PHP - require_once seems to be including files multiple times and causing errors

Question

In my PHP app, I have several calls to require_once. On my development PC this works fine and doesn't try to include the same file multiple times. However when I moved it to my production server I'm getting an error

cannot redeclare class myClass

After searching through the code I've found that this happens just after a call to require_once, so it must be that which is causing it.

I've searched through the entire project and this class is definitely only declared in one file, and it's only ever included through require_once. Is there some weird PHP config that would make require_once behave differently on the production server?

Thanks

`require_once` will check if the *file* has been included not if the *class* has been defined. — AlexP, Jul 11 '13 at 08:21
yes, maybe you have defined the same class in 2 different files — steven, Jul 11 '13 at 08:24
I definitely haven't done that - I have checked the whole project - this class is only defined in one file. — user1578653, Jul 11 '13 at 08:37

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 11 '13 at 08:51

0

Put the following at the top of your included class file:

if( class_exists( "<yourclassname>"))
{
throw new Exception("Class already defined");
}

You will now receive a clear error message where the class is re-called.

answered Jul 11 '13 at 08:51

Luceos

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '13 at 00:44

OK, this obnoxious problem can be caused by one of two things of which I'm aware:

symlinks; if loading from a file and a symlink pointing to the file

on OS X (and maybe Windows), the filenames are case-insensitive; PHP require_once is not

This had me confused for several hours today. I usually work in Linux, but I was forced onto a Mac where this becomes a problem.

PHP - require_once seems to be including files multiple times and causing errors

2 Answers2