Database Connection Properties

I'm new to PHP, and I have a question regarding the storage of connection properties to the database. I have a site on a shared (Unix) server. I'm adding some PHP to a section which will be database-driven. I'm concerned about storing the username and password to my database (some of the data contained within this database is sensitive) in my PHP files which are readable by the webserver, and thus by anyone on the system. Is there a recommended strategy for keeping my database username and password in a secure location so that no other user can access the files? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much, Patrick ---| patrick gibson |---------------+ email: email @ patrickg.com url: http://patrickgibson.com/ ------------------------------------+