Prevent direct access to a php include file

Question

I have a php file which I will be using as exclusively as an include. Therefore I would like to throw an error instead of executing it when it\'s accessed directly by typing

Answer 1

Actually my advice is to do all of these best practices.

• Put the documents outside the webroot OR in a directory denied access by the webserver AND
• Use a define in your visible documents that the hidden documents check for:

      if (!defined(INCL_FILE_FOO)) {
          header('HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden');
          exit;
      }

This way if the files become misplaced somehow (an errant ftp operation) they are still protected.