Fixture ordering

There are two interfaces you can implement in your fixtures to control in which order they are going to be loaded.

By implementing OrderedFixtureInterface, you will be able to manually specify a priority for each fixture.
By implementing DependencyFixtureInterface, you will be able to declare which class must be loaded after which classes (note the plural), and let the package figure out the order for you.

You may implement an interface in a fixture, and another interface in another fixture, and even no interface (besides FixtureInterface) in a third one. Implementing both in the same fixture is an error.

Option 1: Controlling the order manually

1 <?php

namespace MyDataFixtures;

use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\AbstractFixture;
use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\OrderedFixtureInterface;
use Doctrine\Persistence\ObjectManager;

final class MyFixture extends AbstractFixture implements OrderedFixtureInterface
{
    public function load(ObjectManager $manager): void
    {
        // …
    }

    public function getOrder(): int
    {
        return 10; // smaller means sooner
    }
}
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While extending AbstractFixture is not required, it is likely you are going to need it since people usually need fixtures to be loading in a specific order because of references from one fixture to the other.

Option 2: Declaring dependencies

If you have many models, and a project that evolves, there may be several correct orders. Using OrderedFixtureInterface may become impractical in case you need to insert a new fixture in a position where there is no gap in the order. Instead of always renumbering the fixtures, or being careful to leave big gaps, you can declare that your fixture must be loaded after some other fixtures, and let the package figure out what to do.

1 <?php
namespace MyDataFixtures;

use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\AbstractFixture;
use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\DependentFixtureInterface;
use Doctrine\Persistence\ObjectManager;

class MyFixture extends AbstractFixture implements DependentFixtureInterface
{
    public function load(ObjectManager $manager): void
    {
    }

    /**
     * @return list<class-string<FixtureInterface>>
     */
    public function getDependencies(): array
    {
        return [MyOtherFixture::class];
    }
}

class MyOtherFixture extends AbstractFixture
{
    public function load(ObjectManager $manager): void
    {}
}
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1	<?php namespace MyDataFixtures; use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\AbstractFixture; use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\OrderedFixtureInterface; use Doctrine\Persistence\ObjectManager; final class MyFixture extends AbstractFixture implements OrderedFixtureInterface { public function load(ObjectManager $manager): void { // … } public function getOrder(): int { return 10; // smaller means sooner } }
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Maintained

Unmaintained

Fixture ordering

Option 1: Controlling the order manually

Option 2: Declaring dependencies