drupal 7, paths and urls are not working properly

Question

I'm developing a website on my localhost. I have a problem with urls.

for a url like this

http://localhost:81/my_website/library

I should output image src this way :

<img src="<?php print $directory; ?>/image/header/headerR.png"/>

but when the above url is changed to this

http://localhost:81/my_website/library/

I should output image src this way :

<img src="../<?php print $directory; ?>/image/header/headerR.png"/>

I mean it should refer to the parent. my website has also contextual filter which must be inserted after library/ .is there any general solution for handling such thing?

Answer 1

Use the global variables for resolving the issue of path of files as below:

1. Use base_path if your fine with domain name not to be included: It will return path respect to the drupal root.
   Eg: "/" for drupal root(http://localhost:81/my_website), and
   "/images/header" for http://localhost:81/my_website/image/header/header

   Example:

   /*Assuming image path: http://localhost:81/my_website/image/header/headerR.png*/
   global $base_path; /* will return "/" for http://localhost:81/my_website*/
   $image_path = $base_path . 'image/header/headerR.png';
   

   Note: Don't use trailing slash / for adding path of files with $base_path as it adds a "/" to the beginning and end of the returned path.

2. Use base_url if you want to get the full path: It will return base URL of the Drupal installation.

   Example:

   /*Assuming image path: http://localhost:81/my_website/image/header/headerR.png*/
   global $base_url; /* will return http://localhost:81/my_website in you case*/
   $image_path = $base_url . '/image/header/headerR.png';