[RESOLVED] bulletproof method of determining script path and URL?

schwim

Hi there guys,

Over the course of time, I've come to realize that I overestimated the general users' ability to figure out their server path. The config file holds the script path and URL. The most common problem with the installation process for the user is their inability to figure it out their server environment.

So I created a little helper script to help them figure out the variables. The problem with that is that they don't always work and the latter attempt includes the file name, which they neglect to remove when pasting it into their config file.

$_SERVER['PATH_TRANSLATED'];

__FILE__

With the above examples, the prior doesn't work most often and the bottom one includes the filename.

If the script resides in /home/user/public_html/ , then I would like to create a function that has the best chance of coming up with this to help the user along.

I would appreciate any help figuring this out, as it would save me a lot of time 😃

thanks,
json

NogDog

Is this what you mean?

echo dirname(__FILE__);

schwim

Hi there nog,

That most definitely does what I need it to do. Should this work for any php install, or will there be some(perhaps do to security measures taken) that don't allow this method? Should I have a backup method of checking the path?

Secondly, is there a similar method for checking the URL minus the filename?

thanks very much for your help,
json

NogDog

The [man]dirname/man function should be available on all but the most ridiculous of PHP installations, and as far as I know there is no way to disable the FILE "magic constant" outside of rewriting and recompiling the PHP source code.

You could similarly use the dirname function for the URL, though it's a bit more of a kludge to build it:

echo dirname('http://' . $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);

schwim

Hi there nogdog,

I outsmarted myself. I wrote the script to compare the scriptpath that they set with the dirname(file), and sound an alarm if they differ.

Problem is, they differ because the install system is located in a subfolder 🙂

So, they're getting /home/user/public_html/install , when I need the dirname(file) to stop at the parent directory.

Is there a way to do this, or do I need to use a different method entirely?

thanks,
json

NogDog

How about dirname(dirname(FILE))?

PS: If you just want to know the root web directory, you can use $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], though I'm guessing that's not necessarily what you want.