PHP: let a file return its own directory

Question

I am having trouble finding the rigth directory on my online server. is there a function that returns the folder the file is stored in?

Answer 1

The dirname() function will return the directory portion of a path. For example, dirname('foo/bar/baz.php') will return foo/bar.

This is often used in conjunction with the __FILE__ magic constant for versions of PHP that do not support the __DIR__ magic constant (versions 5.2.x and below):

require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/../classes/Class.php';