Developing an Add-on in a Git Repository¶

1. Separate Add-on Files from CS-Cart Files¶

Due to CS-Cart’s architecture, the files of an add-on are stored in different directories:

• app/addons—PHP files
• design/backend/templates/addons—templates of the administration panel
• var/themes_repository/*/templates/addons—templates of the customer area
• var/langs/*/addons—translation files

We need to recreate this directory structure somewhere outside our CS-Cart installation. That way we’ll be able to store the add-on files separately.

Let’s create a directory called sample_git_module and put all the files of our example add-on there:

• app/addons/sample_git_module/addon.xml—every add-on must have this file;
• var/langs/en/addons/sample_git_module.po—the translations of the add-on’s language variables;
• app/addons/sample_git_module/controllers/frontend/sample_git.php—a controller;
• var/themes_repository/responsive/templates/addons/sample_git_module/views/sample_git_module/view.tpl—the controller’s template.

In this example we’ve put sample_git_module into ~/dev/vagrant/repos, but you can store the directory with your add-on anywhere.

If you have already developed an add-on that is stored with the CS-Cart installation, you can easily copy or move all the files of the add-on to a separate directory with cscart-sdk. Run the addon:export command:

$ cscart-sdk addon:export addon_name /path/to/addon_directory /path/to/cscart

Now that we have the add-on files stored in a separate directory, we can initialize a Git repository there. But wouldn’t we have to create an archive with the add-on and install it in the Administration panel every time we want to test it? Luckily, there is a way to make development and debugging convenient and transparent.

2. Create Symbolic Links¶

We recommend developing add-ons in the directory with the installed CS-Cart. But since the files of our add-on are now stored separately, we’ll put symbolic links to the add-on files in the corresponding CS-Cart directories.

In our case CS-Cart is installed in ~/dev/vagrant/vhosts/cs-cart. Let’s create a symbolic link to one of the directories of our add-on:

$ ln -s ~/dev/vagrant/repos/sample_git_module/app/addons/sample_git_module ~/dev/vagrant/vhosts/cs-cart/app/addons/sample_git_module

As a result, the app/addons/sample_git_module directory will appear in the CS-Cart installation. This directory includes the files we created earlier: addon.xml and controllers/frontend/sample_git.php. However, the new directory is just a symbolic link to the original directory, which is ~/dev/vagrant/repos/sample_git_module/app/addons/sample_git_module.

You can edit the files in this symlinked directory with a code editor of your choice, and those files will also change in the original directory. The add-on will also appear among the available add-ons in the Administration panel:

As you can see in the screenshot, the language variables of the add-on aren’t used. That’s because we created a symbolic link only for the app/addons/sample_git_module directory. Other files, including the files with the language variables, haven’t been synchronized with the CS-Cart installation directory.

We could use the ln -s command to create symbolic links for the required files and directories separately. However, cscart-sdk has the addon:symlink command, which creates symbolic links to all the files and directories of the add-on in the CS-Cart installation directory. The first argument of the command is the path to the files of the add-on, and the second argument is the path to the directory where CS-Cart is installed:

$ cscart-sdk addon:symlink ~/dev/vagrant/repos/sample_git_module ~/dev/vagrant/vhosts/cs-cart

3. Synchronize Files between Directories¶

Cscart-sdk has another useful command—addon:sync, which runs addon:export and then addon:symlink. The addon:sync command comes useful when you create a new file for your add-on in the CS-Cart installation directory. The command will move the file to the add-on’s repository and create a symbolic link in its place.