead *"forceutf8/forceutf8": "dev-master"* – Alexandr T Feb 11 '14 at 10:00

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 24 '18 at 14:08

9

It's simple! You should type on console:

composer require blablabla@thepackage dev-master

answered Feb 24 '18 at 14:08

Rafael Xavier

956
13
13

jayeshsolanki93 · Answer 4 · 2014-07-26T14:47:35.553

1

You have to specify the version name in the composer.json file. Just find any package which are installable with Composer at : https://packagist.org/

Search the package name there, you will find the version name. And here is the link for the package you wanted : https://packagist.org/packages/neitanod/forceutf8

edited Jul 26 '14 at 14:47

answered Jul 26 '14 at 11:29

jayeshsolanki93

2,096
1
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How do i use Composer to install a package without a version (only master)

4 Answers4

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