Recipe Database Config

Recipe: Database Config

Goal: keep database credentials in a dedicated PHP file, load them through the package, and read them safely when opening a connection.

The file

// config/db.php
return [
    'host'    => '127.0.0.1',
    'port'    => 3306,
    'name'    => 'app',
    'user'    => 'app',
    'pass'    => '',
    'charset' => 'utf8mb4',
];

Loading and reading

use InitPHP\Config\Library;

$config = new Library();
$config->setFile('db', __DIR__ . '/config/db.php');

$config->get('db.host');             // '127.0.0.1'
$config->get('db.port');             // 3306
$config->get('db.charset', 'utf8');  // 'utf8mb4'

Keys are case-insensitive, so a file written with upper-case keys ('HOST' => …) is still read as db.host. See Keys & Dotted Paths.

Opening a PDO connection

Read each value with a sensible default at the point of use — that is where validation belongs:

$dsn = sprintf(
    'mysql:host=%s;port=%d;dbname=%s;charset=%s',
    $config->get('db.host', '127.0.0.1'),
    (int) $config->get('db.port', 3306),
    $config->get('db.name', 'app'),
    $config->get('db.charset', 'utf8mb4'),
);

$pdo = new PDO(
    $dsn,
    $config->get('db.user', 'root'),
    $config->get('db.pass', ''),
    [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION],
);

Reading the block as an object

If you prefer object syntax, pull the whole subtree via object access (Library only):

$db = $config->db; // stdClass

$db->host; // '127.0.0.1'
$db->name; // 'app'

Keeping secrets out of the repo

Commit a safe db.php with defaults, and merge a git-ignored local file on top for real credentials. To merge (rather than replace) the db block, load the override at the root with a null name and nest the keys under db inside the file:

// config/db.local.php   (git-ignored)
return [
    'db' => [
        'pass' => 'realsecret', // only the keys you override
    ],
];

use InitPHP\Config\Exceptions\ConfigException;

$config->setFile('db', __DIR__ . '/config/db.php'); // committed defaults under 'db'

try {
    // null name → recursive merge at the root, so 'db.*' siblings survive
    $config->setFile(null, __DIR__ . '/config/db.local.php');
} catch (ConfigException) {
    // No local overrides present — defaults stand.
}

$config->get('db.pass'); // 'realsecret'
$config->get('db.host'); // '127.0.0.1'  (committed default preserved)

Why not load the override under the db name again? Loading a file under a named key (setFile('db', …)) replaces the entire db subtree. Recursive merging only happens for a null/empty name, which merges at the root — hence the nested ['db' => …] shape above. See Loaders → setArray.

Related reading

• Loaders → setFile
• Object Access
• Exceptions — handling a missing or malformed file.