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Re: [OCLUG-Tech] Confused re path usage??

William Case wrote:
Hi;

On Wed, 2007-05-23 at 11:50 -0400, Bill Strosberg wrote:
William Case wrote:
Hi;
[snip]
Includes in PHP are defined in the php.ini file. If the include definition does not contain ":.:" somewhere in the include path locally referenced includes (i.e. ../includes etc.) will not work as PHP will not check places relevent to the current working directory. Check in your system's php.ini file.

Reading the fine manuals instead of asking the list for well documented items is very polite too. It's been a couple of years now that you've been at this - your "newbie" mystique is fading. Most of us have spent years reading (and writing) documentation, although helping _new_ folks is part of the culture, at some point everyone is expected to start giving back (or at least stop taking).

Just to set the record straight.  I never ask a question without having
googled first, reading man and info pages and/or manuals when available.
In this case, before I took on the new task (new for me) I read and
experimented with the PHP tutorial on php.net. There was no mention of
php.ini and special instructions for includes.

One of the reasons I asked was that I naturally assumed the path
commands worked universally in Linux.  I would never have thought the
problem was with 'includes'.

I have always appreciated the help I have been given by OCLUG.  The
reason I agreed to learn how to assist maintaining the OCLUG web site
was an effort at payback.
Googling for:

        PHP include file not found

Yes, I just tried it.  It worked.  I would never have thought of posing
that question that way on my own.  That is why I wrote such a long
winded post in the first place.

will result in good answers without crusty responses.

If your opinion concerning my questions represents a general consensus,
I will go elsewhere.  As for responding to other peoples questions, I do
and have on other mailing lists.  I read the OCLUG lists every day and I
have never felt qualified, yet, to respond to questions posed by OCLUG
members.

I am sorry Bill, but my life's work has always involved asking
questions.  It is the only way I know how to do it.  If my posts annoy
you, I suggest you ignore them.  That, however, would be a shame because
I remember you were the first to give me extensive help when I started 2
1/2 -3 years ago.

Hi:

My opinion was just that ... mine.

I certainly was not intending to send you away - I'm already 98% removed from OCLUG due to the obnoxious folks on the general list.

My comment was intended as a gentle prod in the right direction for a developing Unix user - self reliance. Many developers (me included) put a huge amount of effort into documenting what we do - so that others (and we ourselves) can follow in our footsteps without having to cover the same ground again and again. In your progression through the learning curve, a very important ability to develop is finding things out on your own. Although asking people for help is expeditious and generally low effort, the process of researching things yourself quickly reaches critical mass and you get to the point where you can answer your own questions faster than asking other people.

Relying on other people never will teach you the things that you learn the hard way. In short, I use asking the list questions as a forum of last resort instead of as a primary research tool. Getting other people to do your homework may get tasks done, but you miss the opportunity to learn things and understand how they work.

--
Bill Strosberg