I am attempting to install the Microsoft Azure Storage PHP Client Libraries for the first time and am encountering difficulties. I am following the instructions found at https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-php but I don't find them sufficiently clear. Step 1 under the Install via Composer header says,
Create a file named composer.json in the root of your project and add the following code to it:
{
"require": {
"microsoft/azure-storage-blob": "",
"microsoft/azure-storage-table": "",
"microsoft/azure-storage-queue": "",
"microsoft/azure-storage-file": ""
}
}
There is already a composer.json file in the azure-storage-php directory created by the
git clone https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-php.git
command. Am I supposed to overwrite the existing composer.json file with the Step 1 instructions? Also, how does my PHP program reference the necessary libraries? I understand I will have use statements like the following code in my PHP program:
use MicrosoftAzure\Storage\Blob\BlobRestProxy;
use MicrosoftAzure\Storage\Common\Exceptions\ServiceException;
use MicrosoftAzure\Storage\Blob\Models\ListBlobsOptions;
use MicrosoftAzure\Storage\Blob\Models\CreateContainerOptions;
use MicrosoftAzure\Storage\Blob\Models\PublicAccessType;
You may rightly discern that I am new to composer installs. It seems to me that the instructions found in https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-php are not sufficiently clear for a composer novice. Thanks for the help.
I have figured out my problem and it has to do with how I read the installation instructions in https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-php. There are several bold subtitles and I read Install via Composer as a continuation of Download Source Code when in fact Install via Composer is independent of Download Source Code. Most technical people are familiar with the software installation paradigm of downloading the software and then installing and that is how I thought this was to work. However, the instructions contained in Install via Composer can be followed without performing any of the instructions found in Download Source Code. That is how I got this to work by beginning the installation at Install via Composer and ignoring the previous. I am sure an experience composer user would have known what to do, but for a composer novice I think these instruction could be better written.
Related
I'm trying to install the Coinbase PHP API but it requires Composer:
https://github.com/coinbase/coinbase-php
I'm looking for a universal PHP solution (perhaps a function) to let me install composer packages directly onto my server, without having to use Composer.
I think the developers of Composer believe they are helping people, but actually there are thousands of beginner developers that are being locked out of learning web development by the 'Composer barrier'.
It would really help if there was a flexible solution or some approach where we could install without Composer? How can I do this?
Please don't respond with some sarcastic comment. There are people that don't want to use Composer and I don't see why we should be herded into a specific third-party software in order to do web development.
You can try https://php-download.com/ which can help you download all dependency most of the time along with vendor folder. It promises composer not required.
Tried it myself. It finds and creates all required folders and zips it for download. Works perfectly !!
The composer.json file lists the dependencies. In your example:
"require": {
"php": ">=5.5.0",
"guzzlehttp/guzzle": "^6.0",
"psr/http-message": "^1.0",
"psr/log": "^1.0"
},
You must then find the corresponding packages in the packagist site. Repeat the same process for each dependency: find additional dependencies in their corresponding composer.json files and search again.
When you finally have a complete list of the required packages, you only need to install them all one by one. For the most part, it's just a matter of dropping the files somewhere in your project directory. But you must also ensure that PHP can find the needed classes. Since you aren't using Composer's auto-loader, you need to add them to your own custom autoloader. You can figure out the information from the respective composer.json files, e.g.:
"autoload": {
"psr-4": { "Coinbase\\Wallet\\": "src/" }
},
If you don't use a class auto-loader you'll need to figure out the individual require_once statements. You'll probably need a lot of trial and error because most library authors won't care documenting that.
Also, and just in case there's confusion about this:
Composer has an official GUI installer for Windows and a copy and paste command-line installation procedure for all platforms.
Composer can be run locally and its output just uploaded elsewhere. You don't need SSH in your shared hosting.
The command needed to install a library can be copied and pasted from the package web site—even if the package maintainer didn't care to document it, packagist.org generates it by default.
