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How to Import Configuration Files/Resources

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How to Import Configuration Files/Resources

Tip

In this section, service configuration files are referred to as resources. While most configuration resources are files (e.g. YAML, XML, PHP), Symfony is able to load configuration from anywhere (e.g. a database or even via an external web service).

The service container is built using a single configuration resource (app/config/config.yml by default). All other service configuration (including the core Symfony and third-party bundle configuration) must be imported from inside this file in one way or another. This gives you absolute flexibility over the services in your application.

External service configuration can be imported in two different ways. The first method, commonly used to import other resources, is via the imports directive. The second method, using dependency injection extensions, is used by third-party bundles to load the configuration. Read on to learn more about both methods.

Importing Configuration with imports

By default, service configuration lives in app/config/services.yml. But if that file becomes large, you're free to organize into multiple files. For suppose you decided to move some configuration to a new file:

  • YAML
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    # app/config/services/mailer.yml
parameters:
    # ... some parameters

services:
    # ... some services
  • XML
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    <!-- app/config/services/mailer.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <parameters>
        <!-- ... some parameters -->
    </parameters>

    <services>
        <!-- ... some services -->
    </services>
</container>
  • PHP
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    // app/config/services/mailer.php

// ... some parameters
// ... some services

To import this file, use the imports key from a file that is loaded:

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    # app/config/services.yml
imports:
    - { resource: services/mailer.yml }
  • XML
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    <!-- app/config/services.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <imports>
        <import resource="services/mailer.xml"/>
    </imports>
</container>
  • PHP
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    // app/config/services.php
$loader->import('services/mailer.php');

The resource location, for files, is either a relative path from the current file or an absolute path.

Note

Due to the way in which parameters are resolved, you cannot use them to build paths in imports dynamically. This means that something like the following doesn't work:

  • YAML
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    # app/config/config.yml
imports:
    - { resource: '%kernel.project_dir%/app/parameters.yml' }
  • XML
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    <!-- app/config/config.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

    <imports>
        <import resource="%kernel.project_dir%/app/parameters.yml" />
    </imports>
</container>
  • PHP
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    // app/config/config.php
$loader->import('%kernel.project_dir%/app/parameters.yml');

Importing Configuration via Container Extensions

Third-party bundle container configuration, including Symfony core services, are usually loaded using another method: a container extension.

Internally, each bundle defines its services in files like you've seen so far. However, these files aren't imported using the import directive. Instead, bundles use a dependency injection extension to load the files automatically. As soon as you enable a bundle, its extension is called, which is able to load service configuration files.

In fact, each configuration block in config.yml - e.g. framework or twig- is passed to the extension for that bundle - e.g. FrameworkBundle or TwigBundle - and used to configure those services further.

If you want to use dependency injection extensions in your own shared bundles and provide user friendly configuration, take a look at the How to Load Service Configuration inside a Bundle article.

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.