[FIXED] CakePHP: Unable to load class from custom package

Issue

We want to use the FPDF library in one of our controllers.

We created the following files:

app
-Lib
--Fpdf
---files.php
---fpdf.php
---fdpf_wrapper.php <-- this is our class (FdpfWrapper) which extends the base FPDF class

Right before the controller class, we try this:

App::uses('FpdfWrapper', 'Lib/Fpdf');

But it fails every time. What are we doing wrong?

Solution

First of all, package paths must be registered in order to be used with App::uses, and Lib/Fpdf is no such one, by default only the core packages are registered.

You could either extend the paths for an already existing package, in your case that would be Lib:

App::build(array('Lib' => array(APP . 'Lib' . DS . 'Fpdf' . DS)));

And then use App::uses('FpdfWrapper', 'Lib');

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-utility-libraries/app.html#adding-paths-for-app-to-find-packages-in

or better add a new package:

App::build(array('Lib/Fpdf' => array(APP . 'Lib' . DS . 'Fpdf' . DS)), App::REGISTER);

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-utility-libraries/app.html#add-new-packages-to-an-application

Then you can use App::uses('FpdfWrapper', 'Lib/Fpdf');

And last but not least, of course the filename must follow the CakePHP conventions as already mentioned by @Nunser, ie fdpf_wrapper.php must be renamed to FdpfWrapper.php

Answered By - ndm