I was planning to use an XML document to store configuration for my next PHP project, in a format similar to ASP.NET Web.Config files. Just two concerns:[*]Cannot be served to the browser.[*]Must be viable in shared hosting.The best way I could think to prevent it from being served is to change the filetype to PHP and add the following comment:\[code\]<?xml version="1.0" ?><!-- <?php if(!defined('FW_LOADED')){ exit; } ?> --><configuration>....</configuration>\[/code\]This is working fine, but I don't feel like it is the best solution.Has anybody else used XML to store configuration for a PHP project? What are some good alternate solutions (instead of putting a comment at the beginning of the file which exits the script if a constant is not defined)?Update:Changed the question title to better reflect what I'm looking for. Sorry for the misleading original question title. Using XML for configuration is not the question. I am asking for the best practices when using XML for configuration. Please stop suggesting that I use arrays or INI files...I want the config file to be as easy as possible to use, even for non php developers. I chose XML because it is language neutral. I am already using SimpleXML to parse the config (partially). I am also not worried about compiling or making it faster because that can be achieved using memcached or other utilities.The best solutions so far are:
- Moving it out of web root.
- Possible, but would like to keep the config as close as possible to the application.
- Using htaccess to hide the config file.
- I don't want to risk the chance that someone breaks the .htaccess file, leaving the config file exposed.