How to include PHP files that require an absolute path

Question

I have a directory structure like the following      script php      inc include1 php   inc include2 php      objects object1 php   objects object2 php      soap soap php   Now  I use those objects in both script php and  soap soap php  I could move them  but I want the directory structure like that for a specific reason  When executing script php the include path is inc include php and when executing  soap soap php it s    inc  absolute paths work   mnt webdev  project name  inc include1 php    But it s an ugly solution if I ever want to move the directory to a different location   So is there a way to use relative paths  or a way to programmatically generate the   mnt webdev  project name

User · Answer

Another way to handle this that removes any need for includes at all is to use the autoload feature. Including everything your script needs "Just in Case" can impede performance. If your includes are all class or interface definitions, and you want to load them only when needed, you can overload the __autoload() function with your own code to find the appropriate class file and load it only when it's called. Here is the example from the manual:

function __autoload($class_name) {
    require_once $class_name . '.php';
}

$obj  = new MyClass1();
$obj2 = new MyClass2();

As long as you set your include_path variables accordingly, you never need to include a class file again.

User · Answer

This should work    root   realpath   SERVER  DOCUMENT ROOT      include   root inc include1 php       Edit  added imporvement by aussieviking

User · Answer

have a look at http   au php net reserved variables  I think the variable you are looking for is    SERVER  DOCUMENT ROOT

User · Answer

Flubba  does this allow me to have folders inside my include directory  flat include directories give me nightmares  as the whole objects directory should be in the inc directory       Oh yes  absolutely  So for example  we use a single layer of subfolders  generally   require once  library string class php     You need to be careful with relying on the include path too much in really high traffic sites  because php has to hunt through the current directory and then all the directories on the include path in order to see if your file is there and this can slow things up if you re getting hammered    So for example if you re doing MVC  you d put the path to your application directoy in the include path and then specify refer to things in the form   model user class   controllers front php    or whatever   But generally speaking  it just lets you work with really short paths in your PHP that will work from anywhere and it s a lot easier to read than all that realpath document root malarkey    The benefit of those script-based alternatives others have suggested is they work anywhere  even on shared boxes  setting the include path requires a little more thought and effort but as I mentioned lets you start using   autoload which just the coolest

User · Answer

require str repeat        substr count getenv  SCRIPT URL       -1     path to file php      I use this line of code  It goes back to the  top  of the site tree  then goes to the file desired   For example  let s say i have this file tree      domain com aaa index php   domain com bbb ccc ddd index php   domain com  resources functions php   I can include the functions php file from wherever i am  just by copy pasting  require str repeat        substr count getenv  SCRIPT URL       -1      resources functions php      If you need to use this code many times  you may create a function that returns the str repeat        substr count getenv  SCRIPT URL       -1   part  Then just insert this function in the first file you include  I have an  initialize php  file that i include at the very top of each php page and which contains this function  The next time i have to include files  i in fact just use the function  named path back    require path back      resources another php file php

User · Answer

Another option  related to Kevin s  is use   FILE    but instead replace the php file name from within it    lt  php   docRoot   str replace   SERVER  SCRIPT NAME          FILE     require once  docRoot     lib include php       gt    I ve been using this for a while  The only problem is sometimes you don t have   SERVER  SCRIPT NAME    but sometimes there is another variable similar

User · Answer

I think the best way is to put your includes in your PHP include path  There are various ways to do this depending on your setup    Then you can simply refer to   require once  inc1 php     from inside any file regardless of where it is whether in your includes or in your web accessible files  or any level of nested subdirectories   This allows you to have your include files outside the web server root  which is a best practice   e g    site directory     html  web root          your web-accessible files     includes         your include files   Also  check out   autoload for lazy loading of class files  http   www google com search q setting php include path  http   www google com search q   autoload

User · Answer

If you are going to include specific path in most of the files in your application  create a Global variable to your root folder   define  APPLICATION PATH   realpath dirname   FILE           app     or  define  APPLICATION PATH   realpath DIR   FILE           app       Now this Global variable  APPLICATION PATH  can be used to include all the files instead of calling realpath   everytime you include a new file   EX    include APPLICATION PATH    config config ini     Hope it helps  -

User · Answer

I found this to work very well   function findRoot          return substr   SERVER  SCRIPT FILENAME    0   stripos   SERVER  SCRIPT FILENAME      SERVER  SCRIPT NAME    1         Use    lt  php  function findRoot         return substr   SERVER  SCRIPT FILENAME    0   stripos   SERVER  SCRIPT FILENAME      SERVER  SCRIPT NAME    1        include findRoot      Post php     posts   getPosts findRoot      posts content     include findRoot      includes head php     for   i  sizeof  posts -1   0  lt    i   i--         posts  i - gt displayArticle       include findRoot      includes footer php       gt

User · Answer

You could define a constant with the path to the root directory of your project  and then put that at the beginning of the path

User · Answer

You can use relative paths  Try   FILE     This is a PHP constant which always returns the path filename of the script it is in   So  in soap php  you could do   include dirname   FILE         inc include php        The full path and filename of the   file  If used inside an include  the   name of the included file is returned    Since PHP 4 0 2    FILE   always   contains an absolute path with   symlinks resolved whereas in older   versions it contained relative path   under some circumstances     source    Another solution would be to set an include path in your httpd conf or an  htaccess file

[php] How to include PHP files that require an absolute path?

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