How do I correctly create, and then require a PHAR file?

Question

I'm currently trying to package library code, which would then be shipped out to people actually trying to use that library code. After creating the PHAR file, I'm trying to verify that it was done correctly with a simple test script. At some point in the create-PHAR -> use-PHAR process, I'm doing something wrong.

How do I correctly create, and then require a PHAR file?

To keep the making and validation of the PHAR easy, I've limited everything down to a simplified version of the problem, and still cannot proceed.

Here's my files:

~/phar-creation-and-require-test/
    mylibrary.php
    testoflibrary.php
    make-phar.php
    make-phar.sh
    mylibrary.phar (after being created)

mylibrary.php contents:

<?
class FooClass {
    private $foonum;

    function FooClass() {
        $this->foonum = 42;
    }
}
?>

make-phar.php contents:

<?php
if ($argc < 3) {
    print 'You must specify files to package!';
    exit(1);
}
$output_file = $argv[1];
$project_path = './';
$input_files = array_slice($argv, 2);

$phar = new Phar($output_file);
foreach ($input_files as &$input_file) {
    $phar->addFile($project_path, $input_file);
}

$phar->setDefaultStub('mylibrary.php');

Which is called by make-phar.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

rm mylibrary.phar
php --define phar.readonly=0 ./make-phar.php mylibrary.phar \
    phar-index.php

I can run make-phar.sh without any errors, and mylibrary.phar gets created.

The test script testoflibrary.php is thus:

<?php
require_once 'phar://' . __DIR__ . '/mylibrary.phar';  // This doesn't work.
//require_once 'mylibrary.php';  // This would work, if un-commented.

$foo = new FooClass();
print_r($foo);

When I run it with php testoflibrary.php, I get this error:

Fatal error: Class 'FooClass' not found in /Users/myusername/phar-creation-and-require-test/testoflibrary.php on line 5

To get to this state, I've been reading the docs, this tutorial, and also this tutorial. This SO question does not seem to give the information I need, nor this question, and I can't seem to find any other relevant questions/answers here on SO.

So, the question (again) is,

How do I correctly create, and then require a PHAR file?

Make sure your phar works, first. `php -l mylibrary.phar` should do a syntax check, just like any other PHP file. Have you tried a simple `require "mylibrary.phar";`? — miken32, Jul 05 '16 at 23:51
Syntax check says no errors, and `require "mylibrary.phar";` doesn't work either. It's sitting right there, beside the test script, so... ⎺\\_(ツ)_/⎺ — E.T., Jul 06 '16 at 14:35

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 06 '16 at 15:36

Adding files one at a time (even with a single file) will fail. Just build the PHAR file from the whole directory containing all your library's source files, all at once.

e.g. With your project structure like this:

libraryproject/
    src/
        subfolder1/
            athing.php
            anotherthing.php
        athing.php
        anotherthing.php
        phar-index.php       (main file that imports the rest of the library)
    make-phar.sh
    make-phar.php
    mylibrary.phar           (after creation)
    test-the-lib-works.php

The make-phar.php script should be like this:

<?php
$phar = new Phar('mylibrary.phar');
$phar->buildFromDirectory('src/');  // This does the thing you actually want.
$phar->setDefaultStub('phar-index.php');

Then the make-phar.sh script is this: #!/usr/bin/env bash

rm mylibrary.phar
php --define phar.readonly=0 ./make-phar.php

How do I correctly create, and then require a PHAR file?

1 Answers1