Please do not immediately file this bug as a duplicate of 
#9673. Although my bug's goal is reporting the same 
problem, it appears that #9673 was last 'Anylized' three 
months ago with no reply to the last comment made by the 
bug's author.

PHP desperately needs a way to do nested includes, 
preserving not only php relative paths transparently, but 
server side paths as well. By server side path, I am 
refering to <script src="js/myscript.js"> and <img 
src="images/myimage.gif">. Currently, if one includes a 
file by means of include(), include_once(), etc., the 
working directory of the included file, no matter where it 
is located, is of the calling file. One can circumvent 
this obstacle a couple of ways. The easiest appears to be 
the method of changing one's working directory as you move 
into an included file. Of course, one must always remember 
to change the working directory back to the original 
location after the file has been included.

Unfortunately, this work around breaks down when one 
wishes to use server side paths in an included file. 
Although the working directory has been changed, the 
server working directory is the same. The following is an 
example that completely illustrates the problem.

EXAMPLE DIRCTORY STUCTURE:
	/ --> a.php
	/b/ --> b1.php
	/b/ --> b2.php
	/b/images/ --> php_logo.gif
	

BUG:
	/*-- /a.php --*/
	print( "<p>a.php " . getcwd() . "</p>");
	include_once( "b/b1.php" );

	/*-- /b/b1.php --*/
	print( "<p>b1.php " . getcwd() . "</p>" );
	include_once( "b2.php" );

	/*-- /b/b2.php --*/
	print( "<p>b2.php " . getcwd() . "</p>" );
	print( "<img src=images/php_logo.gif>" );

ACCESS: http://server/a.php
RESULT:
	a.php /
	b1.php /
	Warning: Failed opening 'b2.php' for inclusion
	(include_path='.:/usr/lib/php4') in
	/b/b1.php on line 3

WORK AROUND:
	/*-- /a.php --*/
	print( "<p>a.php " . getcwd() . "</p>");
	chdir( "b" );
	include_once( "b1.php" );
	chdir( ".." );

	/*-- /b/b1.php --*/
	print( "<p>b1.php " . getcwd() . "</p>" );
	include_once( "b2.php" );

	/*-- /b/b2.php --*/
	print( "<p>b2.php " . getcwd() . "</p>" );
	print( "<img src=images/php_logo.gif>" );

ACCESS: http://server/a.php
RESULT:
	a.php /var/www/php_work_around
	b1.php /var/www/php_work_around/b
	b2.php /var/www/php_work_around/b
	[image not found]

Of course, the image is not showing up because the server 
thinks it is located at /images/php_logo.gif. When it is 
really located at /b/images/php_logo.gif!

In bug #9673, on 2001-03-15 09:08:11 stas@php.net writes 
"Now, all relative pathes are resolved against the current 
directory of the including script (which is the directory 
where it's located). This is a known issue. Use 
include_pathes in the meantime."

Unfortunately, three months later "This is [still] a known 
issue" and stas@php.net is still correct!