I do apologize for asking this stupid question but I am wondering if you can help me..

i want insert among file $cat1 or $cat2 to in page.php...
the code i was create e.g.

PHP Code:

<? //config.php
$cat_all = ($cat2 or $cat1);
$cat1 = "cat.php" ;
$cat2 = "../back-up/cat.php"; //default anyway
if(file_exists($cat1)){
    require_once $cat1;
}else{
    require_once $cat2;
}
?>

<? //page.php
require "config.php";
function ShowIndexProd($number){
    $ar = file($cat_all); // <------- input here //
    $sizear = count($ar)-$number;
    $data = explode("#",$ar[$sizear]);
    echo "
    <td class='BoxIndex' width='30%'><a href='prod_show.php?id=$sizear'><IMG SRC='img/$data[5]' width=150 border=0></a> <BR /><BR />
        <B><FONT COLOR='red'> $deti[2] </FONT></B> <BR />
        <B>Price:</B>$rp $data[3] $usd<BR />
        <a href='prodshow.php?id=$sizear'><b><FONT COLOR='#FF6600'> more details... </FONT></b></a>
    </td>";
}

but the result: file $cat1 or $cat2 printed to html page, that i want them as file configuration..
any help would much appreciate and thank you

I would help but would need you to explain a bit more as to what your trying to achieve..

Don't use relative path to your include, but an absolute, and you'll be ok

PHP Code:

require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/cat.php"); 


This will ensure that you always require() the file in the root folder of your site.

And if you want to include another file if it exists or fall back on the one in the root folder:

PHP Code:

$file=$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/cat.php";
if(is_file($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/back-up/cat.php")===true){
  //if the file back-up/cat.php exists only
  $file=$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/back-up/cat.php";
}
require_once($file);