Written documentation on Custom Installers

doc/articles/custom-installers.md

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+# Custom installers
+
+## Synopsis
+
+At times it may be necessary for a package to require additional actions during installation, such as installing packages outside of the default `vendor` library.
+
+In these cases you could consider creating a Custom Installer to handle your specific logic.
+
+## Calling a Custom Installer
+
+Suppose that your project already has a Custom Installer for specific modules then invoking that installer is a matter of defining the correct [type][1] in your package file.
+
+> _See the next chapter for an instruction how to create Custom Installers._
+
+Every Custom Installer defines which [type][1] string it will recognize. Once recognized it will completely override the default installer and only apply its own logic.
+
+An example use-case would be:
+
+> phpDocumentor features Templates that need to be installed outside of the default /vendor folder structure. As such they have chosen to adopt the `phpdocumentor-template` [type][1] and create a Custom Installer to send these templates to the correct folder.
+
+An example composer.json of such a template would be:
+
+    {
+        "name": "phpdocumentor/template.responsive",
+        "type": "phpdocumentor-template",
+    }
+
+With the package definition shown in the example will any project that includes this package try to find an appropriate installer and use that to execute this [type][1].
+
+> **IMPORTANT**: the host project will not recognize the [type][1] if the installer's package is not included. Thus a composer.json consuming a template package will always need to _require_ the template's installer as well.
+
+## Creating an Installer
+
+A Custom Installer is a defined as a class that implements the [\Composer\Installer\InstallerInterface][3] and is contained in a Composer package that has the [type][1] `composer-installer`.
+
+A basic Installer would thus compose of two files:
+
+1. the package file: composer.json
+2. The Installer class, i.e.: \Composer\Installer\MyInstaller.php
+
+> **NOTE**: _The namespace does not need to be \Composer\Installer, it may be anything that you would want._
+
+### composer.json
+
+The package file is the same as any other package file but with the following requirements:
+
+1. the [type][1] attribute must be `composer-installer`
+2. the [extra][2] attribute must contain an element `class` defining the class name of the installer (including namespace)
+
+Example:
+
+    {
+      "name": "phpdocumentor/template-installer",
+      "type": "composer-installer",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "autoload": {
+        "psr-0": {"phpDocumentor\\Composer": "src/"}
+      },
+      "extra": {"class": "\\phpDocumentor\\Composer\\TemplateInstaller"}
+    }
+
+### The Custom Installer class
+
+The class that executes the custom installation should implement the [\Composer\Installer\InstallerInterface][3] (or extend another installer that implements that interface).
+
+The class may be placed in any location and have any name, as long as it matches the `extra.class` element in the package definition.
+It will also define the [type][1] string as it will be recognized by packages that will use this installer in the `supports()` method.
+
+> **NOTE**: _choose your [type][1] name carefully, it is recommended to follow the format: `vendor-type`_. For example: `phpdocumentor-template`
+
+The InstallerInterface class defines the following methods (please see the source for the exact signature):
+
+* **supports()**, here you test whether the passed [type][1] matches the name that you declared for this installer (see the example).
+* **isInstalled()**, determines whether a supported package is installed or not.
+* **install()**, here you can determine the actions that need to be executed upon installation.
+* **update()**, here you define the behavior that is required when Composer is invoked with the update argument.
+* **uninstall()**, here you can determine the actions that need to be executed when the package needs to be removed.
+* **getInstallPath()**, this method should return the location where the package is to be installed, _relative from the location of composer.json._
+
+Example:
+
+    namespace phpDocumentor\Composer;
+
+    use Composer\Package\PackageInterface;
+
+    class TemplateInstaller extends \Composer\Installer\LibraryInstaller
+    {
+        /**
+         * {@inheritDoc}
+         */
+        public function getInstallPath(PackageInterface $package)
+        {
+            if (substr($package->getPrettyName(), 0, 23) != 'phpdocumentor/template.') {
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+                    'Unable to install template, phpdocumentor templates should always start their package name with "phpdocumentor/template."'
+                );
+            }
+            return 'data/templates/'.substr($package->getPrettyName(), 23);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * {@inheritDoc}
+         */
+        public function supports($packageType)
+        {
+            return (bool)('phpdocumentor-template' === $packageType);
+        }
+    }
+
+The example demonstrates that it is quite simple to extend the [\Composer\Installer\LibraryInstaller][4] class to strip a prefix (`phpdocumentor/template.`) and use the remaining part to assemble a completely different installation path.
+
+> _Instead of installing to `/vendor` will any package installed using this Installer be put in the `/data/templates/<stripped name>` folder._
+
+[1]: http://getcomposer.org/doc/04-schema.md#type
+[2]: http://getcomposer.org/doc/04-schema.md#extra
+[3]: https://github.com/composer/composer/blob/master/src/Composer/Installer/InstallerInterface.php
+[4]: https://github.com/composer/composer/blob/master/src/Composer/Installer/LibraryInstaller.php