Composer is not perfect and it doesn't suit all use cases but, when it comes to installing a library that relies on it, it's undoubtedly the best alternative and it's a fairly decent one.
I've checked other answers that came after mine. They mostly fall in two categories:
Install a library and write a custom download script with it
Use an online web based interface for Composer
Unless I'm missing something, none of them address the complaints expressed by the OP:
Learning curve
Use of third-party software
Possibility to develop right on the server (using SSH, I presume)
Potentially deep dependency tree
I'm using shared hosting for a website and can't execute commands there. Aside from running composer via php script request that I request via browser, I usually use this workflow:
Make sure you have php installed locally.
Make directory on desktop.
download composer.phar from https://getcomposer.org/download/ (under header *Manual Download) and place it in the directory.
make a file composer.json paste in it the following contents
{
"require": {
"coinbase/coinbase": "~2.0"
}
}
Browse to the directory with the shell of your choice(bash, git-bash, cmd, windows bash)
type php composer.phar update
Upload the vendor directory to your webserver via ftp or whatever mechanic you use.
include in your php project where you load your libraries(modify path to where you uploaded the vendor dir so it will include that autoload file)
require_once('vendor/autoload.php');
This way you get the benefit of dependency management and you don't have to include manually all the gazillion of files and download all the dependencies manually, and updating them is just as easy as typing php composer.phar update and then replacing the vendor dir on your server with the new one.
An alternative solution that worked for me (since php-download was down) can be done by making your own little local composer downloader.
Download and install XAMPP locally: https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html
Download and install composer locally: https://getcomposer.org/download/
Open commandprompt, navigate to say c:\temp and and simply type the composer dependancy, for example: composer require league/oauth2-client
Copy the files from your c:\temp folder to your web host using an FTP program
Add this to the top of your php: require("vendor/autoload.php");
This is not the ultimate solution but for me it was a big help for most of the cases:
https://github.com/Wilkins/composer-file-loader
Allow you to load composer.json file just as composer would do it.
This allow you to load composer.json file without composer (so
theorically PHP 5.2 is enough)
I know the question is old but I hope it will help someone.
I had to do this for an FTP server I didn't have SSH access to. The site listed in here worked, then I realized you can just do a composer install on your own server (using your target's PHP version), then copy all the files over.
Analizing the problem
The problem in installing the dependencies without Composer is the autoloading system.
Composer use a homemade autoloader based on an array map, this is a de-facto standard.
But this autoloading system, "fortunally" in this case, is not PSR-4 compliant.
PSR-4 is the de-iure standard for autoload a class in PHP, so you can't escape from autoloading. You must use one of them.
Solution Proposal
In this case, this brilliant PSR-4 autoloader is capable to be manually configured to autoload a VendorClass in a VendorNamespace anywhere in your code, as long as you require the custom autoload.php file early in your source code.
Real life example
Let's look at this example:
I have a legacy project who can't and won't use Composer never and never even if God allow this with a miracle. This project can be speed up in development with this fantastic package for command line scripts.
This is my project directory structure:
- src
- tests
- vendor (not the Composer's one)
This package has this directory structure:
- examples
- src
- Commando
- tests
The only thing I need is the src folder. Placing this folder in my vendor folder would be fine. So my custom autoloader would be like this:
// Constants
$base_path = "path\to\my\project";
$autoloader_class = '\vendor\MarcoConsiglio-Wichee\PSR-4-Autoloading\Psr4AutoloaderClass.php';
define("BASE_PATH", str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, $base_path));
// Autoloader
require_once BASE_PATH.'\vendor\MarcoConsiglio-Wichee\PSR-4-Autoloading\Psr4AutoloaderClass.php';
// Init the autoloader.
$package = [
"nategood\commando" => [
"namespace" => "Commando",
"path" => str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, '\vendor\nategood\commando\src\Commando')
],
"kevinlebrun\colors.php" => [
"namespace" => "Colors",
"path" => str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, '\vendor\kevinlebrun\colors.php\src\Colors')
]
];
// Register namespaces.
