Error with require function

[Rahish]

I always get this error when I am trying to require the file "./../includes/footer.php"

This is my code from "index.php"

<?php
	session_start();
	$site_root_path = "./../";
	require($site_root_path."includes/header.php");

$query = "SELECT * FROM category";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while($fetch = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
	echo("<table class='cat'>
		<tr class='header'>
			<td>".$fetch['cat_name']."</td>
		</tr>");
		$query = "SELECT * FROM forum WHERE cat_id = '".$fetch['cat_id']."'";
		$result_forum = mysql_query($query);
		while($fetch_forum = mysql_fetch_array($result_forum)){
			echo("<tr>
				<td><a href='".$site_root_url."viewforum.php?f="
					.$fetch_forum['forum_id']."'>".$fetch_forum['forum_name']."
					</a></td>
			</tr>");
		}
		echo("</table>");
}
require($site_root_path."includes/footer.php");
?>

And here is the code from "./../includes/footer.php";

<?php
require($site_root_path."config.php");
?>

</div>
<div id="footer">
&copy; 2007
</div>
</body>
</html>

I tried so many things to fix it, but still comes up with the error. Can someone please help me

[cgraz]

Drop the $site_root_path. require() doesn't need a relative path back like that.

[bpat1434]

Try just removing the "./" and keep the "../" as if the includes directory isn't a child of the current directory, the require should fail.

Also, if you're having this much trouble, I'd suggest heading over to getInstance.com and read up in Matt Zandstra's article Death to the Dot in which he outlines why you shouldn't use relative paths, and how to get away from them 😉

[Rahish]

Thanks cgraz:
I removed the $site_root_path from the require() funcion, and it works fine now. But I move by project from one pace to another and everytime I do this I will have to change the require() function as well.
Is there any other way, I could do this. other than the one bpat1434 suggested. I do not have access to the php.in file. and it seemed too complicated for my level.
Thanks for the reply

[bpat1434]

The site I linked you to doesn't require php.ini modification. You can use .htaccess instead. It's not all that complicated. You just need to know the proper path to the includes directory. A simple way to do that is to do:

<?php
echo realpath('./');
?>

Save that as a php file and put it in your document root. Then you will have the path to your document root. Add the "/includes/" to it and you've got your path 😉

Other than that, there's no easy way to keep the file paths up-to-date without using something like Dreamweaver or some other IDE that monitors file links and includes for you, at least not that I know of.

[Rahish]

Thanks for everyones reply. I will give it a try.🙂