README

A tool to quickly generate PHP extension skeletons with all necessary boilerplate code and build configuration files base on the PHP source ext_skel.php script.

Installation

Global Installation (Recommended)

composer global require sheunl/phpext-skeleton

Make sure your global Composer bin directory is in your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin:$PATH"
# or
export PATH="$HOME/.config/composer/vendor/bin:$PATH"

Local Installation

composer require --dev sheunl/phpext-skeleton

Usage

Create a New Extension

php-start-extension --ext extension_name [--vendor vendor_name] [--author "Your Name"]

Options

• --ext - Extension name (required)
• --vendor - Vendor/namespace name (required)
• --author - Author name (optional)
• --dir - Directory to create extension in (default: current directory)
• --experimental - Mark extension as experimental
• --std - Use standard extension template
• --onlyunix - Generate only Unix build files
• --onlywindows - Generate only Windows build files

Examples

Create a simple extension:

php-start-extension --ext myext

Create an extension with vendor namespace:

php-start-extension --ext myext --vendor mycompany

Create an extension with author information:

php-start-extension --ext myext --author "John Doe"

Building Your Extension

Once the skeleton is created, navigate to the extension directory and build:

Linux/Unix

cd myext
phpize
./configure
make
make test
sudo make install

Enable the Extension

Add to your php.ini:

extension=myext.so

Or load it directly:

php -dextension=./modules/myext.so -m | grep myext

Directory Structure

The generated extension includes:

• config.m4 - Unix build configuration
• config.w32 - Windows build configuration
• php_[ext].h - Header file
• [ext].c - Main extension source
• [ext].stub.php - Stub file for arginfo generation
• [ext]_arginfo.h - Generated argument info
• tests/ - Test files directory
• composer.json - Composer configuration

Requirements

• PHP >= 8.2
• Build tools (gcc, make, autoconf, etc.)

License

PHP-3.01

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.