how to access file from outside root directory in php

Question

I have a code to download zip files:

$dl_path = \'./\';  
$filename = \'favi.zip\';  
$file = $dl_path.$filename; 
if (file_exists($file))  {
  header(\'Cont         


        

Answer 1

First of all check if your script is running under the correct directory by echoing dirname(__FILE__).

If it is running under public_html then you can change the code like this:

$dl = dirname(__FILE__). '/../';

But beware of security issue!

1. Check if you have read/write permission on the file and directory
2. Check the open_basedir restriction in php.ini (see How can I relax PHP's open_basedir restriction?)

Hope this helps