Does openForRead only look in %appdata%?

I have a file I'm creating outside of TGB, that I'll never write but only read in. It's essentially a file that works like a database for game items.

Here's the path statement I'm using: "./game/data/items/items.txt" . It only finds the file if it's in %appdata% and not if it's in the game/data file structure of the game itself. I can exec() files from either location. Does openForRead only work in %appdata%?

Thanks!