[RESOLVED] Include path error

[doctortim]

Dog just one more thing for now (I hope), or anyone else still around at the moment...

Now that things seem to be working for me I am trying to enter some data into the database through one of my admin "create" forms.

I just load up the create_form for my blog and got a double error as follows:

Warning: include_once(../tj_admin_includes/connect_sql.inc.php)
C:\wamp\www\sites\timjupe\admin\professional\blog\professional_blog_create_form.php on line 3

Warning: include_once() 
include_path='.;C:\php5\pear') in
C:\wamp\www\sites\*******\admin\professional\blog\professional_blog_create_form.php on line 3

I assume this is saying the default include path is c:\php5\pear (obviously with wamp this directory set up isnt on my system, it's c:\wamp\php\pear)

I have put connect_sql.inc.php in a folder called tj_admin_includes 2 levels above where the file calling it is positioned, and used the ../ notation to reference this.

So do I need to change the default include path (in somewhere like php ini), and should I be keeping all of my includes in one single folder for the entire site?? Are the better placed in the same folder as the file calling them? (I've heard this can be dangerous?)

Or is it as simple as I have one too many or too few dots in specifying the path (ie ./ or .../ instead of ../)

[NogDog]

Two levels up would be "../../path/to/file.php".

[bradgrafelman]

As NogDog points out, you have too few "parent directory" identifiers. "../" commonly means 'parent directory' among the various filesystems, while './' means 'current directory'.

[doctortim]

ok I'll try and have a play with that suggestion and report back.

In the meantime, what about the c:/php5/pear business, I've seen others complain about it on the web, but they don't seem to have got a solution.

[NogDog]

It's just telling you what your include_path setting is, as PHP will look there for include files if you do not specify an absolute or relative file system path. Since you are explicitly specifying a relative path (by starting with a "../", "./", or "/"), it really does not have any effect on your current problem. (However, were you to add your includes directory to the PHP include_path, then you could just specify the file name and not worry about where it is in relation to the current script.)

[bobthebuilderin]

on my first building job i let go of the jack hammer and it drilled through a prison wall and let all the pedofiles out help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[PartDigital]

php handles paths in 2 different ways

1. A relative path

2. An absolute path

The relative path is pretty self explanitory (it grabs the files in relation to current file).

<img src = "images/myImage.jpg" />

absolute paths are a bit more complicated.

absolute paths are handled in two ways

1. a url

2. a directory.

Absolute paths always start with "/". This denotes the root of the directory. However, the root of the directory changes based on what you want to do.

if you want to link to a file such as an image or another html file then you must use the absolue url.

 <img src = "/project/images/myImage.jpg" />

the base in this case is the project folder

otherwise if you want to access files for opening, writing, copying etc then you want to use the absolute directory.

 fopen("/www_root/project/file.txt");

the base in this case is the folder that your server reads all the web files from.
(so it considers C:\www_root\ as your root)

I recommend using absolute paths over relative paths. It might be a headache at first but there's a lot of power to be had.

[bradgrafelman]

PartDigital wrote:

I recommend using absolute paths over relative paths. It might be a headache at first but there's a lot of power to be had.

Well, one thing's for sure; if you use absolute paths, you pretty much limit the mobility of the application; distribute it to others, change servers, re-organize, etc. and then you've broken all of your paths.

[PartDigital]

that's true, but not if you set it up right. in all my scripts I write I have a base_dir variable and a base_url variable. I use a function to automatically figure out what the base_dir/base_url will be.

for instance, if (on my local server) I have a base_dir of "/web/my_project/" and on my remote server I have "/remote/www/my_project/" it will automatically detect this and adjust those variables accordingly.

I use absolute paths in all my projects and in fact have never had a problem with broken images or links and I can easily move it to another server.

[bradgrafelman]

PartDigital wrote:

in all my scripts I write I have a base_dir variable and a base_url variable

Ah; I didn't see any sort of that implementation in your code snippets above and assumed you simply meant hardcoding the full absolute path in the code.

[joad]

Is there a certain, foolproof way to code it, if the file is on another website, on another server please ?

Joad.

[bradgrafelman]

Foolproof? No - server administrators have the option of simply not allowing you access to external files.

The best you can do is make your code portable - try [man]file_get_contents/man first. If it fails, check if [man]cURL[/man] is installed and, if so, try using it. If that fails... well you'll have to take whatever action is suitable for your application if it can not access external files.

[joad]

Many thanks bradgrafelman - your suggestion of file get contents worked.

[bradgrafelman]

Don't forget to mark this thread resolved.

[joad]

Apologies, I thought I had done that - consider it done 🙂