Is there a better way than using VQMOD
/OCMOD
to change OpenCart's core files?
Is there some "overrides" folder so that I can simply create any PHP file corresponding to the file structure and simply override a core file (like it is possible in PrestaShop and Magento)?
VQMOD
/OCMOD
is highly inconvenient.
Does someone use any hacks & tricks to achieve the result?
I don't want to touch any core files to keep the system clean and manageable.
My solution was to modify 1 function (modification()) in the system/startup.php which then allows you to copy any existing PHP file into an 'override' folder and modify it without making changes to the original file.
I'd like to find a way of just replacing the functions changed/added, but the OOP approach in OpenCart doesn't easily allow this.
I've adapted a few OCMOD modules to fit my override method (by applying the module, copying the changed files into my override structure and then removing the module), as I think it's easier to maintain and easier to develop with, and when I create my own modules, I create dummy files in the main structure and the actual files in the 'override' directory, which means all my modifications/additions are in one folder that maintains the structure of the original layout.
It would be possible to generate file diffs that create an OCMOD, but I haven't had time to do that yet. I do mark all my changes, so I can upgrade to newer versions by re-applying my changes manually (which is usually a "good thing" (c), and there is potential to have conflict with other extensions, so manually marking changes means I can apply changes to OCMOD patched files too.
My modification function looks like this:
function modification($filename) {
$mod_dirs = array(
DIR_MODIFICATION,
dirname(DIR_SYSTEM).'/override/' // do this second in case there are other over-rides needed for modules
);
foreach($mod_dirs as $mod) {
if (!defined('DIR_CATALOG')) {
$file = $mod . 'catalog/' . substr($filename, strlen(DIR_APPLICATION));
} else {
$file = $mod . 'admin/' . substr($filename, strlen(DIR_APPLICATION));
}
if (substr($filename, 0, strlen(DIR_SYSTEM)) == DIR_SYSTEM) {
$file = $mod . 'system/' . substr($filename, strlen(DIR_SYSTEM));
}
if (is_file($file)) {
return $file;
}
}
return $filename;
}
and my directory structure looks like this
/override
/override/admin
/override/catalog
/override/system