PHP Aligner

PHP Aligner is a Visual Studio Code extension that helps you automatically align your PHP code by organizing assignments and array structures based on = and => operators for better readability and consistent formatting.

✨ Features

• ✅ Align = assignments (e.g., properties, constants, function parameters).
• ✅ Align => in associative arrays (even nested arrays).
• ✅ Supports auto-align on file save (configurable).
• ✅ Skips alignment when => is immediately followed by an opening bracket [ (e.g., nested arrays).
• ✅ Works for entire files — no need to select text.
• ✅ Command palette + keyboard shortcut support.

📸 Example

Before

<?php

class User {
    private string $name = "mohamed";
    private int $age = 25;

    public function __construct(
        private string $email = "",
        private string $phoneNumber = "",
    ) {
    }
    
    public function process(
        string $name = "",
        string $email = "",
        string $phoneNumber = "",
        int $age = 0,
    ): void {
        $name1 = "1";
        $phone23 = "dsdS";

        $name234 = "2";
        $phone234 = "dsdS";
    }
}

const PI = 3.14;
const NAME = "mohamed";

$array = [
    "name" => "mohamed",
    "age" => 25,

    "data"                  => [
        "email" => "test@example.com",
        "phone-number" => "1234567890",

        "address"           => [
            "city" => "Cairo",
            "country" => "Egypt"
        ],
    ]
];

enum Status: int {
    case Active = 1;
    case Inactive = 0;
}

After (aligned)

class User {
    private string $name = "mohamed";
    private int $age     = 25;

    public function __construct(
        private string $email       = "",
        private string $phoneNumber = "",
    ) {
    }
    
    public function process(
        string $name        = "",
        string $email       = "",
        string $phoneNumber = "",
        int $age            = 0,
    ): void {
        $name1   = "1";
        $phone23 = "dsdS";

        $name234  = "2";
        $phone234 = "dsdS";
    }
}

const PI   = 3.14;
const NAME = "mohamed";

$array = [
    "name" => "mohamed",
    "age"  => 25,

    "data" => [
        "email"        => "test@example.com",
        "phone-number" => "1234567890",

        "address" => [
            "city"    => "Cairo",
            "country" => "Egypt"
        ],
    ]
];

enum Status: int {
    case Active   = 1;
    case Inactive = 0;
}

⚙️ Extension Settings

You can toggle this setting in Settings → Extensions → PHP Aligner.

🖱 Usage

Manual

• Open a PHP file
• Press Ctrl + Alt + A (or ⌘ + Option + A on macOS)
• Or run the command Align PHP Code from the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P)

Automatic

• By default, the extension will automatically align your PHP code when you save the file (you can disable this in settings).

⌨️ Keybinding

• Ctrl + Alt + A (Windows/Linux)
• Cmd + Option + A (macOS)

🛠 Requirements

• VS Code v1.101.0 or higher
• PHP files (.php) only

🚀 Installation

You can install the extension via the VS Code Marketplace (after publishing) or manually by packaging and installing it:

npm install -g vsce
vsce package

Then drag the generated .vsix file into VS Code or run:

code --install-extension php-aligner-0.0.1.vsix

☕ Support the Developer

If you find this extension helpful, consider sponsoring me on GitHub to support further development! or starring the project ❤️

🧠 How It Works

• Scans your file for sequences of lines with = or =>.
• Groups them and aligns the right-hand side values by padding the left-hand side consistently.
• Automatically skips lines like: "key" => [ to avoid breaking nested structures.
• Designed to not conflict with other formatters.

🧪 Contributing

Feel free to open issues or submit PRs if you find bugs or want to improve the alignment rules.

📄 License

MIT