are absolute paths necessary?

flumpydog

I would like to know when using an include, whether I must use the absolute path or can I just use the relative path, which is what I prefer to use.

The following works:
include ("/var/sites/www/components/test.php")

This does not work:
include ("/components/test.php")
generates the error:
Warning: Failed opening '/components/test.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/pear') in /var/sites/www/components/test.php on line 1

"/var/sites/www" is the DocumentRoot of the site.

I am currently testing this on Apache 2.0 with PHP 4.2.2, not sure if this is a bug related to these versions?

Best Wishes,
Charlie

Chimera

depending on the location of the actual PHP file you're executing, this may work for you :

include ("components/test.php");

The leading / that you had on components literally means root, not document root. You could always do $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] instead, that way it would work on whatever server you are using.

flumpydog

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately I cannot just use:
include ("components/test.php"); due to the nature of the sites and volume of pages I would end up with too many variations like ../componets/test.php etc.

How exactly would I use $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] in the include statement? I had tried a couple different methods, but none worked. I do not have globals turned on, but from what documentation I have read, this should be ok and is the preferred method.

Best Wishes,
Charlie

eriksmoen

include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."components/test.php");

can't remember is document_root adds a "/" at the end of itself or not... but if the above include does not work, but a "/" in front of components.

hope it helps.

flumpydog

Thanks, it worked great! I had to add "/" in front of components.
Best Wishes,
Charlie