Using ide-helper outside the framework with just illuminate/database

[mfn]

I'm creating this issue because maybe it helps others which are interested in a similar solution and maybe there's interest in making the ide-helper code slightly more agnostic.

My scenario:

• I'm not using the Laravel "framework" directly
• I only use https://github.com/illuminate/database (and https://github.com/illuminate/container ) for integrating Eloquent in a legacy code base
  If you never heard about this, you wouldn't know this really works and you can use Eloquent outside the framework.

But working with models without ide-helper is very annoying (also for static analysis like phpstan) so I was seeking a solution to make it possible to use ide-helper for two things:

• models phpdoc generation
• metadata generation for PhpStorm

I did not evaluate the generation of Facade data as I'm not using them.

To make the models command work

• use of base_path() global helper from the framework
  In \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\Console\ModelsCommand::loadModels it uses the global helper base_path() which isn't available outside of the framework (it's defined in vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/helpers.php)
  • My solution was to write my own global base_path() which I only load in the context of generating the models which creates me the correct path
• Use of the Config service
  Multiple times the $this->laravel['config'] service is access to load the configuration. However I'm not using illuminate/config either. I've created a one-shot anonymous class with my code which emulates the most basic methods to make this work. I used below code and and bound it to my container via $laravelContainer->instance('config', …); in below code Arr::get can be used because of the dependencies of other packages to illuminate/support:

          return new class($config) implements ArrayAccess {
              /** @var array */
              private $config;
  
              public function __construct(array $config)
              {
                  $this->config = $config;
              }
  
              public function get($key, $defaultVaue = null)
              {
                  return Arr::get($this->config, $key, $defaultVaue);
              }
  
              public function offsetExists($offset)
              {
                  throw new RuntimeException('Not implemented because we didn\'t need it yet');
              }
  
              public function offsetGet($offset)
              {
                  return $this->get($offset);
              }
  
              public function offsetSet($offset, $value)
              {
                  throw new RuntimeException('Not implemented because we didn\'t need it yet');
              }
  
              public function offsetUnset($offset)
              {
                  throw new RuntimeException('Not implemented because we didn\'t need it yet');
              }
          };

  • Of course this means you need to somehow provide the configuration to the class which is custom in my case
• The final bootstrap to invoke the command was this:

  $fileSystem = new Filesystem();
  $command = new ModelsCommand($fileSystem);
  $command->setLaravel($laravelContainer);
  $command->run(
    new ArrayInput(['--write' => true, '--reset' => true]),
    new ConsoleOutput()
  );

To make the meta command work

• I used the same config approach as outlined above
• The command uses the https://github.com/illuminate/view component to render the final metafile which I don't use, either. I therefore created a minimal anonymous class I passed to the MetaCommand constructor; it's looks like a hack but works :

  return new class() {
      public function make(string $view, array $bindings)
      {
          return new class($view, $bindings) {
              private $view;
              private $bindings;
  
              public function __construct(string $view, array $bindings)
              {
                  $this->view = $view;
                  $this->bindings = $bindings;
              }
  
              public function render(): string
              {
                  $viewFile = base_path("vendor/barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper/resources/views/$this->view.php");
                  extract($this->bindings, EXTR_SKIP);
  
                  ob_start();
                  require $viewFile;
  
                  return ob_get_clean();
              }
          };
      }
  };

• Additionally, I've my own ::make() method which I wanted to add to the generated file. I couldn't find a way to change \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\Console\MetaCommand::$methods so I created my own MyMetaCommand extends MetaCommand class and just override the protected $methods property
• After that, the final bootstrap call looks like this:

  $fileSystem = new Filesystem();
  $command = new MyMetaCommand($fileSystem, $viewClass, $configClass);
  $command->setLaravel($laravelContainer);
  $command->run(
      new ArrayInput([]),
      new ConsoleOutput()
  );

Finishing words

I didn't really knew upfront if I could make it work. I'm really happy it did, having known the ide-helper for years form real Laravel project I truly didn't wanted to miss it!

I think the only suggestions I would have:

• don't use base_path() inside \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\Console\ModelsCommand, but pass it as string $basePath property to the commands constructor via \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\IdeHelperServiceProvider
• Provide a way to alter \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\Console\MetaCommand::$methods once the command is created.
• Unsolved: in \Barryvdh\LaravelIdeHelper\Console\ModelsCommand::createPhpDocs the @mixin \Eloquent is harcoded. I'm not even using Facades so if I still would would the mixin I would need them to point both the Eloquent\BuilderandQuery\Builder`; I left it as it for now

Otherwise: really very great package and I hope I continues to work also on the standalone versions in the future.

_{PS: feel free to close the issue, I merely wanted to document it for my future self/others}

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.
If this issue is still present on the latest version of this library on supported Laravel versions, please let us know by replying to this issue so we can investigate further.
Thank you for your contribution! Apologies for any delayed response on our side.

[mfn]

😱

[dennisameling]

This still helped me in 2022 😄 thanks!!

[mfn]

Nice!

Also: I'm still using it (which also means that part has not migrated to Laravel, which is the sad part)

[ricardoapaes]

@mfn I created a library with your recommendations, for me it is working correctly. Thanks for the contributions.

https://github.com/likesistemas/eloquent-ide-helper