Double Include Prevention Code in PHP Prevents Doxygen From Generating Documentation - php

Question

I am writing relatively complex PHP applications and have several files for class definitions formatted as follows:
<?php
if(!class_exists("FooBar"))
{
/**
* This is documentation for the class FooBar
*/
class FooBar
{
/**
* Documentation for FooBar's constructor
*/
public function __construct() {
;
}
}
} // class_exists
This is to prevent multiple definition errors with complex class hierarchies and applications.
However, Doxygen does not document any classes that are specified this way. Commenting out or removing the if(!class_exists()) statement causes Doxygen to correctly document this class, but introduces errors with applications.
Is there any way I can force Doxygen to generate documentation for these classes?

Answer 1

As mentioned by #Sverri in the comments, I also think that autoloading is a good way to solve your problem (what it already did, as it seems).
But just for the case you (or someone else) is looking for a doxygen-only solution:
You can use INPUT_FILTERS in doxygen to remove or change some parts of the source code before creating the documentation.
You can use the following php code to remove all lines containing if(!class_exists and the braces { } that belong to this if-block, as long as it is not followed by another block.
// input
$source = file_get_contents($argv[1]);
// removes the whole line
list($head,$tail) = preg_split('/.*if\(!class_exists\(.+/', $source, 2);
$openingBracePos = strpos($tail,'{');
$closingBracePos = strrpos($tail,'}');
if($openingBracePos !== false && $closingBracePos !== false)
$source = $head . substr($tail,$openingBracePos+1,
$closingBracePos-$openingBracePos-1);
echo $source;
This filter truns
<?php
if(!class_exists("FooBar")) // This comment will also disappear
{
/**
* This is documentation for the class FooBar
*/
class FooBar
{
/**
* Documentation for FooBar\'s constructor
*/
public function __construct() {
;
}
}
} // class_exists
into
<?php
/**
* This is documentation for the class FooBar
*/
class FooBar
{
/**
* Documentation for FooBar's constructor
*/
public function __construct() {
;
}
}
Note: On windows I have to call the filter like this: C:\xampp\php\php.exe php_var_filter.php
You can find some more input filters to improve doxygen's php support on GitHub.