repo_zf1/documentation/manual/en/module_specs/Zend_Config_Writer.xml

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<sect1 id="zend.config.writer.introduction">
    <title>Zend_Config_Writer</title>

    <para>
        <classname>Zend_Config_Writer</classname> gives you the ability to write config
        files out of <classname>Zend_Config</classname> objects. It works with an
        adapter-less system and thus is very easy to use. By default
        <classname>Zend_Config_Writer</classname> ships with four adapters, which are all
        file-based. You instantiate a writer with specific options, which
        can be <emphasis>filename</emphasis> and <emphasis>config</emphasis>. Then
        you call the <methodname>write()</methodname> method of the writer and the config
        file is created. You can also give <varname>$filename</varname> and
        <varname>$config</varname> directly to the <methodname>write()</methodname> method.
        Currently the following writers are shipped with
        <classname>Zend_Config_Writer</classname>:
    </para>

    <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Array</classname>
            </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Ini</classname>
            </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Json</classname>
            </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Xml</classname>
            </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Yaml</classname>
            </para>
        </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>
        When modifying or creating a <classname>Zend_Config</classname> object, there are
        some things to know. To create or modify a value, you simply say set
        the parameter of the <classname>Zend_Config</classname> object via the parameter
        accessor (<emphasis>-&gt;</emphasis>). To create a section in the root or to
        create a branch, you just create a new array
        ("<command>$config-&gt;branch = array();</command>"). To define which section
        extends another one, you call the <methodname>setExtend()</methodname> method
        on the root <classname>Zend_Config</classname> object.
    </para>

    <example id="zend.config.writer.example.using">
        <title>Using Zend_Config_Writer</title>

        <para>
            This example illustrates the basic use of
            <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Xml</classname> to create a new config file:
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
// Create the config object
$config = new Zend_Config(array(), true);
$config->production = array();
$config->staging    = array();

$config->setExtend('staging', 'production');

$config->production->db = array();
$config->production->db->hostname = 'localhost';
$config->production->db->username = 'production';

$config->staging->db = array();
$config->staging->db->username = 'staging';

// Write the config file in one of the following ways:
// a)
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Xml(array('config'   => $config,
                                           'filename' => 'config.xml'));
$writer->write();

// b)
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Xml();
$writer->setConfig($config)
       ->setFilename('config.xml')
       ->write();

// c)
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Xml();
$writer->write('config.xml', $config);
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            This will create an <acronym>XML</acronym> config file with the sections production
            and staging, where staging extends production.
        </para>
    </example>

    <example id="zend.config.writer.modifying">
        <title>Modifying an Existing Config</title>

        <para>
            This example demonstrates how to edit an existing config file.
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
// Load all sections from an existing config file, while skipping the extends.
$config = new Zend_Config_Ini('config.ini',
                              null,
                              array('skipExtends'        => true,
                                    'allowModifications' => true));

// Modify a value
$config->production->hostname = 'foobar';

// Write the config file
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Ini(array('config'   => $config,
                                           'filename' => 'config.ini'));
$writer->write();
]]></programlisting>
    </example>

    <note>
        <title>Loading a Config File</title>

        <para>
            When loading an existing config file for modifications it is very
            important to load all sections and to skip the extends, so that
            no values are merged. This is done by giving the
            <emphasis>skipExtends</emphasis> as option to the constructor.
        </para>
    </note>

    <para>
        For all the File-Based writers (<acronym>INI</acronym>, <acronym>JSON</acronym>,
        <acronym>XML</acronym>, <acronym>YAML</acronym>, and <acronym>PHP</acronym> Array)
        internally the <methodname>render()</methodname> is used to build the configuration string.
        This method can be used independently to access the string-representation of the
        configuration data.
    </para>

    <sect2 id="zend.config.writer.introduction.ini-notes">
        <title>Notes specific to the INI writer</title>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    The <acronym>INI</acronym> writer has two modes for rendering with regard to
                    sections.  By default the top-level configuration is always written into section
                    names.  By calling <command>$writer->setRenderWithoutSections();</command> all
                    options are written into the global namespace of the <acronym>INI</acronym> file
                    and no sections are applied.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <classname>Zend_Config_Writer_Ini</classname> has an additional option parameter
                    <emphasis>nestSeparator</emphasis>, which defines with which character the
                    single nodes are separated. The default is a single dot, which is accepted by
                    <classname>Zend_Config_Ini</classname> by default.
                </para>
            </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.config.writer.introduction.yaml-notes">
        <title>Notes specific to the YAML writer</title>

        <para>
            The <acronym>YAML</acronym> writer lets you optionally specify an alternate
            <acronym>YAML</acronym> encoder to use. By default, one is shipped with the framework
            that is suitable for most configuration tasks. If you find it insufficient, or wish to
            use more advanced YAML, you may provide an alternate encoder callback.
        </para>

        <para>
            The method for doing so is to use the
            <methodname>Zend_Config_Writer_Yaml::setYamlEncoder()</methodname> method, passing it a
            valid callback.
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
// Use the Symfony Yaml Component:
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Yaml($filename);
$writer->setYamlEncoder(array('sfYaml', 'dump'));
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            The above uses the Symfony Components' <classname>sfYaml</classname> component in order
            to encode the configuration to <acronym>YAML</acronym>.
        </para>
    </sect2>
</sect1>
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