PHP warning from root directory - php

Question

I have a problem with a php code.
Folder name what-counter This folder contains a file with the following php code named counter.php also the hitcount.txt file.
<?php
$filename = '../what-counter/hitcount.txt';
$handle = fopen($filename, 'r');
$hits = trim(fgets($handle)) + 1;
fclose($handle);
$handle = fopen($filename, 'w');
fwrite($handle, $hits);
fclose($handle);
// Uncomment the next line (remove //) to display the number of hits on your page.
echo $hits;
?>
The following php code is used in root directory files also in files from folders which echo's the hits.
<?php include("../what-counter/counter.php"); ?>
The problem
The code works in the files in folders but not in the files that are directly in the root directory.
Example: index.php is in the root directory
Using this code i get this Warning
<?php include("what-counter/counter.php"); ?>
Warning: fopen(../what-counter/hitcount.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 4
Warning: fgets(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 5
Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 6
Warning: fopen(../what-counter/hitcount.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 8
Warning: fwrite(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 9
Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/what/public_html/what-counter/counter.php on line 10
And using this code i get this Warning
<?php include("../what-counter/counter.php"); ?>
Warning: include(../what-counter/counter.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/what/public_html/include/footer.php on line 31
Warning: include(../what-counter/counter.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/what/public_html/include/footer.php on line 31
Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '../what-counter/counter.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/what/public_html
/include/footer.php on line 31
What can i do to the $filename url and <?php include("../what-counter/counter.php"); ?> to get it to work in files in root directory as well as folders?

Answer 1

Either:
Include relative the the file: __DIR__.'/../somefile';/__DIR__.'/somepath/somefile';
Include relative to a known dir: $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] is often used, as is a PROJECT_DIR-like define() in your bootstrap code.
Change the working directory to a known/static dir chdir('/some/dir');. Not recommended as calling code may not expect this.

Answer 2

Sounds like absolute vs relative file problems...
Try replacing:
$filename = '../what-counter/hitcount.txt';
With, depending on where the file is located exactly, either of:
$filename = __DIR__ . '/what-counter/hitcount.txt';
$filename = dirname(__DIR__) . '/what-counter/hitcount.txt';
Or (if you're on an old php install) either of:
$filename = dirname(__FILE__) . '/what-counter/hitcount.txt';
$filename = dirname(dirname(__FILE__)) . '/what-counter/hitcount.txt';