$loader = new \PSR4\Psr4AutoloaderClass;
$loader->register();
// Namespace // Path to source
$loader->addNamespace($package["nategood\commando"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["nategood\commando"]["path"]);
$loader->addNamespace($package["nategood\commando"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["nategood\commando"]["path"]."\Util");
$loader->addNamespace($package["kevinlebrun\colors.php"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["kevinlebrun\colors.php"]["path"]);
Now I can use the command package anywhere in my project!
Pros & Cons
This solution allow you to:
Easely and manually build your own custom autoloader (you only need to specify the VendorNamespace and the folder(s) where search for VendorClasses in the VendorNamespace.
Freely organize your composer dependency anywhere in your project folder (and why not, outside it)
Import a composer package as is in your project (either downloading locally with Composer or cloning the package repository) or a relevant part of it (i.e removing composer.json file or files that require the composer autoloader).
Cons:
Manually build your custom autoloader means to work on every required dependency of your project (i hope not a lot).
Mistakes in package source paths can be tedious and frustrating.
Works only with PSR-4 compliant file names (i.e. can't use a A.class.php file name)
I'm trying to install the Coinbase PHP API but it requires Composer:
https://github.com/coinbase/coinbase-php
I'm looking for a universal PHP solution (perhaps a function) to let me install composer packages directly onto my server, without having to use Composer.
I think the developers of Composer believe they are helping people, but actually there are thousands of beginner developers that are being locked out of learning web development by the 'Composer barrier'.
It would really help if there was a flexible solution or some approach where we could install without Composer? How can I do this?
Please don't respond with some sarcastic comment. There are people that don't want to use Composer and I don't see why we should be herded into a specific third-party software in order to do web development.
You can try https://php-download.com/ which can help you download all dependency most of the time along with vendor folder. It promises composer not required.
Tried it myself. It finds and creates all required folders and zips it for download. Works perfectly !!
The composer.json file lists the dependencies. In your example:
"require": {
"php": ">=5.5.0",
"guzzlehttp/guzzle": "^6.0",
"psr/http-message": "^1.0",
"psr/log": "^1.0"
},
You must then find the corresponding packages in the packagist site. Repeat the same process for each dependency: find additional dependencies in their corresponding composer.json files and search again.
When you finally have a complete list of the required packages, you only need to install them all one by one. For the most part, it's just a matter of dropping the files somewhere in your project directory. But you must also ensure that PHP can find the needed classes. Since you aren't using Composer's auto-loader, you need to add them to your own custom autoloader. You can figure out the information from the respective composer.json files, e.g.:
"autoload": {
"psr-4": { "Coinbase\\Wallet\\": "src/" }
},
If you don't use a class auto-loader you'll need to figure out the individual require_once statements. You'll probably need a lot of trial and error because most library authors won't care documenting that.
Also, and just in case there's confusion about this:
Composer has an official GUI installer for Windows and a copy and paste command-line installation procedure for all platforms.
Composer can be run locally and its output just uploaded elsewhere. You don't need SSH in your shared hosting.
The command needed to install a library can be copied and pasted from the package web site—even if the package maintainer didn't care to document it, packagist.org generates it by default.
Composer is not perfect and it doesn't suit all use cases but, when it comes to installing a library that relies on it, it's undoubtedly the best alternative and it's a fairly decent one.
I've checked other answers that came after mine. They mostly fall in two categories:
Install a library and write a custom download script with it
Use an online web based interface for Composer
Unless I'm missing something, none of them address the complaints expressed by the OP:
Learning curve
Use of third-party software
Possibility to develop right on the server (using SSH, I presume)
Potentially deep dependency tree
I'm using shared hosting for a website and can't execute commands there. Aside from running composer via php script request that I request via browser, I usually use this workflow:
Make sure you have php installed locally.
