Php read directory with absolute path - php

Question

I have this php script which reads mp3 files from the directory:
// Set your return content type
header('Content-type: text/xml');
//directory to read
$dir = ($_REQUEST['dir']);
$sub_dirs = isBoolean(($_REQUEST['sub_dirs']));
if(file_exists($dir)==false){
//echo $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
//echo "current working directory is -> ". getcwd();
echo 'Directory \'', $dir, '\' not found!';
}else{
$temp = getFileList($dir, $sub_dirs);
echo json_encode($temp);
}
function isBoolean($value) {
if ($value && strtolower($value) !== "false") {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
}
function getFileList($dir, $recurse){
$retval = array(); // array to hold return value
if(substr($dir, -1) != "/") // add trailing slash if missing
$dir .= "/"; // open pointer to directory and read list of files
$d = #dir($dir) or die("getFileList: Failed opening directory $dir for reading");
while(false !== ($entry = $d->read())) { // skip hidden files
if($entry[0] == "." || $entry[0] == "..") continue;
if(is_dir("$dir$entry")) {
if($recurse && is_readable("$dir$entry/")) {
$retval = array_merge($retval, getFileList("$dir$entry/", true));
}
}else if(is_readable("$dir$entry")) {
$path_info = pathinfo("$dir$entry");
if(strtolower($path_info['extension'])=='mp3'){
$retval[] = array(
"path" => "$dir$entry",
"type" => $path_info['extension'],
"size" => filesize("$dir$entry"),
"lastmod" => filemtime("$dir$entry")
);
}
}
}
$d->close();
return $retval;
}
This file sits in the same directory as the html page which executes the script. For example, I pass the relative path 'audio/mp3' or '../audio/mp3' and it all works well.
Is it possible to make this read directory with absolute path?
For example, if I would pass this: http://www.mydomain.com/someFolder/audio/mp3, and html page which executes the script and the php file would be placed in this location: http://www.mydomain.com/someFolder/
Thank you!

Answer 1

Web root is always just /. You'd never need the hostname or protocol part, and root can be only root of the server, not some folder or file.
If you need some path, like /testthesis/ - there are ways, but it has nothing common with web root.
If you need a filesystem directory for the webroot - it's in the $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] variable.