PHP Include failing when it shouldnt

Question

I have an include 'functions.php' which holds things such as connection details and various custom functions.

It works perfectly with every page but i just created a new page in a new dir, adjusted the include link accordingly, and the page is correctly included.

BUT, when using any of the functions from the include it breaks the page.

 include '../../../functions.php'

Is this an acceptable way of linking to a a functions include? Is this why its broken? I normally use this method of linking and never had an issue, but today its not worked and has really rather puzzled me.

It works perfectly until i attempt to call any of the functions within the functions include.

example of a simple function that breaks the page

 function functionsTest() {
        echo "functions.php Included Correctly! ";
    }

The functions page works perfectly across the rest of the site, and has only broken on this newly created page.

Any advice appreciated here thanks

Don't use relative paths for includes

John Conde
– John Conde

2014-03-26 16:02:39 +00:00
Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:02 — John Conde
– John Conde, Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:02
how should i link to them, direct links?

Derple
– Derple

2014-03-26 16:03:16 +00:00
Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:03 — Derple
– Derple, Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:03
@StuartWickenden use absolute, or real path

meda
– meda

2014-03-26 16:05:14 +00:00
Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:05 — meda
– meda, Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 16:05

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-17 19:39:04Z

1

Relative paths in PHP are not relative to the physical file where the code is. Instead, they are relative to the working directory which, by default, is the directory of the main script, although you can even change it on runtime:

bool chdir ( string $directory )
Changes PHP's current directory to directory

If you need paths that are relative to current file, you have to build an absolute path yourself:

include(__DIR__ . '/foo.php');

edited Nov 17, 2023 at 19:39

CommunityBot

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answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:12

Álvaro González

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1 Comment

Derple Over a year ago

i solved with this include($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/home/functions.php"); Many thanks

meda · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:19:04Z

1

Say if you have a folder called myfunctions you can use real path like this:

define('FUNCTION_PATH', realpath(dirname(__FILE__).'/myfunctions'));

Then you would use that constant path like this:

include FUNCTION_PATH."functions.php";

edited Mar 26, 2014 at 16:19

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:07

meda

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2 Comments

Derple Over a year ago

is this acceptable? include($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/home/functions.php");

meda Over a year ago

@StuartWickenden no don't use $_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] it wont work always

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