PHP header function changes directory

Question

So I am trying to practice PHP and I am stuck with using headers. I am using xampp in doing this. I have a simple form wherein the user will log in in the "index.php" now when the log in is successful the header function will start and redirect the page to "includes/profile.php". Now here is the problem, after the header I am currently in "includes" folder so when I use other .php or .css files outside includes folder i need to do "../example/example.php". This mess up my paths because my CSS file is in "css/example.css" so i need to put "../". Is there any way to always make the "pointer" go back to the parent directory even after using header so that i dont need to use "../"?

index.php

        <?php
         session_start();

        if(isset($_SESSION['username'])&& isset($_SESSION['password']))
        {header("Location: includes/profile.php");exit;}
        if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
        if($_POST['username']=="junji" && $_POST['password']=="secret"){
        $_SESSION['username'] = $_POST['username'];
        $_SESSION['password'] = $_POST['password'];
        $_SESSION['expiry']=time();
        $username = $_SESSION['username'];
        $password = $_SESSION['password'];
        header("Location:includes/profile.php");
        exit;
        }
        else{
        $username = "";
        $password = "";
        session_destroy();
        }
        }
        ?>
        //end of index.php

now inside the profile.php

        <?php
        session_start();
        if(isset($_SESSION['username'])&& isset($_SESSION['password']))
        {if(time()-$_SESSION['expiry']<5){?>

        <!DOCTYPE html>
        <html lang="en">
            <head>
        <?php include_once('head.php');
        ?>
            </head>
        <body>
        <div class="container">
        <h1>Junji's Bio</h1>
         <div class="row">
              <div class="col-xs-8">
              <h2>Content</h2>
              <?php
            include_once ('content.php');?>

              </div>
              <form method="POST">
               <div class="col-xs-4 sidebar">
                <div class="alert alert-success"> <?php print "You are currenly logged in as ";
                print '<br><h3>';
                print $_SESSION['username'];print "\t".'<input type="submit" class="btn btn-info" name="submit" value="Logout">'; ?></h3>  </div>
              </div></form>
         </div>
        </div>
        </body>

        </html>

        <?php if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
            session_destroy();
            header("Location: ../index.php?msg=You have been successfully logged out!");
            exit;
        }
        }else
        {session_destroy();
            header("Location:../index.php?msg2=Your session has expired! Please Log-in again.");
            exit;
        }
        }
        else
        {session_destroy();
            header("Location:../index.php");exit;
        }

as you can see the includes are directly called and no "includes/example.php" is needed. which means inside my "head.php" i need to make two <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/bootstrap.min.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../css/bootstrap.min.css"> just so i can get the css to work on both "index.php" and "includes/profile.php"

PhilipB · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-23 14:05:12Z

2

If you don't mind using an absolute path, Try using "http://localhost/css/example.css"

answered Jul 23, 2015 at 14:05

PhilipB

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1 Comment

jeeeee Over a year ago

Doing this worked! Thank you! :) now i know i can use absolute paths to get the css. thanks again!

petebolduc · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-23 14:14:30Z

1

The way I handle this is to set a level variable at the top of the page:

$level = ''; This would be top level

$level = '../' This would be for files in a top level folder

$level - '../../'; This would be for files in a sub directory... and so on

Then all you need to do is set the $level var in the path:

$level.'css/example.css -- works everytime

NOTE: If you are using .htaccess you need to call the full url to both .css and .js files

answered Jul 23, 2015 at 14:14

petebolduc

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Comments

Emil · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-23 14:31:12Z

1

You could define a constant containing the absolute root, and include that in each path. If you save your root in a variable or constant, instead of write it directly in your files, it will be easier for you if your root changes in the future.

define("ROOT", "http://localhost/");
include ROOT . 'example/example.php';

Or maybe construct a function to call?

function path($string, $echo = TRUE) {

    $root   = "http://localhost/";

    if($echo === TRUE) {

        echo $root . $string;

    } else {

        return $root . $string;

    }

}

path('index.php');
header("Location: " . path('test.php', false));

edited Jul 23, 2015 at 14:31

answered Jul 23, 2015 at 14:19

Emil

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