File exists issues - php

Question

I'm attempting to try and debug the following code with the file_exists function. I've ran a var_dump on the avatar directory and it always returns as bool(false). I'm not sure why. I tested the code below and it gets to the file exists but it proves the if statement false everytime. Any thoughts? I have looked and the image is in the directory correctly.
$default_avatar = 'default.jpg';
$avatar_directory = base_url() . 'assets/globals/images/avatars/';
if (!is_null($user_data->avatar))
{
$avatar = $avatar_directory . $user_data->avatar;
if (file_exists($avatar))
{
$user_data->avatar = $avatar_directory . $user_data->avatar;
}
else
{
$user_data->avatar = $avatar_directory . $default_avatar;
}
}
else
{
$user_data->avatar = $default_avatar;
}

Answer 1

$default_avatar = 'default.jpg';
$avatar_directory = 'assets/globals/images/avatars/';
if (!is_null($user_data->avatar))
{
$avatar = $avatar_directory . $user_data->avatar;
if (file_exists(FCPATH . $avatar))
{
$user_data->avatar = base_url() . $avatar_directory . $user_data->avatar;
}
else
{
$user_data->avatar = base_url() . $avatar_directory . $default_avatar;
}
}
else
{
$user_data->avatar = $default_avatar;
}

Answer 2

from the name base_url seems like a function that will get a url like http://www.mysite.com, which will not work for doing local directory functions.
you need something like getcwd, or a full path
getcwd will get the current working directory (the directory where the initial script was executed from):
//If say script.php was exectued from /home/mysite/www
$avatar_directory = getcwd() . '/assets/globals/images/avatars/';
//$avatar_directory would be
/home/mysite/www/assets/globals/images/avatars/

Answer 3

Well this works both CLI and via Apache etc...:
$avatar_directory = substr(str_replace(pathinfo(__FILE__, PATHINFO_BASENAME), '', __FILE__), 0, -1) . '/assets/globals/images/avatars/'
The did returned is the one that the php file itself is in, not the root.

Answer 4

assuming you meant base_url() to point to the root of your project -
$file = __DIR__ . "/path/to/file.ext";
if (file_exists($file)) {
//...
}
Or some variation thereof. This also works:
__DIR__ . "/.."
it resolves to the parent directory of __DIR__.
see PHP's magic constants:
http://php.net/manual/en/language.constants.predefined.php
If you are looking for a remote resource - a file not located on your local filesystem - you have to change your php.ini to permit that. And it's probably not a good idea, this is not usually considered safe or secure. At all.
http://php.net/manual/en/features.remote-files.php
And note:
"This function returns FALSE for files inaccessible due to safe mode restrictions. However these files still can be included if they are located in safe_mode_include_dir."
-- from http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-exists.php
-- edited to add relevant information based on a comment from OP.