If I include a file, I will get Include error

Question

I have a smarty project:

in the devidate_server.php:

<?php

include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/ax/ax_conf/CONSTANTS.php');
include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/ax/utils/utils.php');
...

there I will get error, but I can not get the error information, because I am develop WHMCS, I don't know the traceback's place. Give me information is the interface is blank.

But if I comment the include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/ax/utils/utils.php'); there will not get error.

There will shows the interface content.

in the utils.php there is:

<?php

include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/utils/http_util.php');
include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/qi_cloud_config/urls.php');
include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php');
Requests::register_autoloader();

function fetch_qicloud_access_tokens($params){

    $result = Requests::post('http://localhost:8000/o/token', [
        // headers
    'Accept'=>'application/json'
 ], $params, [
        // options
        'auth' => new Requests_Auth_Basic([QICLOUD_whmcs_pj_client_id, QICLOUD_whmcs_pj_client_secret])
    ]);

    return $result;
}

I don't know why I get include error, who can help me why I comment that line there will be normal?

EDIT-01

I get the error log:

[Wed Jul 18 11:26:52.040872 2018] [proxy_fcgi:error] [pid 29189:tid 139662983087872] [client 118.113.136.133:29440] AH01071: Got error 'PHP message: PHP Warning: require(/usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/utils/http_util.php on line 9\nPHP message: PHP Warning: require(/usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/utils/http_util.php on line 9\nPHP message: PHP Fatal error: require(): Failed opening required '/usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/pear:/usr/share/php') in /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/whmcs/qi_cloud/utils/http_util.php on line 9\n', referer: http://www.example.net/clientarea.php

EDIT-2

the qi_cloud/utils/utils.php

<?php

include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/utils/http_util.php');
include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/qi_cloud_config/urls.php');
include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php');
Requests::register_autoloader();
...

the urls.php

<?php

require('./CONSTANTS.php');

define('qicloud_oauth_token_url', QICLOUD_BASE_API . 'o/token/'); //

the CONSTANTS.php:

<?php

define('QICLOUD_BASE_API', 'http://103.200.32.76:8000/');   
...

Make sure you actually have file from where you try to include it. Maybe include works fine, but you get error from included code? — Justinas, Jul 18 '18 at 11:40
See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5127838/where-does-php-store-the-error-log-php5-apache-fastcgi-cpanel for how to find the error log — user3783243, Jul 18 '18 at 11:46
afterwards I changed to include, still not work. but the `include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/qi_cloud/libs/Requests/library/Requests.php');` is exists. — sof-03, Jul 18 '18 at 12:00
Check if file exists before including it. Probally a path error. — Grumpy, Jul 18 '18 at 12:06
Now, I change the `urls.php`'s include `require('./CONSTANTS.php');` to absolute path, it works. — sof-03, Jul 18 '18 at 12:09
Yes, just what I thought. When you require or include a file that includes itself another file, you must use absolute paths to avoid this problem. The reason is that when you use relative paths, PHP takes the reference path of the file that is including , not the one that is being included. — , Jul 18 '18 at 12:15

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '18 at 12:15

You should not rely on documents root.

Do something like:

require_once(DIR . '/relative/path/from/current/directory/file.php');

The require once will stop execute ifbfile is not there since it's require. The once will make sure you don't include the file twice if you pass by this code a second time. You should never include a file that as finction/class/constant declaration more than one. And if you use a proper IDE (like phpstorm) you will have a warning if the file path is invalid. This cannot be achieved with the document root variable.

But I don't know your exact contalext but you should check something like composer.json to handle your dependencies.

P.s. there is 2 underscore before and after the DIR magic constant but formatting on the mobile web version is limited and force bold...

I believe the problem here was not the usage of DOCUMENT_ROOT but the usage of relative paths induce the included files. — , Jul 18 '18 at 12:23

If I include a file, I will get Include error

1 Answers1