Include files from parent or other directory

Question

I'm needing to include a file from the parent directory, and other sub-directories, into a sub-directory. I've done it before by simply using include('/rootdirectory/file.php'); but now it won't seem to work.

Just wondering how I can do this, thanks.

Here's my exact line:

include('/forums/groups.php'); 

It's giving me this error(the page still runs):

Warning: include(/forums/groups.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\xampp\htdocs\forums\blog\posts.php on line

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/forums/groups.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;C:\xampp\php\PEAR') in C:\xampp\htdocs\forums\blog\posts.php on line 3

Answer 1

include() and its relatives take filesystem paths, not web paths relative to the document root. To get the parent directory, use ../

include('../somefilein_parent.php'); include('../../somefile_2levels_up.php'); 

If you begin with a /, an absolute system file path will be used:

// Full absolute path... include('/home/username/sites/project/include/config.php'); 

Answer 2

If your server is not resolving the file from the parent directory using

include '../somefilein_parent.php'

try this (using the parent directory relative to the script):

include __DIR__ . "/../somefilein_parent.php";