When you create an extension class,
Symfony automatically calculates a "root" config key for it.
In our case, it calculated knp_u_lorem_ipsum...
it generated this based on our class name.
I'd rather have knpu_lorem_ipsum.
But of course, that doesn't work...
yet. This root key is called the extension alias.
And we can totally control it.
How? In our extension class, go to the Code->Generate menu, or Cmd+N on a mac,
select "Override" methods, and choose getAlias().
Then, return knpu_lorem_ipsum.
Here's how things really work.
When Symfony boots, it loops over all the extension classes in the system,
calls getAlias() on each, and this becomes their config key.
In the parent class, well, the parent's parent class,
there is a default getAlias() method which...
surprise! Removes the Extension suffix, and "underscores" what's left.
Cool! Easy fix!
Find your browser and refresh to celebrate!
Boo! Another error: Users will expect the alias of the default extension of a bundle
to be the underscored version of the bundle name.
You can override some method if you want to use another alias.
Ok. This is a bit odd, but, on the bright side, it'll give us a chance to do some exploring!
Open up our bundle class.
It's empty...
but it actually does a bunch of cool things.
Hold Command or Ctrl and click to open the base class.
One of the methods is called getContainerExtension().
When Symfony builds the container, it loops over all bundle classes and calls this method,
which returns the extension object.
Check out the createContainerExtension() method, well, actually,
the getContainerExtensionClass() method.
Ah! This is the reason why Symfony expects our extension to live
in the DependencyInjection directory and to end in the word Extension.
All that magic comes from overrideable methods on our bundle class.
Scroll back up to getContainerExtension().
After it creates the container extension, it does a sanity check: if the alias is different
than it expected, it throws an exception.
This was originally added to prevent bundle authors from going crazy
and creating custom aliases like delicious_pizza or beam_me_up_scotty.
But, it's kind of annoying.
The fix is easy.
In our bundle class, go to the Code -> Generate menu, or Cmd + N on a Mac,
select Override Methods and choose getContainerExtension.
Then, if null === $this->extension, set $this->extension
to a new KnpULoremIpsumExtension.
Return $this->extension at the bottom.
This does the same thing as the parent method, but without that sanity check.
Let's do it...
refresh! Our custom alias is alive!!!
Now, it's time to use this $configs array
to start allowing our end-users to modify our service.
This is one of my favorite parts.