Including files from different folders after changing the document root

Question

I am working on a project using WAMP. The vhost is configured like this:

<VirtualHost *:80>
   ServerName LearningPHP
   DocumentRoot c:/wamp64/www/learning_php/public/page/
   <Directory  "c:/wamp64/www/learning_php/public/page/">
       Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
       AllowOverride All
       Require local
   </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

The Windows host file looks like this:

127.0.0.1       LearningPHP       # Project wamp64/www/learning_php
::1             LearningPHP       # Project wamp64/www/learning_php

The project structure looks like this:

I am trying to achieve this:

when I access the website to land on learning_php/public/page/index.php (I think I accomplished this through the vhost configuration);
inside each folder under page directory (e.g. login, profile_add etc.) there are two files: index.php and process.php. I used this approach to organize my project better (I am not yet familiarized with the MVC pattern);
inside the css and js folders the name of the files matches the name of the folder under the page directory (e.g. page > profile_add => css/profile_add.css or js/profile_add.js). Later on I will merge all css and js files a page needs into individual files to limit the HTTP requests;

The problem I am experiencing:

I cannot figure out how to include the css and js files. I think this happens because I rewrite the DocumentRoot in the vhost configuration.

I tried answers from similar questions using PHP constants, but I could not figure out what the issue is. For instance, I tried to add this <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../public/css/style.css"> to the index.php under the page folder and it did not work. I also used the file location on disk, but no result.

I would really appreciate any help.

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

1

Ok i found another solution from Here

Code:

$includePath = str_replace($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], '', str_replace('\\', '/', __FILE__));

WAMP Servers tends to put the document root, you can delete that with str_replace(); so your final code should look like:

$includeReplace = str_replace($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], '', str_replace('\\', '/', '../css/styles.css'));

then in html put:

<link href="<?php echo $includeReplace; ?>" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

Community

1
1

answered Mar 31 '16 at 16:45

Affix Programmer

80
7

Had to fix the solution – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:49
i can see why your code did not work because you only went back one file instead of 2 to get to the public folder – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:58
Your public folder is 2 directories behind, `../public/css/styles.css` just add another `../` so `../../public/css/styles.css` – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:59
Okay, now `href=""` returns `href="/index.php"`. I still think the `vhost` configuration causes this... – Mihai Mar 31 '16 at 17:04
1

try just putting `` in just plain text with out PHP. – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 17:09
I tried it and when I click `view-source` the link looks like this: `` and when I click it it goes to `http://hrevaluation/css/style.css` with `404` code... – Mihai Mar 31 '16 at 17:17
hmm i know why now – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 17:19
when you view the html/php file through the web browser it prevents looking for file in the root directory. Your domain is configured at the `page` folder. So if you add the js & css files to the page directory and put `` Try that and see if it works. – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 17:22

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

After consulting someone else on this issue I concluded (strictly referring to my own project) that:

Having the structure displayed above the css file cannot be access by the browser because it is simply outside the document root specified in the vhost configuration. An alternative is to point the document root to learning_php/public/ and structure the project this way:

another way to accomplish the desired result, but without modifying the project structure, is to read the css files via PHP and then store/ output the content wherever needed.

The bottom line is that, as far as I could find out, folders outside the document root are not accessible to the browser (which makes sens keeping in mind the security reasons and how most of the PHP frameworks use this principle). However, the same file can be manipulated using server-side scripting.

Please correct me, if I am mistaken.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 31 '16 at 16:08

0

try using this code:

$includePath = dirname(__FILE__) . '../css/styles.css'; then
include ''.$includePath.''; then In html:
<link href="<?php echo $includePath; ?>" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> I tend not to use ../../path/path/file.txt and you only need to go back one file instead of two. Try using the function dirname(__FILE__); to get the current directory.

This is what i use, hope it helps. Any problems try Clicking Here

answered Mar 31 '16 at 16:08

Affix Programmer

80
7

Can you please clarify the use of this line `include ''.$includePath.''`? It returns: `href="C:\wamp64\www\learning_php\public\page../css/styles.css">`. Thanks. – Mihai Mar 31 '16 at 16:15
are you using a web server? – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:28
Usually when that happens is when the files are not running on a server. – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:33
I am using WAMP and Virtual Hosts. If I used this '' (which should work). When I go to view-source and click the `href` link it doesn't load the `css` file as it should, but rather it goes to `learningphp/public/css/style.css` and it throws page not found. – Mihai Mar 31 '16 at 16:33
And are you using wordpress – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:35
No WordPress. I built the folder structure from scratch. – Mihai Mar 31 '16 at 16:38
Okay posted a new answer – Affix Programmer Mar 31 '16 at 16:47

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 31 '16 at 17:28

Try changing the configuration to:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName LearningPHP
    DocumentRoot c:/wamp64/www/
    <Directory  "c:/wamp64/www/">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require local
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

if that does not work try:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName LearningPHP
    DocumentRoot c:/wamp64/www/learning_php/public/page/
    <Directory  "c:/wamp64/www/">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require local
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

then you can use:

<link href="../css/styles.css" rel="stylesheets" type="text/css" />

Thanks a lot for all the help! Sorry I took me so long to reply, I went further on with investigating the problem. I will post what I found out in a separate answer in order to attach an image as well. Also, it was necessary to replace `stylesheets` with `stylesheet`. — Mihai, Mar 31 '16 at 19:25

Including files from different folders after changing the document root

4 Answers4