(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5)
get_include_path — Gets the current include_path configuration option
Gets the current include_path configuration option value.
Returns the path, as a string.
Beispiel #1 get_include_path() example
<?php
// Works as of PHP 4.3.0
echo get_include_path();
// Works in all PHP versions
echo ini_get('include_path');
?>
HEADER resets INCLUDE !!
i used
<?php set_include_path(get_include_path().PATH_SEPARATOR.'/'); ?>
so i could reference files in the root of my website.
<?php require_once 'code_for_this_site_only.php'; ?>
But a few pages later i noticed that my include had reverted back to its original (default) settings. 
why?
It was because of this:
<?php header("Location: http://$gotopage"); ?>
Hope it helps, Jon.
Two functions to help:
<?php
function add_include_path ($path)
{
    foreach (func_get_args() AS $path)
    {
        if (!file_exists($path) OR (file_exists($path) && filetype($path) !== 'dir'))
        {
            trigger_error("Include path '{$path}' not exists", E_USER_WARNING);
            continue;
        }
        
        $paths = explode(PATH_SEPARATOR, get_include_path());
        
        if (array_search($path, $paths) === false)
            array_push($paths, $path);
        
        set_include_path(implode(PATH_SEPARATOR, $paths));
    }
}
function remove_include_path ($path)
{
    foreach (func_get_args() AS $path)
    {
        $paths = explode(PATH_SEPARATOR, get_include_path());
        
        if (($k = array_search($path, $paths)) !== false)
            unset($paths[$k]);
        else
            continue;
        
        if (!count($paths))
        {
            trigger_error("Include path '{$path}' can not be removed because it is the only", E_USER_NOTICE);
            continue;
        }
        
        set_include_path(implode(PATH_SEPARATOR, $paths));
    }
}
?>
In case you would like to have all include path elements in form of an array use the following code  (PATH_SEPARATOR is PHP's constand and it's crucial to avoid problems with different linux/windows separators
<?php
$pathArray = explode( PATH_SEPARATOR, get_include_path() );
print_r( $pathArray );
?>