smart config

jara06

Im trying to figure out a more clever way to handle a sites config than the 'usual one'.

Im having around 30 settings atm, which is located in config.php. All vars goes like this:

$config['picture']['max_upload_size'] = 1048576;

My proposal would be a config.class.php, something like this:

class config {
	const tblForums	= 'Forums';

private $image	= array(
						'max_upload_size' => 1048576
						);

private $db		= array(
						'db_user' => 'username'
						);

public static function get($type, $setting) {
	return $$type[$setting];
}
}

do something alike this, and just make it with a db backend.

Im not asking for a complete solution, just pros and cons .. 🙂

rebelo

The con here is that you're creating extra work for yourself just for something to do. The current config implementation you're using works perfectly fine.

The pro of doing an object oriented config setup with database support is that you could create an admin module (web based) for changing settings rather than having to manually edit the array in a file.

toplay

I like to use php.ini format for configuration files. That way I can simply use the parse_ini_file() function.

Example:

If config.php has this:

; Comment here
[picture]
max_upload_size = 1048576

Your script can read it like so:

$config = parse_ini_file('config.php');
echo $config['picture']['max_upload_size']; // Displays: 1048576
echo $config['max_upload_size']; // or this way. Displays: 1048576

I'm not sure what you're trying to do with the class example there. It's best if the configuration settings are external in a file. You can use a class to read the config.php file if you want.

hth.

rebelo

The problem with your php.ini style config file (though I think it's a great idea) is that if anyone actually pointed to config.php they would get errors because of the bad syntax. These errors may also disclose some of the file content (unless you surpress errors explicitly). The solution of course it to use a file located outside the web accessible folders, however this is often not an option for some users.

toplay

rebelo wrote:
The problem with your php.ini style config file (though I think it's a great idea) is that if anyone actually pointed to config.php they would get errors because of the bad syntax. These errors may also disclose some of the file content (unless you surpress errors explicitly). The solution of course it to use a file located outside the web accessible folders, however this is often not an option for some users.

I'm glad to see rebelo that you're on top of security concerns. Of course, I recommend to have all files that don't need to be in the public directory (like config and include files) to be placed outside the web accessible folders.

One can put the line below as the first line in a php.ini config style file and "if anyone actually pointed to config.php they would" see the message and not get any PHP specific errors.

; <?PHP exit('Access violation. Do not try and run this script.'); ?>

So, it would look like this:

; <?PHP exit('Access violation. Do not try and run this script.'); ?>
; Comment here
[picture]
max_upload_size = 1048576

🙂

rebelo

Ah, I didn't even consider the fact that the key/value pairs don't need to be enclosed in php tags. The solution you've offered is a good one.

Thanks for the cool idea. I think I'm going to use it in the next large-ish system I build.

Drakla

Got to agree with toplay big time on this. The ini file with a 'no peeking' first line
;<?php die('no peeking'); ?>
is great, and the fact you can use sections makes it excellent.

The overhead is also nothing, and if you're in a site where not plugging into a database for every page is a real relief on the server then it's easily 50 times less resource intensive. I only know one method more efficient processor wise at storing data, and that's serialised arrays.

jara06

I have thought of the method of using an ini file earlier, and it seems like an okay solution.

I think Im gonna go with this model combined a bit with this:
http://www.phptr.com/articles/article.asp?p=101193&seqNum=2

Would that seem like a dumb idea ?

Edit:
I completly forgot ... What to do when some configuration options depends on other ?

$config['paths']['datadir']		= DOC_ROOT . '../data/';
$config['paths']['imagedir']	= $config['paths']['datadir'] . 'images/';
$config['paths']['logdir']		= $config['paths']['datadir'] . 'logs/';