ZF3 - Solved - Failure to get Controller Plugin worked globally.

zf3-failure-controller-plugin.php

<?php
/** 
 * config/global.php to keep application settings.
 */
 
return [
  /* ... */
  'application' => [
      'settings' => [
          'secretkey'     => '84bew58h37a07t50e09v79eb98fre843',
          'pagination'    => [
              'itemsPerPage' => 13,
          ],
      ],
  ],
  /* ... */
?>

<?php
/** 
 * Application Plugin Factory 
 * To create Application Plugin by injecting config array
 */
 
namespace Application\Controller\Plugin\Factory;

use Zend\ServiceManager\Factory\FactoryInterface;
use Interop\Container\ContainerInterface;

use Application\Controller\Plugin\Application;

class ApplicationFactory implements FactoryInterface
{
    public function __invoke(ContainerInterface $container, $requestedName, array $options = null)
    {
        $config = $container->get('config');
        $settings = $config['application']['settings'];

        $plugin = new Application($settings);
    
        return $plugin;
    }    
}
?>

<?php
/** 
 * Application Plugin
 * Actual plugin to provide config array in the controllers
 */
 
namespace Application\Controller\Plugin;

use Zend\Mvc\Controller\Plugin\AbstractPlugin;
use Zend\Config\Config;

class Application extends AbstractPlugin
{
    
    protected $settings;
    
    public function __construct($settings)
    {
        $this->settings = new Config($settings);
    }
    
    public function getSettings()
    {
        return $this->settings;
    }
}
?>

<?php
/** 
 * module.config.php 
 * Application Module Configuration file
 */
namespace Application;

return [
    /* ... */
    'controller_plugins' => [
        'aliases' => [
            'application' => Controller\Plugin\Application::class,
        ],
        'factories' => [
            Controller\Plugin\Application::class => Controller\Plugin\Factory\ApplicationFactory::class,
        ],
    ],
    /* ... */
];

<?php
/**
 * Following works as expected in Application IndexController action
 * but fails in any other controller in the entire project with 
 * “A plugin by the name “application” was not found in the plugin manager Zend\Mvc\Controller\PluginManager”
 * More interesting: I can see the "application" alias is loaded in the zend-developer-tools config bar
 */
print $this->application()->getSettings()->pagination->itemsPerPage;
?>

Resolution: I found out that plugins are not registered before controller __construct. I was trying to keep settings in a local variable by assigning it in the controller's __construct.
I will just use the actual plugin in controller actions instead.