register_activation_hook in oop approach

Question

I tried to develop a plugin in OOP approach. I tried to load all the function needed inside the constructor class e.g action hooks. The problem is this hook "register_activation_hook". It wont load when the plugin is being activated. My main plugin file is in the root directory of my plugin and my class files are inside "classes" folder.

I read the usage of this function on this link http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_activation_hook and it says that the $file parameter is:

$file (string) (required) Path to the main plugin file inside the wp-content/plugins directory. A full path will work.

So I tried to use it like this inside my contructor class.

register_activation_hook(__DIR__ . '/../yslider.php',array($this, 'yslider_install'));//Installing data 

But still not working. Well it work if I put it on the main plugin file. But I think couldn't be an OOP approach?

Can anyone tell me what is the right way in using this function in oop appraoch?

Answer 1

It doesn't really matter. If you simply must have it inside a class, I would use a constant and a static method.

// in the main plugin file
define( 'MYPLUGIN_FILE', __FILE__ );

// include another file with this class in
class MyPlugin {

    public static function init() {
        register_activation_hook( MYPLUGIN_FILE, array( 'MyPlugin', 'install' ));
    }

    public static function install() {
         echo "little lamb, who made thee? is it wordpress or is it me";
    }
}

// call the static method
MyPlugin::init();

Answer 2

Also in a a more OOP approach, you could do it in the following way:

In your plugin class :

class MyPlugin {

    private $file_base;

    /* 
     * Useful in case you put a lot of stuff in this class that
     * could be used later from other classes without knowing if the
     * class has already been instantiated. If it's just for the 
     * initialization without further using, go with a simple 
     * constructor
     */
    public static function get_instance(){
         static $plugin;
         if ( !isset( $plugin ) ){
             $plugin = new MyPlugin();
         }
         return $plugin;
    }  

    /*
     * If you go with a singleton, make it private, public otherwise
     */
    private function __construct() {
         $this->file_base = plugin_dir_path( dirname( __FILE__ ) ) . 'your_plugin_main_file.php';
         $this->init();
    }

    /*
     * Should be invoked just from the constructor, so private
     */
    private function init() {
         register_activation_hook( $this->file_base, array( $this, 'install' ) );

    }

    /*
     * This is the callback, so make it public
     */
    public function install() {
         echo "little lamb, who made thee?";
    }
}

and then in your plugin main file (eg: your_plugin_main_file.php), just:

MyPlugin::get_instance();

Answer 3

//define
define('DIR_PATH',plugin_dir_path(__FILE__));
//class
class nssUser_creator {
    //method
    static function nss_init() {
        register_activation_hook(DIR_PATH,array('nssUser_creator','nss_plug_install'));
    }
    static function nss_plug_install(){
        echo 'YOUR plugins is now activated ! YeaP';
    }
}//end class

//object
nssUser_creator::nss_init();

Answer 4

Based on code suggested by @Ivan Carrasco, I created this file:

https://gist.github.com/csaborio001/51c8c808ef1bc09e284ea012e6e72dbf

Invoke it as such:

$match_score                = new Match_Score();
$plugin_activation_instance = PluginActivation::get_instance( 'compeer-matching-plugin.php', 'vinnies_connect_matching_cron', 'daily' );
$plugin_activation_instance->init();
$plugin_activation_instance->set_cron_callback( $match_score, 'calculate_all_scores' );