php include - above root directory

[tillabong]

if i want to include a sensitive file like a database login, where should i place the file when i upload to x10hosting server? if my root directory is public_html/www.mywebsite.com do i place it at public_html/databaselogin folder? and how do i link to that file using php include?

thank you very much.

[vishal]

u can use any folder inside public_html or there itself
U can use include function in any php file to link it
For eg
<?php
include("includes/connection.php") // includes is the folder where connection.php is located
?>

[tillabong]

but the php include function only allows me to include files that are in my root folder which in this case is public_html/www.mysite.com. i want to store my database login above the root folderlike public_html/databaselogin for security purposes.

[vishal]

U mean outside the root folder i e.(www.mysite.com -root) and u wanna place databaselogin in public_htnl or wht

[tillabong]

yes i would like to place the file outside the root folder. and use php include to put it on my site.

[vishal]

Since the database login is in the root folder u should use
<?php
include("databaselogin.php") // since in root folder no path is req
?>
try this this must solve ur problem

[tillabong]

my root folder is public_html/mysite.com. the database login file is in public_html/databaselogin folder which is outside the root folder. so the php include you wrote wont work.

[vishal]

Try referring absolute path....
Is this a addon domain.

[tillabong]

ok i figured it out myself already. thanks anyway ;).

[marshian]

I lol'd :p

If you want to "secure" a script, don't put it in public_html at all, you can put it even higher than that. (eg. make a directory nonpublic_html)
As vishal2 (finally) noticed in the end, you can use absolute paths ("/home/username/public_html/script.php" for example), or perhaps easier: relative paths can do this too.
To refer to the directory above the one you're currently in, use "..".

So, if you have a script in public_html/site.com and want to refer from there to a script public_html/nonpublic/script.php, you can use

include "../nonpublic/script.php"; 

Edit: sorry, too late