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ASP Including Files

The #include directive is used to create functions, headers, footers, or elements that will be reused on multiple pages.

The #include Directive

It is possible to insert the content of another file into an ASP file before the server executes it, with the #include directive. The #include directive is used to create functions, headers, footers, or elements that will be reused on multiple pages.

How to Use the #include Directive

Here is a file called "mypage.asp":

<html> 
<body> 
<h3>Words of Wisdom:</h3>
<p><!--#include file="wisdom.inc"--></p> 
<h3>The time is:</h3>
<p><!--#include file="time.inc"--></p>
</body> 
</html>

Here is the "wisdom.inc" file:

"One should never increase, beyond what is necessary,
the number of entities required to explain anything."

Here is the "time.inc" file:

<%
Response.Write(Time)
%>

If you look at the source code in a browser, it will look something like this:

<html>
<body>
<h3>Words of Wisdom:</h3>
<p>"One should never increase, beyond what is necessary,
the number of entities required to explain anything."</p>
<h3>The time is:</h3>
<p>11:33:42 AM</p>
</body>
</html>

Syntax for Including Files

To include a file into an ASP page, place the #include directive inside comment tags:

<!--#include virtual="somefilename"-->

or

<!--#include file ="somefilename"-->

Using the Virtual Keyword

Use the virtual keyword to indicate a path beginning with a virtual directory.

For example, if a file named header.inc resides in a virtual directory named /html, the following line would insert the contents of header.inc into the file containing the line:

<!-- #include virtual ="/html/header.inc" -->

Using the File Keyword

Use the file keyword to indicate a relative path. A relative path begins with the directory that contains the including file.

For example, if you have a file in the directory html, and the file header.inc is in html\headers, the following line would insert header.inc in your file:

<!-- #include file ="headers\header.inc" -->

Note that the path to the included file, headers\header.inc, is relative to the including file; if the script containing this #include statement is not in the directory /html, the statement would not work.

You can also use the file keyword with the syntax (..\) to include a file from a higher-level directory.

Tips and Notes

In the sections above we have used the file extension ".inc" for the included files. Notice that if a user tries to browse a ".inc" file directly, its content will be displayed. So if your included file contains source code you do not want any users to see, it is better to use a ".asp" extension. The source code in a ".asp" file will not be visible after the interpretation.

An included file can include other files, and one ASP file can include the same file more than once.

Important: Included files are processed and inserted before the scripts are executed.

The following script will not work because ASP executes the #include directive before it assigns a value to the variable:

<%
fname="header.inc"
%>
<!--#include file="<%=fname%>"-->

You can not open or close a script delimiter in a ".inc" file. This script will not work:

<%
For i = 1 To n
  <!--#include file="count.inc"-->
Next
%>

But this script will work:

<%
For i = 1 to n
%>
<!--#include file="count.inc" -->
<% Next %>

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