$DOCUMENT_ROOT

Anon

Hi,

I've been working on a site for a client and am doing things in a much different (as in more logical) way than before. I am using function libraries (I'm digesting the OOP stuff) in a big way.

Now this brings me to the question. After seeing what Tim (as in Perdue) did in his login/authentication script using the $DOCUMENT_ROOT variable to include the function libraries, I decided to try it myself. I'm having problems with it and am forced to re-evaluate what I'm doing in the HTML portion of this project. Since using the $DOCUMENT_ROOT variable has proven less than reliable when it comes to including things such as menus, I am considering putting the HTML into it's own table in a db. At least that way, I have no "path" issues. What do you think? Should I dump the HTML in a db and treat all of the site as if it is just one big directory? Something that I am having trouble accepting. Or is there something I'm missing here?

Any feedback, discussion, rant, or whatever is welcome.

Thanx,
Terrence

Anon

Not quite sure how to answer your question, but I am curious about

"Since using the $DOCUMENT_ROOT variable has proven less than reliable"

What leads you to say DOCUMENT_ROOT is not reliable?

Chris Lee

Anon

I should probably back peddle on that statement and say that my understanding of it has been the problem. In particular, I was unclear if included files (those containing links in particular) would operate from the directory they were called, or based on the directory of the working document. I'll explain further with an example.

Let's say the user calls a form titled view_properties.php (i'm presently building a real estate based site). First off, this page is in a sub-directory titled forms. The page then does an include of various page elements while loading. One of those includes has a menu and links to various places. Well, the menu's links are broken of course.

Now i'm looking for some ideas on how to deal with the HTML in a clean and logical fashion. I like the idea of putting the vast majority of the page elements into the db and creating functions that will build the rest.

I guess I really just want some feedback.

Thanx,
Terrence

Anon

I'm not really sure,
but I thought some roads out of your coder-block:

You can use a wraper file 'index.php' wich is only the file i link to

index.php?usr=1&s_id=2&area=form&form_id=1

this index.php should have no output, but it should decide wich files to include based on variables suchs as $area='form' or $pg=home

your menu could look like
<a href="index.php?pg=home">HOME</A>
<a href="index.php?pg=1">OP1</A>
<a href="index.php?pg=2">OP2</A>

I use a multimension array like this one to trigger all the right includes in the right $context and by the right order...

$pg_inc['home'][0]='pub/usrvars.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][1]='pub/banner.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][2]='tables/stdbegin.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][3]='menus/homemenu.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][4]='flashsite/welcome.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][2]='tables/stdend.php3'
$pg_inc['home'][5]='footer.php3'

it's handy to manage page cmpositions like in a multi-columns site, with 4!!!! or more !!!!!!!!! levels of nested tables as in a portal.

index can also validate usr and session, permissions on page beign solicited, can read user preferences, etc...

of course, i bellieve it increases 'server-overhead' (is this the right term?), but i find it so usefull I just wish for faster servers...

Now tell me, what's the use of $DOCUMENT_ROOT anyway? why don't you

include 'form_lib.php3'
or
include '..\includes\forms.php3'

Anon

Now tell me, what's the use of $DOCUMENT_ROOT anyway?

Is that just a rhetorical question? But when including files from
within PHP, you're not restricted to files on $DOCUMENT_ROOT
or below, unless you've also restricted PHP itself.

Anon

After the third time reading your post, I figured out what you were talking about. A right good idea it is too. I am not sure if I'm going to use it, but's it's worth some serious consideration.

By the way, "Server Overhead" is a good term for it, if not THEE term.

Lastly, for the question of "what's the use of $DOCUMENT_ROOT anyway". Well, I don't really know how to answer the question other than say it would certainly seem to make sense particular circumstances. Besides, the other options didn't solve the problem either. I used those first.

Perhaps, to put it another way, I wanted a clean way of being able to call or include THE SAME MENU file from ANYWHERE in the document/directory tree and NOT have any links broken, regardless of depth.

Now the more I type, the more I can see a way of doing this using your method in conjunction with the $DOCUMENT_ROOT variable.
It would have to use absolute path information, but doing so using the $DOCUMENT_ROOT variable should still make the site somewhat portable (from server to server).

Oh well, you've helped a lot.

Out of curiosity, are you using Windows?
You're slashes are going the wrong way.

Later on,
Morpheus

André Gonçalves wrote:

I'm not really sure,
but I thought some roads out of your coder-block:

You can use a wraper file 'index.php' wich is only the file i link to

index.php?usr=1&s_id=2&area=form&form_id=1

this index.php should have no output, but it should decide wich files to include based on variables suchs as $area='form' or $pg=home

your menu could look like
<a href="index.php?pg=home">HOME</A>
<a href="index.php?pg=1">OP1</A>
<a href="index.php?pg=2">OP2</A>

I use a multimension array like this one to trigger all the right includes in the right $context and by the right order...

it's handy to manage page cmpositions like in a multi-columns site, with 4!!!! or more !!!!!!!!! levels of nested tables a....

Anon

Out of curiosity, are you using Windows?
You're slashes are going the wrong way.

Actually, his slashes are going the <i>right</i> way; on Windows
they lean to the <i>left</i>, see: \\\

It may surprise you to learn that Windows (and even DOS before it)
actually supports / in calls to the operating system functions that
manipulate files and directories; it's only at the command/shell level
that you have to use backslash. This is quite useful when writing
source code that must move between platforms.

Anon

They look the wrong way to me. When I fire up a shell and start trying to change directories with a command like
"cd dir/dir/dir", it works fine. If I try
"cd dir\dir\dir", I am met with an error message. This is using Mandrake and SuSE.

Perhaps the slashes go the other way south of the equator? :->

Oh well, wether or not they're correct depends on the OS I suppose.

Later on,
Terrence

Anon

OIC! I was looking at his large $pg_home[] array, where all of the
separators are the regular slash, and didn't see his one include
statement where he did use a backslash.

Anon

Yes, man, i'm using windows
like in a Smashing Pumpkins song:

Window Paine

professionally I haven't got a choice,
so, I use it cause I have to. And I tell you something:

It's really not\that\bad!

André

Anon

Portugal is not south of the equator, I'm european, not south-american)
Actually slashes goes / in unix and \ in DOS but they can go / or \ in windows, whatever the side of equator you're on...

André

Anon

It's really not\that\bad

You mean

 &nbspIt's really not <tab> hat <bs> ad

???

Anon

Hey Andre,

I hope didn't offend you or anything. Just joking around. It was just that after being away from Windows for so long, it seemed strange to see the slashes as they were.

That said, I do really appreciate the feedback you gave earlier. It was very valuable.

Thanx again Andre,
Terrence

P.S. I'm in Venezuela these days anyways. After growing up in the states, this is the
clostest I've actually come to the equator yet.

Anon

You know, I've been using Linux for a little over two years now, and even to this day, I still have to admit that there were some things that I liked about it. I used it professionally for a time as well. It's OK in many ways, just not stable enough for my taste.

Oh well, just chattin'.

Thanx for the feedback again.
Terrence