Get the Current Directory

24Jan08

Sometimes you write a function in PHP that needs to know where in the directory hierarchy the code is being called from, to correctly access other files, such as those to be read, written or included. If the same function appears throughout your site, you can’t ‘hard code’ the location, because it changes from one web page to another, if you site spans more than one directory.

PHP, of course, provides a simple solution:

$dir=getcwd();

So, for example, using the above code in a script on your page at mysite.com/widgets/goodstuff.php might return the value:

home/mysite/public_html/widgets

The only cautionary note when using this function, is to remember that it will return the working directory of the calling script, rather than included script, if it is used within an include. So, if your

$dir=getcwd();

is in a file at home/mysite/public_html/includes

And you include it in a script running at home/mysite/public_html/widgets

It will set the $dir variable to that second path, not the path where the included file resides.

Filed under: Functions   |  Leave a Comment