PHP realpath function question

[alien131]

I cant seem to get the realpath function to work with variables is there a way I can fix this? When I use variables in the function it returns nothing I know the pathname works without the realpath function but I want to use the realpath function with my pathname.\[code\]realpath('./members/' . $userId . '/images/thumbs/' . $image);\[/code\]Edit real route.\[code\]http://localhost/Project/members/24/images/thumbs/avatar.png\[/code\]