Custom FieldTypes follow the Symfony 2 extension mechanism: bundles. We can get started with a bundle using the built-in Symfony 2 bundle generator.
From the eZ Publish 5 root, run the following:
php ezpublish/console generate:bundle |
First, we are asked for the namespace. As the vendor, we will use EzSystems as the root namespace. This must of course be changed to whatever identifies you as a vendor (your name, company name, etc). We then choose a preferably unique name for the field type itself, and make the name end with Bundle. I’ve chosen TweetFieldTypeBundle.
Bundle namespace: EzSystems/TweetFieldTypeBundle<enter> |
We must next input the bundle’s name. Nothing exotic here: we concatenate the vendor’s namespace and the bundle’s namespace, which is the default. We just hit enter:
Bundle name [EzSystemsTweetFieldTypeBundle]:<enter> |
We are then asked for the target directory. We will begin within the src folder, but we could (and should !) version it and have it moved to vendor at some point. Again, this is the default, and we just hit enter.
Target directory [/home/bertrand/www/ezpublish5/src]:<enter> |
We must then specify which format the generation must be generated as. We will use yml, since it is what we use in eZ Publish 5 itself. Of course, any other format could have been used.
Configuration format (yml, xml, php, or annotation): yml<enter> |
The generator will then offer us to generate the whole directory structure for us. Since our bundle isn’t really a standard Symfony full stack bundle, we decline.
Do you want to generate the whole directory structure [no]? no<enter> |
We then get a summary of what will be generated:
You are going to generate a "EzSystems\TweetFieldTypeBundle\EzSystemsTweetFieldTypeBundle" bundle in "/home/bertrand/www/ezpublish5/src/" using the "yml" format. Do you confirm generation [yes]?<enter> |
After generation, the wizard will offer us to update the kernel with our bundle (yes please), and to update the app’s routing with our bundle’s route file (no thanks).
Generating the bundle code: OK Checking that the bundle is autoloaded: OK Confirm automatic update of your Kernel [yes]? <enter> Enabling the bundle inside the Kernel: OK Confirm automatic update of the Routing [yes]? no <enter> |
Our bundle should have been generated. Navigate to src/EzSystems/EzSystemsTweetBundle, and you should see this structure:
$ ls -l src/EzSystems/TweetFieldTypeBundle Controller DependencyInjection EzSystemsTweetFieldTypeBundle.php Resources Tests |
Feel free to delete the Controller folder, since we won’t use it in this tutorial. It could have been useful had our field type required an interface of its own.