mark@something.com says...
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> Can anybody share some tips on what they do to overcome what must be a
> very common problem? Is absolute paths the answer so instead of calling
> ../images/image.gif from the include file, I would call /images/image1.gif?[/color]
My usual technique is to create a "config" file and populate it with a
number of defined CONSTANTS (note: NOT variables) and then include it in
each of the PHP files in my web application.
Simplified example:
<?php // config file
define('WEB_ROOT', 'http://http_doc_root/');
define('FILE_ROOT', '/absolute_php_root/');
define('IMAGE_WEB_PATH', WEB_ROOT.'images/');
define('IMAGE_FILE_PATH', FILE_ROOT.'images/');
define('INCLUDE_FILE_PATH', FILE_ROOT.'includes/');
define('HEADER_FILE', INCLUDE_FILE_PATH.'header.php');
define('FOOTER_FILE', INCLUDE_FILE_PATH.'footer.php');
?>
<?php // sample app file
//
// first line below is only entry for this file where you might use a full
// path but I usually use a relative one as I will know where this app
// file is in the file system eg. maybe include '../includes/config.php'
// instead
//
include 'includes/config.php';
include HEADER_FILE;
echo 'This is a picture: <br />';
echo '<img src="'.IMAGE_WEB_PATH.'picture.jpg" alt="pic">
include FOOTER_FILE;
?>
Also excellent for portability within or across hosts, simply adjust in
the config file only.
Geoff M