Make directory on desktop.
download composer.phar from https://getcomposer.org/download/ (under header *Manual Download) and place it in the directory.
make a file composer.json paste in it the following contents
{
"require": {
"coinbase/coinbase": "~2.0"
}
}
Browse to the directory with the shell of your choice(bash, git-bash, cmd, windows bash)
type php composer.phar update
Upload the vendor directory to your webserver via ftp or whatever mechanic you use.
include in your php project where you load your libraries(modify path to where you uploaded the vendor dir so it will include that autoload file)
require_once('vendor/autoload.php');
This way you get the benefit of dependency management and you don't have to include manually all the gazillion of files and download all the dependencies manually, and updating them is just as easy as typing php composer.phar update and then replacing the vendor dir on your server with the new one.
An alternative solution that worked for me (since php-download was down) can be done by making your own little local composer downloader.
Download and install XAMPP locally: https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html
Download and install composer locally: https://getcomposer.org/download/
Open commandprompt, navigate to say c:\temp and and simply type the composer dependancy, for example: composer require league/oauth2-client
Copy the files from your c:\temp folder to your web host using an FTP program
Add this to the top of your php: require("vendor/autoload.php");
This is not the ultimate solution but for me it was a big help for most of the cases:
https://github.com/Wilkins/composer-file-loader
Allow you to load composer.json file just as composer would do it.
This allow you to load composer.json file without composer (so
theorically PHP 5.2 is enough)
I know the question is old but I hope it will help someone.
I had to do this for an FTP server I didn't have SSH access to. The site listed in here worked, then I realized you can just do a composer install on your own server (using your target's PHP version), then copy all the files over.
Analizing the problem
The problem in installing the dependencies without Composer is the autoloading system.
Composer use a homemade autoloader based on an array map, this is a de-facto standard.
But this autoloading system, "fortunally" in this case, is not PSR-4 compliant.
PSR-4 is the de-iure standard for autoload a class in PHP, so you can't escape from autoloading. You must use one of them.
Solution Proposal
In this case, this brilliant PSR-4 autoloader is capable to be manually configured to autoload a VendorClass in a VendorNamespace anywhere in your code, as long as you require the custom autoload.php file early in your source code.
Real life example
Let's look at this example:
I have a legacy project who can't and won't use Composer never and never even if God allow this with a miracle. This project can be speed up in development with this fantastic package for command line scripts.
This is my project directory structure:
- src
- tests
- vendor (not the Composer's one)
This package has this directory structure:
- examples
- src
- Commando
- tests
The only thing I need is the src folder. Placing this folder in my vendor folder would be fine. So my custom autoloader would be like this:
// Constants
$base_path = "path\to\my\project";
$autoloader_class = '\vendor\MarcoConsiglio-Wichee\PSR-4-Autoloading\Psr4AutoloaderClass.php';
define("BASE_PATH", str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, $base_path));
// Autoloader
require_once BASE_PATH.'\vendor\MarcoConsiglio-Wichee\PSR-4-Autoloading\Psr4AutoloaderClass.php';
// Init the autoloader.
$package = [
"nategood\commando" => [
"namespace" => "Commando",
"path" => str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, '\vendor\nategood\commando\src\Commando')
],
"kevinlebrun\colors.php" => [
"namespace" => "Colors",
"path" => str_replace("\\", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, '\vendor\kevinlebrun\colors.php\src\Colors')
]
];
// Register namespaces.
$loader = new \PSR4\Psr4AutoloaderClass;
$loader->register();
// Namespace // Path to source
$loader->addNamespace($package["nategood\commando"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["nategood\commando"]["path"]);
$loader->addNamespace($package["nategood\commando"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["nategood\commando"]["path"]."\Util");
$loader->addNamespace($package["kevinlebrun\colors.php"]["namespace"], BASE_PATH.$package["kevinlebrun\colors.php"]["path"]);
Now I can use the command package anywhere in my project!
Pros & Cons
This solution allow you to:
Easely and manually build your own custom autoloader (you only need to specify the VendorNamespace and the folder(s) where search for VendorClasses in the VendorNamespace.
