PHP Fatal error: Class 'ContentHelperRoute' not found

Question

I am getting this line in the error_log of a Joomla! 3.6.5 site every so often:

[21-Dec-2016 18:29:41 America/Detroit] PHP Fatal error:  Class 'ContentHelperRoute' not found in /path/to/site/templates/theme/html/mod_articles_categories/default_items.php on line 14

Here are the contents of default_items.php:

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Site
 * @subpackage  mod_articles_categories
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2013 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * @license     GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
 */

defined('_JEXEC') or die;

foreach ($list as $item) :
?>
    <li <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == JRoute::_(ContentHelperRoute::getCategoryRoute($item->id))) echo ' class="active"';?>> <?php $levelup = $item->level - $startLevel - 1; ?>
        <a href="<?php echo JRoute::_(ContentHelperRoute::getCategoryRoute($item->id)); ?>">
        <?php echo $item->title;?></a>
        <?php
        if ($params->get('show_description', 0))
        {
            echo JHtml::_('content.prepare', $item->description, $item->getParams(), 'mod_articles_categories.content');
        }
        if ($params->get('show_children', 0) && (($params->get('maxlevel', 0) == 0) || ($params->get('maxlevel') >= ($item->level - $startLevel))) && count($item->getChildren()))
        {
            echo '<ul>';
            $temp = $list;
            $list = $item->getChildren();
            require JModuleHelper::getLayoutPath('mod_articles_categories', $params->get('layout', 'default').'_items');
            $list = $temp;
            echo '</ul>';
        }
        ?>
 </li>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Here are the contents of the core default_items.php file for comparison:

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Site
 * @subpackage  mod_articles_categories
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2016 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * @license     GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
 */

defined('_JEXEC') or die;

foreach ($list as $item) : ?>
    <li <?php if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] == JRoute::_(ContentHelperRoute::getCategoryRoute($item->id))) echo ' class="active"';?>> <?php $levelup = $item->level - $startLevel - 1; ?>
        <h<?php echo $params->get('item_heading') + $levelup; ?>>
        <a href="<?php echo JRoute::_(ContentHelperRoute::getCategoryRoute($item->id)); ?>">
        <?php echo $item->title;?>
            <?php if ($params->get('numitems')) : ?>
                (<?php echo $item->numitems; ?>)
            <?php endif; ?>
        </a>
        </h><?php echo $params->get('item_heading') + $levelup; ?>>

        <?php if ($params->get('show_description', 0)) : ?>
            <?php echo JHtml::_('content.prepare', $item->description, $item->getParams(), 'mod_articles_categories.content'); ?>
        <?php endif; ?>
        <?php if ($params->get('show_children', 0) && (($params->get('maxlevel', 0) == 0)
            || ($params->get('maxlevel') >= ($item->level - $startLevel)))
            && count($item->getChildren())) : ?>
            <?php echo '<ul>'; ?>
            <?php $temp = $list; ?>
            <?php $list = $item->getChildren(); ?>
            <?php require JModuleHelper::getLayoutPath('mod_articles_categories', $params->get('layout', 'default') . '_items'); ?>
            <?php $list = $temp; ?>
            <?php echo '</ul>'; ?>
        <?php endif; ?>
    </li>
<?php endforeach; ?>

How can I resolve this error?

---

Note: These errors only began on Nov 3, so I assume this was related to the 3.6.4 update or a minor update to PHP 5.5.

Answer 1

I just came across this issue again with another site and remembered what the problem is. This module is that it has changed the way it's loading its helper File/Class and the way the helper.php file is loading the ContentHelperRoute Class, so the ContentHelperRoute isn't anymore available at the default_items.php template file.

From:

require_once __DIR__ . '/helper.php';

inside the mod_articles_categories.php to include the helper file and Class, and:

require_once JPATH_SITE . '/components/com_content/helpers/route.php';

inside the helper.php, to include the ContentHelperRoute file/Class, it now loads the said Classes with JLoader::register();

But this way the ContentHelperRoute isn't available anymore in the default_items.php where it's getting called.

To fix this bug, you can edit the mod_articles_categories.php and add this line after the defined('_JEXEC') or die;

JLoader::register('ContentHelperRoute', JPATH_SITE . '/components/com_content/helpers/route.php');

Update

This is a bug as shown here: https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/pull/13590

You can apply the above fix to the mod_articles_categories.php and wait for the next Joomla release.

Answer 2

It appears that recent versions of Joomla! have replace $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] with $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']. I have replaced that code on line 14 and will continue to monitor the error_log to see if the issue is resolved.

---

Update: I have received the same error at least once since this "fix", so it appears it did not solve the issue.