Hi all, Looking at AutoLoader's __autoload() method, I see that the mappings are kept in a static internal variable called $localClasses. Would anyone have a problem with allowing this to be augmented by a global? For example, say in LocalSettings or an extension you had: $wgAutoloadClassMappings['Article'] = 'extensions/myextension/MyArticle.php'; And MyArticle extends Article, but with extra processing (presumably something which can't currently be done with hooks). Then, the code inside AutoLoader::__autoload() would contain something like this: ------------ static $localClasses = array( .... ); static $firstRun = true; if ($firstRun) { $firstRun = false; global $wgAutoloadClassMappings; if (!empty($wgAutoloadClassMappings)) { $localClasses = array_merge( $localClasses, $wgAutoloadClassMappings ); } } ------------ I think this could go a long way towards the goals of having a single abstract factory pattern for object instantiation discussed previously as the "Massive Hook Proposal". I fully expect there's a better way to implement this than what's proposed above. Any thoughts you have about this are much appreciated. Thanks in advance. -- Jim R. Wilson (jimbojw)