Extend a controller from controller in another module?

Question

I have this module called 'olo' which handles all our online ordering stuff.

Now I have made a new module called 'olosec' because I wish make a different version with a slight changed flow, and some other changes in some of the controllers.

Is it possible for me to extend a controller in 'olosec' with a controller in 'olo'?

As of now I have tried

class Olosec_CartController extends Olo_CartController

Which throws an error like

Warning: include_once(Olo/CartController.php): failed to open stream: 
No such file or directory in /httpdocs/library/Zend/Loader.php on line 146 Warning:
include_once(): Failed opening 'Olo/CartController.php' for inclusion.
bla bla bla (include path) bla bla bla

My directory structure is something like this (thanks tree \F \A and EditPlus++)

+---application
|   +---views
|   |   +---scripts
|   |   +---layouts
|   |   |   +---default
|   |   |   +---admin
|   |   +---languages
|   |   +---helpers
|   +---modules
|   |   +---admin
|   |   +---mobile
|   |   +---olo
|   |   |   +---controllers
|   |       |       IndexController.php
|   |       |       MenuController.php
|   |       |       CartController.php
|   |       |       OrderlistController.php
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   +---models
|   |   |   \---views
|   |   |       +---helpers
|   |   |       \---scripts
|   |   |           +---index
|   |   |           +---menu
|   |   |           +---cart
|   |   |           \---orderlist
|   |   \---olosec
|   |       +---controllers
|   |       |       IndexController.php
|   |       |       MenuController.php
|   |       |       CartController.php
|   |       |       OrderlistController.php
|   |       |
|   |       +---models
|   |       \---views
|   |           +---helpers
|   |           \---scripts
|   |               +---index
|   |               +---menu
|   |               +---cart
|   |               \---orderlist
|   +---models
|   +---controllers
|   \---configs
+---library
+---public
|   +---cli
|   \---default
+---tests
\---data

Update

I have used this "nasty" hack which works

require_once( APPLICATION_PATH . '/modules/olo/controllers/CartController.php');

Update @ Rakesh

I have this in my bootstrap..

function _initAutoloader() {
    $autoloader = Zend_Loader_Autoloader::getInstance();
    $autoloader->setFallbackAutoloader(true);
    return $autoloader;
}

In my application.ini

autoloadernamespaces.0 = "Zend"
autoloadernamespaces.1 = "My"
autoloadernamespaces.2 = "Something"

Answer 1

Why not have a custom library folder for common classes

application/
    library/    < for common classes

If you are using some classes not only in one controller but at many places in your project this is a good approach.

You just have to add this new application/library/ folder to your include path in your boostrap file.

Another approach is to have an action helper. But as I described the common classes folder should be a good solution. However I found some interesting resources, most of them are about cross module coding but they might help you anyway http://zend-framework-community.634137.n4.nabble.com/Code-re-use-across-modules-td668554.html and How to Use Same Models in Different Modules in Zend Framework?

---

Let me describe another approach

class BasicController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
    public static $variable = '';

    public function init()
    {
        self::$variable = 'assign value';
    }
}

class HomeController extends BasicController
{
    public function indexAction()
    {
        $bioVar = parrent::$variable;
    }
}

This is better than simply extending controllers because they represent actions and each action has a corresponding view script. However all your classes should be registered in autoloader.

Answer 2

If you have instantiate the class from Zend Autoloader, the error should go away.

You should have the following code in your bootstrap.php file:

protected function _initAutoloader()
{
    $autoloader = new Zend_Application_Module_Autoloader(array(
       'namespace' => '',
       'basePath'  => APPLICATION_PATH . '/modules',
    ));
    return $autoloader;
}

In general, the controllers are loaded via Zend_Controller_Dispatcher, you should use Zend_Application_Module_Autoloader to instantiate the class from other controllers.