failed to open stream: No such file or directory in

Question

>     Warning: include_once(/PoliticalForum/headerSite.php) [function.include-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or
> directory in C:\xampp\htdocs\PoliticalForum\mainHome.php on line 16
> 
> Warning: include_once() [function.include]: Failed opening
> '/PoliticalForum/headerSite.php' for inclusion
> (include_path='.;C:\xampp\php\PEAR') in
> C:\xampp\htdocs\PoliticalForum\mainHome.php on line 16

Why do I get that Error when I use include_once:

   include_once("/PoliticalForum/headerSite.php");

Answer 1

It's because you have included a leading / in your file path. The / makes it start at the top of your filesystem. Note: filesystem path, not Web site path (you're not accessing it over HTTP). You can use a relative path with include_once (one that doesn't start with a leading /).

You can change it to this:

include_once 'headerSite.php';

That will look first in the same directory as the file that's including it (i.e. C:\xampp\htdocs\PoliticalForum\ in your example.