The autoloader will now search for files inside the directory of any …

…loaded coding standard (ref #1430)

autoload.php

@@ -41,6 +41,15 @@ class Autoload
          */
         private static $loadedFiles = array();
 
+        /**
+         * A list of additional directories to search during autoloading.
+         *
+         * This is typically a list of coding standard directories.
+         *
+         * @var string[]
+         */
+        private static $searchPaths = array();
+
 
         /**
          * Loads a class.
@@ -98,6 +107,18 @@ public static function load($class)
                 $path = self::$composerAutoloader->findFile($class);
             }
 
+            // See if the class is inside one of our alternate search paths.
+            if ($path === false) {
+                foreach (self::$searchPaths as $searchPath) {
+                    $path = $searchPath.$ds.str_replace('\\', $ds, $class).'.php';
+                    if (is_file($path) === true) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    $path = false;
+                }
+            }
+
             if ($path !== false && is_file($path) === true) {
                 self::loadFile($path);
                 return true;
@@ -170,6 +191,20 @@ public static function loadFile($path)
         }//end loadFile()
 
 
+        /**
+         * Adds a directory to search during autoloading.
+         *
+         * @param string $path The path to the directory to search.
+         *
+         * @return void
+         */
+        public static function addSearchPath($path)
+        {
+            self::$searchPaths[] = $path;
+
+        }//end addSearchPath()
+
+
         /**
          * Gets the class name for the given file path.
          *

package.xml

@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ http://pear.php.net/dtd/package-2.0.xsd">
     -- This allows you to force errors to be shown that would otherwise be ignored by code comments
     -- Also stop files being able to change sniff properties mid way through processing
   - An error is now reported if no sniffs were registered to be run (request #1129)
+  - The autoloader will now search for files inside the directory of any loaded coding standard
+    -- This allows autoloading of any file inside a custom coding standard without manually requiring them
+    -- Ensure your namespace begins with your coding standard's directory name and follows PSR-4
+    -- e.g., StandardName\Sniffs\CategoryName\AbstractHelper or StandardName\Helpers\StringSniffHelper
   - Fixed an error where STDIN was sometimes not checked when using the --parallel CLI option
   - The is_closure index has been removed from the return value of File::getMethodProperties()
     -- This value was always false becasue T_FUNCTION tokens are never closures

src/Ruleset.php

@@ -167,6 +167,9 @@ public function __construct(Config $config)
 
                     $this->name   .= $standardName;
                     $this->paths[] = $standard;
+
+                    // Allow autoloading of custom files inside this standard.
+                    Autoload::addSearchPath(dirname(dirname($standard)));
                 }
 
                 if (PHP_CODESNIFFER_VERBOSITY === 1) {