Container Configuration

The Norvica DI Container is configured through a PHP file (let’s name it container.php), and managed using the Configurator class. This configuration process defines the services, parameters, and relationships that the container will manage.

Configuration File#

The container.php file is a standard PHP return array. Each key in the array represents a service ID (a unique identifier), and the corresponding value defines how the container should create and manage the service.

Structure and Format:

// container.php

return [
    'service_id_1' => /* definition 1 */,
    'service_id_2' => /* definition 2 */,
    // ... more definitions
];

1. Service ID: Choose meaningful IDs that reflect the purpose of the service (e.g., logger, mailer). Can also be a FQCN (fully qualified class name), e.g. Foo\Bar.
2. Definition: This can be one of the following:
   • A scalar value (string, number, boolean)
   • An anonymous function (for dynamic value/service creation)
   • A call to a helper function like obj(), ref(), or env() to define object services or dependencies.
   • An array of service definitions (for collections)

Configurator Class#

The Configurator class provides the interface for loading the configuration file, customizing container behavior, and building the final container instance.

Example Usage:

use Norvica\Container\Configurator;

$configurator = new Configurator();
$configurator->load(__DIR__ . '/container.php');  // Load configuration

// Optional:
$configurator->snapshot(dir: __DIR__ . '/../var/cache', class: 'MyCompiledContainer');  // Compile (if desired)
$configurator->autowiring(false); // Disable autowiring (if desired)

$container = $configurator->container();  // Get the container instance

Explanation:

1. A new Configurator object is created.
2. The load() method reads the definitions from the container.php file.
3. Optionally, you can use snapshot() to compile the configuration or autowiring() to disable autowiring behavior.
4. Finally, container() builds and returns the container object, ready for use.

In the following sections, we’ll dive deeper into the different ways you can define services and parameters within the container.php file.