$DOCUMENT_ROOT permissions

[SoulAssassin]

I have a chat page that needs these files to write entries to:

$latest = $DOCUMENT_ROOT . "minichat2.latest";
$archive = $DOCUMENT_ROOT . "minichat2.archive";

but I get error:
"minichat2.latest or minichat2.archive is not writable. Please check your permissions and try again."

where do I find these permissions?

[laserlight]

Have you tried using $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] ?