gistfile1.php

  /**
   * $strPathList is in the form of an include_paht: .:/usr/local/lib:etc
   */
  function GetValidPathFromList($strPathList) {
    $arrPaths = explode(PATH_SEPARATOR, $strPathList);
    foreach ($arrPaths as $strPath) {
      if (file_exists($strPath)) {
        return $strPath;
      }
    }

    return false;
  }

  /**
   * $strPathList is in the form of an include_paht: .:/usr/local/lib:etc
   * $strFile is just a filename: file.inc or file.class.php
   */
  function IncludeFromPathList($strPathList, $strFile) {
    $strPath = GetValidPathFromList($strPathList);
    if ($strPath !== false) {
      $strComputedFile = $strPath . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $strFile;
      include_once $strComputedFile;
    }
  }