New in Rector 0.12 - Much Simpler and Safer Rule Configuration

Each configurable Rector rule implements own configure() method.

To register a rule in rector.php, we use Symfony PHP configs syntax.

There we pass arguments that configure our rule, e.g. RenameClassRector:

use Rector\Renaming\Rector\Name\RenameClassRector;
use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Loader\Configurator\ContainerConfigurator;

return static function (ContainerConfigurator $containerConfigurator): void {
    $services = $containerConfigurator->services();
    $services->set(RenameClassRector::class)
        ->call('configure', [[
            RenameClassRector::OLD_TO_NEW_CLASSES => [
                'App\SomeOldClass' => 'App\SomeNewClass',
            ],
        ]]);
};

While we have full autocomplete support thanks to PHP, this approach has a few downsides.

• we have to be careful about the exact syntax of nested arrays
• we have to use class constants to pass the nested array to

What exactly does it mean? Well, any of the following syntaxes would crash:

->call('configure', [[[
    ...
]]]);

...or...

->call('configure', [
    ...
]);

...or...

->call('configure', [[
    [
        'App\SomeOldClass' => 'App\SomeNewClass',
    ],
]]);

We think that's unnecessary complexity. Do you agree?

New configure() Method to the Rescue

We don't like to make you think about implementation details We know there are more important goals you want to achieve.

That's why we remove the complexity with the configure() method right in the rector.php config.

The goal is clear:

• no constants
• single method
• write only the configuration, nothing else
• Rector validates input for you

use Rector\Renaming\Rector\Name\RenameClassRector;
use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Loader\Configurator\ContainerConfigurator;

return static function (ContainerConfigurator $containerConfigurator): void {
    $services = $containerConfigurator->services();
    $services->set(RenameClassRector::class)
        ->configure([
            'App\SomeOldClass' => 'App\SomeNewClass',
        ]);
};

Nice and clear.

Say Good-Bye to Value Object Inlining

Symfony does not support value objects for configuration. That's why we had to come up with own value object more inline when we wanted to use value objects for configuration. It looked like this:

use Rector\Transform\Rector\FuncCall\FuncCallToStaticCallRector;
use Symplify\SymfonyPhpConfig\ValueObjectInliner;
use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Loader\Configurator\ContainerConfigurator;

$services->set(FuncCallToStaticCallRector::class)
    ->call('configure', [[
        FuncCallToStaticCallRector::FUNC_CALLS_TO_STATIC_CALLS => ValueObjectInliner::inline([
            new FuncCallToStaticCall('dump', 'Tracy\Debugger', 'dump'),
        ])
    ]]);

In Rector 0.12, you can use the simple syntax:

use Rector\Transform\Rector\FuncCall\FuncCallToStaticCallRector;
use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Loader\Configurator\ContainerConfigurator;

$services->set(FuncCallToStaticCallRector::class)
    ->configure([
        new FuncCallToStaticCall('dump', 'Tracy\Debugger', 'dump'),
    ]);

Bonus: Rector now Validates Your Input

One more thing...

While we were at it, we made sure the configuration input was now validated. Is there a better package than webmozart/assert to handle it?

So if you ever add however invalid configuration, we'll tell you what to fix the second you run Rector:

use Rector\Rector\AbstractRector;
use Webmozart\Assert\Assert;

final class RenameClassRector extends AbstractRector
{
    /**
     * @param mixed[] $configuration
     */
    public function configure(array $configuration) : void
    {
        $oldToNewClasses = $configuration[self::OLD_TO_NEW_CLASSES] ?? $configuration;

        Assert::isArray($oldToNewClasses);
        Assert::allString($oldToNewClasses);

        $this->addOldToNewClasses($oldToNewClasses);
    }

    // ...
}

Give your rector.php fresh breeze look with Rector 0.12 and the new configure() method!

Happy coding!