Move uploaded file to root directory - php

Question

I'm making a content management system for a website I built. I want the system to be discrete, so I made it exist in only one PHP file, called '_admin.php'. All the content displayed in this file comes from includes that I store in a sub-folder called 'admin' (out of the way).
The photos used on the website are stored in an 'assets' folder that also sits in the root dir. The admin page has direct access to the assets folder, as it is also in the root. But the upload file script sits a few directories into the 'admin' folder and I want the uploaded files to be stored in the assets folder.
The move_uploaded_file() method takes the destination path for the file, but it requires a direct path. I try using $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], but the resulting directory doesn't seem to have any of my files. If I use getcwd() in a doc in the root, it returns the actual file structure that I can use. The same if I echo out __FILE__. But I've experimented with this SERVER constant a lot and I can't locate my website with it.
Since the script that uploads the images is called as a form action, I can't pass the root directory as a variable.
Not really sure what I'm doing wrong, anyone have any ideas?
Thanks
edit **
//See if Files array contains new files
if (!empty($_FILES['file'])){
foreach($_FILES['file']['name'] as $key => $name){
$error = $_FILES['file']['error'][$key];
$temp_name = $_FILES['file']['tmp_name'][$key];
$dir = getcwd();
$move_file = move_uploaded_file($temp_name, "$dir/temp/$name");
if (($error == 0) && ($move_file)){
$uploaded[] = $name;
}else{
die($error);
}
}
echo __FILE__;
echo "<br/>";
echo __DIR__;
echo "<br/>";
echo $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
exit();
}
The upload script I'm currently using. This script works fine because I'm storing the images in the same directory as the script. I just don't know how to store them in my root.

Answer 1

I would specify the full absolute file path if you can. I set this via define() in a config file for my CMS. On install you figure out what that path is and set it.
define("BASEFILEPATH", "/home/.../[webroot]"); // The base file path for the website
You may be looking for something more general, but you could have some sort of install script where the user can enter basic info into a form, such as username, pwd, etc. and you could have them enter this path as well.