How can the use of the debug_backtrace function help in identifying the parent file that included a specific file in PHP?

When a file is included in PHP, it can sometimes be challenging to identify the parent file that included it, especially in complex codebases. By using the debug_backtrace function, we can retrieve a backtrace of the function calls that led to the current point in the code execution. This backtrace includes information about the parent file that included the specific file, helping us trace the inclusion path. 

function get_parent_file($file) {
    $trace = debug_backtrace();
    
    foreach($trace as $step) {
        if(isset($step['file']) && realpath($step['file']) === realpath($file)) {
            return $step['file'];
        }
    }
    
    return null;
}

$included_file = 'included_file.php';
$parent_file = get_parent_file($included_file);

echo 'The parent file that included ' . $included_file . ' is: ' . $parent_file;

Keywords

debug_backtrace parent file included file PHP identification

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