Freely organize your composer dependency anywhere in your project folder (and why not, outside it)
Import a composer package as is in your project (either downloading locally with Composer or cloning the package repository) or a relevant part of it (i.e removing composer.json file or files that require the composer autoloader).
Cons:
Manually build your custom autoloader means to work on every required dependency of your project (i hope not a lot).
Mistakes in package source paths can be tedious and frustrating.
Works only with PSR-4 compliant file names (i.e. can't use a A.class.php file name)
I've created a new Linode server and installed a LAMP stack. Now I'm trying to install a PHP extra library, for Stripe. Rather than installing the libraries manually, I'm attempting to install them using composer, which was suggested.
I did install composer on my Ubuntu 16.0.4 system. And PHP is running; I can go to a test .php file and see it work.
In the provided instructions it says to add the following to composer.json:
{
"require": {
"stripe/stripe-php": "4.*"
}
}
Presumably after that I execute
composer install
and it will use composer.json to install the specified libraries.
What I'm not clear about is where should the location of composer.json be when I do this?
From what I've read in my Google searches, all I've found so far is that it should be in "the project root."
I'm not sure what that means.
I've set up Apache. And I have an enabled site. And I know the root of that site. But I don't think I am supposed to install the PHP library there in the html root of my virtual server, am I? Isn't there some general place on the server I would install extra PHP libraries so they are generally available? Perhaps some PHP-related directory?
Any suggestions? Thanks.
The project root in this case is the first layer of your code structure. Normally you would structure your code so that you have application code which you don't want the public to access such as classes at this level. You then have a public directory where you put your html/php, css, images and index.php.
This way the webserver root (www.mywebsite.com) points at index.php and the user cannot traverse up to see the classes.
I'm using the mPDF library for PHP, but the current release is not compatible with PHP 7. Various issue threads on Github suggest using the current Dev version; but it appears that simply downloading the Zip file excludes important files (including the /vendors/ directory and the autoload.php file.)
The developer seems impatient with people asking this question, and actually told somebody "go ask on StackExchange". So... here I am.
How the heck do I download the entire package from the development branch?
As stated in the comments, the package you are trying to use is being installed through Composer
Install Composer to your machine if you did not do it previously
Unzip file to directory of your choice
Navigate to such directory in command line / terminal
Run composer install
I am currently trying to install Omnipay into my Codeigniter project. I am stuck on windows because I do not have ssh access to the box where this needs to run on. So far I have gotten a new directory in the project root that is named "vendor" and it contains a lot of empty directories referring to Symfony (for what reason is beyond me).
Then I get a runtime exception that I need to enable the openssl extension in my php to download the necessary files and this is where I am stuck at. I don't run WAMP on my computer and I just use the php.exe I downloaded to work with netbeans.
Isn't there an easier way to get omnipay to run? Like just download the files from somewhere and plug them into my project like normal? It seems to be an aweful lot of headache to get a simple library to run in my CI project.
Please forgive my ignorance towards composer but I currently see no benefit of using it for this particular project.
You can "just download" the files here: https://github.com/omnipay/common/archive/master.zip
The problem is, Omnipay depends on Guzzle (an HTTP library), and Guzzle depends on some Symfony components. So you will spend the rest of the day downloading dependencies and making sure you have all the necessary files. That is the problem Composer solves for you.
I don't have any experience running Composer on Windows, but I would start here:
http://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md#installation-windows
Using the Installer
This is the easiest way to get Composer set up on your machine.
Download and run Composer-Setup.exe, it will install the latest
Composer version and set up your PATH so that you can just call
composer from any directory in your command line.
Once you have Composer installed, you should simply be able to make a file named composer.json in your project root, with the following contents:
{
"require": {
"omnipay/omnipay": "~2.0"
}
}
Then use the Command Prompt and cd to your project's directory, and run composer update to download the Omnipay files and all their dependencies.