Magento – Magento 2 : Are php code sniffers the right tool for extension development

For those, who come here from the google some instructions about how to install and use this great tool with PHPStorm:

1. You should install PHP_Codesniffer. The simplest way is to require it using your composer (but you can read about another way on the code-sniffer page):

   composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer:2.6.2"
   

2. Then you should detect, where is phpcs. If you install it using composer global require you can detect absolute path using command:

   composer global config bin-dir --absolute
   

   As a result you can see the path from root, for me it looks like this: so my phpcs accessible by path /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs and when I type /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs -h in the console I see the phpcs help message: This message means that code-sniffer was installed successfully and can be used to make the code better.

3. Install the Magento coding standards. All standards stored in the code-sniffer CodeSniffer/Standards directory. If you install it like in my example, it can be found in the global composer directory in vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/CodeSniffer/Standards/ for me this path from root was /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/CodeSniffer/Standards/. We should download MEQP1/MEQP2 manually and copy it to the standards directory:

   • Go to the any working directory, I prefer to use users home directory (cd ~)
   • Clone the Magento standards using git clone git@github.com:magento/marketplace-eqp.git (or download it manually using your web-browser)

   • Do checkout to the version 1.0.5 of the standards

     cd marketplace-eqp/
     git checkout 1.0.5
     

   • Copy the standards and Utils to the Squizlabs code-sniffer standards directory:

     cp -r marketplace-eqp/MEQP* marketplace-eqp/Utils /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/CodeSniffer/Standards/
     

   • Now you are able to use the code-sniffer with Magento standards from the command line like this:

     /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs /Users/sergei/PhpstormProjects/aws-botapi/app/code/MageWorx/ShippingRules --standard=MEQP2
     

     where the path /Users/sergei/PhpstormProjects/aws-botapi/app/code/MageWorx/ShippingRules should be a path to the directory with your code.

   • Add code-sniffer to the PHPStorm to make access to it simplest. Open PHPStorm. Open the Preferences > Tools > External Tools:

     

     and click on the +, then add next info:

     • Program - path to your phpcs, in my example it was /Users/sergei/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs
     • Arguments - path to the clicked file\directory and desired standard: $FileDir$ --standard=MEQP1. Note that the $FileDir$ is a variable in the PHPStorm which means a currently selected file or directory.
     • Working directory - $ProjectFileDir$ varaible (by default)

     

     Now it can be accessible from the External tools from context menu right in the PHPStorm:

     

     Just select desired directory or file, right-click on it and select External tools > MEQP1 and you can see a result of this test in the bottom of working space (the Run tab):

     

     You can add MEQP2 test the same way (using the + button or the clone button), just add another name, like MEQP2 and change the standard in the arguments input:

     

PS: we use the version of standards 1.0.5 and phpcs of version 2.6.2 because its compatible and works good, when version of the standards from the master does not work :(