Behaviors add the ability for classes to have private traits, also known as Behaviors. These are similar to native PHP Traits except they have some distinct benefits:
- Behaviors have their own contructor.
- Behaviors can have private or protected methods.
- Methods and property names can conflict safely.
- Classes can be extended with behaviors dynamically.
Where you might use a PHP trait like this:
class MyClass
{
use \October\Rain\UtilityFunctions;
use \October\Rain\DeferredBinding;
}
A behavior is used in a similar fashion:
class MyClass extends \October\Rain\Extension\Extendable
{
public $implement = [
'October.Rain.UtilityFunctions',
'October.Rain.DeferredBinding',
];
}
Where you might define a trait like this:
trait UtilityFunctions
{
public function sayHello()
{
echo "Hello from " . get_class($this);
}
}
A behavior is defined like this:
class UtilityFunctions extends \October\Rain\Extension\ExtensionBase
{
protected $parent;
public function __construct($parent)
{
$this->parent = $parent;
}
public function sayHello()
{
echo "Hello from " . get_class($this->parent);
}
}
The extended object is always passed as the first parameter to the Behavior's constructor.
Any class that uses the Extendable or ExtendableTrait can have its constructor extended with the static extend method. The argument should pass a closure that will be called as part of the class constructor.
MyNamespace\Controller::extend(function($controller) {
//
});
Properties can be declared on an extendable object by calling addDynamicProperty and passing a property name and value.
Post::extend(function($model) {
$model->addDynamicProperty('tagsCache', null);
});
Note: Attempting to set undeclared properties through normal means (
$this->foo = 'bar';) on an object that implements the October\Rain\Extension\ExtendableTrait will not work. It won't throw an exception, but it will not autodeclare the property either.addDynamicPropertymust be called in order to set previously undeclared properties on extendable objects.
Methods can be created to an extendable object by calling addDynamicMethod and passing a method name and callable object, like a Closure.
Post::extend(function($model) {
$model->addDynamicProperty('tagsCache', null);
$model->addDynamicMethod('getTagsAttribute', function() use ($model) {
if ($this->tagsCache) {
return $this->tagsCache;
} else {
return $this->tagsCache = $model->tags()->lists('name');
}
});
});
This unique ability to extend constructors allows behaviors to be implemented dynamically, for example:
/**
* Extend the RainLab.Users controller to include the RelationController behavior too
*/
RainLab\Users\Controllers\Users::extend(function($controller) {
// Implement the list controller behavior dynamically
$controller->implement[] = 'Backend.Behaviors.RelationController';
// Declare the relationConfig property dynamically for the RelationController behavior to use
$controller->addDynamicProperty('relationConfig', '$/myvendor/myplugin/controllers/users/config_relation.yaml');
});
<?php namespace MyNamespace\Behaviors;
class FormController extends \October\Rain\Extension\ExtensionBase
{
/**
* @var Reference to the extended object.
*/
protected $controller;
/**
* Constructor
*/
public function __construct($controller)
{
$this->controller = $controller;
}
public function someMethod()
{
return "I come from the FormController Behavior!";
}
public function otherMethod()
{
return "You might not see me...";
}
}
This Controller class will implement the FormController behavior and then the methods will become available (mixed in) to the class. We will override the otherMethod method.
<?php namespace MyNamespace;
class Controller extends \October\Rain\Extension\Extendable
{
/**
* Implement the FormController behavior
*/
public $implement = [
'MyNamespace.Behaviors.FormController'
];
public function otherMethod()
{
return "I come from the main Controller!";
}
}
$controller = new MyNamespace\Controller;
// Prints: I come from the FormController Behavior!
echo $controller->someMethod();
// Prints: I come from the main Controller!
echo $controller->otherMethod();
// Prints: You might not see me...
echo $controller->asExtension('FormController')->otherMethod();
To check if an object has been extended with a behavior, you may use the isClassExtendedWith method on the object.
$controller->isClassExtendedWith('Backend.Behaviors.RelationController');
Below is an example of dynamically extending a UsersController of a third-party plugin utilizing this method to avoid preventing other plugins from also extending the afore-mentioned third-party plugin.
UsersController::extend(function($controller) {
// Implement behavior if not already implemented
if (!$controller->isClassExtendedWith('Backend.Behaviors.RelationController')) {
$controller->implement[] = 'Backend.Behaviors.RelationController';
}
// Define property if not already defined
if (!isset($controller->relationConfig)) {
$controller->addDynamicProperty('relationConfig');
}
// Splice in configuration safely
$myConfigPath = '$/myvendor/myplugin/controllers/users/config_relation.yaml';
$controller->relationConfig = $this->mergeConfig(
$controller->relationConfig,
$myConfigPath
);
}
If a behavior class does not exist, like a trait, a Class not found error will be thrown. In some cases you may wish to suppress this error, for conditional implementation if a behavior is present in the system. You can do this by placing an @ symbol at the beginning of the class name.
class User extends \October\Rain\Extension\Extendable
{
public $implement = ['@RainLab.Translate.Behaviors.TranslatableModel'];
}
If the class name RainLab\Translate\Behaviors\TranslatableModel does not exist, no error will be thrown. This is the equivalent of the following code:
class User extends \October\Rain\Extension\Extendable
{
public $implement = [];
public function __construct()
{
if (class_exists('RainLab\Translate\Behaviors\TranslatableModel')) {
$this->implement[] = 'RainLab.Translate.Behaviors.TranslatableModel';
}
parent::__construct();
}
}
In some cases you may not wish to extend the ExtensionBase or Extendable classes, due to other needs. So you can use the traits instead, although obviously the behavior methods will not be available to the parent class.
-
When using the
ExtensionTraitthe methods fromExtensionBaseshould be applied to the class. -
When using the
ExtendableTraitthe methods fromExtendableshould be applied to the class.