Generate an absolute or relative path based on the location of the current file

path.php

<?php

// Absolute
$path = current(preg_split('@(?<=public)@', getcwd()));
require_once "{$path}\includes\config.inc.php";

// Relative
$path = preg_split('/public/', getcwd());
$path = explode(DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, trim(end($path), DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR));
require_once str_repeat('../', count($path)) . 'includes/config.inc.php';