hook never called

Question

File C:\wamp\www\sites\all\modules\custom_user\custom_user.info:

name = Custom User
description = Custom User
core = 7.x
dependencies[] = alter_ego

File C:\wamp\www\sites\all\modules\custom_user\custom_user.module:

<?php

function custom_user_views_api() {
  return array(
    'api' => 3,
  );
}



/**
 * Implement hook_user_view().
 */
function custom_user_user_view($account, $view_mode, $langcode) {
  dsm( $account );
}

File C:\wamp\www\sites\all\modules\custom_user\custom_user.views_default.inc :

<?php

function custom_user_views_default_views() {

    $view = new view;
    $view->name = 'custom_user_views';
    $views[$view->name] = $view;
    dsm( $views );
    return $views;

}

If I add a syntax error within the "custom_user.views_default.inc" function, clearing all caches will return an error. So the function is parsed. But when I reload my page:

http://localhost:8080/?q=user/1

I can only see the dsm() from Called from: C:\wamp\www\sites\all\modules\custom_user\custom_user.module, line 15

I'm quite new to drupal. What am I doing wrong ?

EDITED AFTER FIRST ANSWER.

Answer 1

From https://api.drupal.org/api/views/views.api.php/function/hook_views_default_views/7 ...

This hook should be placed in MODULENAME.views_default.inc and it will be auto-loaded. MODULENAME.views_default.inc must be in the directory specified by the 'path' key returned by MODULENAME_views_api(), or the same directory as the .module file, if 'path' is unspecified.

The files[] element of module .info files can be a little confusing because, as you identified, they do get parsed. However, you will either need to rename your file according to the directions above (custom_user.views_default.inc) and implement hook_views_api() or manually use module_load_include() at another point in your module in order to include extra files.

So, when do you use files[]?

One of the most common uses of the files[] line in your .info file is to take advantage Drupal's Autoloading feature (which is built on top of PHP5's autoloading) for classes. Classes defined in a file like that will have that file load automatically when you need to use that class, thanks to Drupal's auto-loading implementation. The views module stuff makes this a little confusing because it adds another separate auto-loading concept on top of this functionality.