Parameters

Parameters are the container's storage for configuration values. Think of them as the scalar knobs of your application — hostnames, secrets, timeouts, feature flags. There is no technical limitation on what a parameter may hold (you can store an object), but conceptually you should keep them to values, not services.

TIP

This page covers the runtime PHP API. If you are looking for how to declare parameters inside a .ctn container file, read Container Files › Parameters.

Initial parameters

The container constructor accepts an array of initial parameters:

use ClanCats\Container\Container;

$container = new Container(['env' => 'production']);

These initial values are merged with any parameters already defined (for example the ones baked into a compiled container). This makes the constructor a convenient place to inject environment specific overrides — see Basic Container usage for the equivalent factory call.

The same array can be handed to the factory when you build a container:

$factory = new \ClanCats\Container\ContainerFactory(__DIR__ . '/cache');
$container = $factory->create('AppContainer', function($builder) {}, ['env' => 'production']);

Reading a parameter

$container->getParameter('env');

You may supply a fallback that is returned when the parameter has not been defined. Note that a parameter explicitly set to null still counts as defined, so the fallback will not kick in for it.

$container->getParameter('cron.idle.timeout', 3600);

MethodArguments / Return

Get the parameter with the the given name, or return the default value if the parameter is not set.

Method definition:

public function getParameter(string $name, $default = null)

Arguments

Data type	Variable name	Comment
string	$name	The parameter name.
mixed	$default	The returned default value if the parameter is not set.

Returns

mixed

Setting a parameter

Parameters can be written at any point during runtime.

$container->setParameter('session.cookie.name', 'mysessiontoken');

The value is not limited to strings — arrays and other structures are fine too.

$container->setParameter('available.languages', ['de', 'en', 'it', 'fr']);

MethodArguments / Return

Set the given parameter with value

Method definition:

public function setParameter(string $name, $value)

Arguments

Data type	Variable name	Comment
string	$name	The parameter name.
mixed	$value	The parameter value.

Returns

void

Checking if a parameter exists

Sometimes you just need to know whether a parameter is present. Remember: a parameter whose value is null still exists.

if ($container->hasParameter('smtp.host')) {
    // ...
}

MethodArguments / Return

Does the container contain the parameter with the given name?

Method definition:

public function hasParameter(string $name) : bool

Arguments

Data type	Variable name	Comment
string	$name	The parameter name.

Returns

bool

Reading all parameters

For debugging and introspection you can dump the full parameter map.

foreach ($container->allParameters() as $name => $value) {
    // ...
}

MethodArguments / Return

Returns all container parameters

Method definition:

public function allParameters() : array

Arguments

This method takes no arguments.

Returns

array<string, mixed>