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Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions » General
What is my base directory?
Where possible always refer to your files using relative filename mappings. However, where you need a full path in a script, you will need an address of the form `/path/to/your/httpd/docs/` If your script requires a full path, you should amend the script to derive the address dynamically from the CGI environment variable `$DOCUMENT_ROOT`. (See the Using Environment Variables in Perl tutorial for information on how to do this.) This will ensure that your website works reliably even if it is moved to another host or directory. However, at the risk of having to change your scripts if you move your website, you can include the full path directly. To find out what the full path of your base directory, you can use PHP or Perl. There are several ways to find your base directory. You can upload a script to your site that will show your base directory for you. We offer a PHP script, free of charge of course, that will give you your base directory as well as other environment variables for your site. You can find it here. It's a snap to set up even if you know little or nothing about PHP.

Frequently Asked Questions » General

What is my base directory?

Where possible always refer to your files using relative filename mappings.

However, where you need a full path in a script, you will need an address of the form

/path/to/your/httpd/docs/

If your script requires a full path, you should amend the script to derive the address dynamically from the CGI environment variable $DOCUMENT_ROOT. (See the Using Environment Variables in Perl tutorial for information on how to do this.) This will ensure that your website works reliably even if it is moved to another host or directory. However, at the risk of having to change your scripts if you move your website, you can include the full path directly. To find out what the full path of your base directory, you can use PHP or Perl.

There are several ways to find your base directory. You can upload a script to your site that will show your base directory for you. We offer a PHP script, free of charge of course, that will give you your base directory as well as other environment variables for your site. You can find it here. It's a snap to set up even if you know little or nothing about PHP.