Hiding password in a class file (object-oriented programming)?

How do I put my password into an external file? I have dozens of webpages with the line mysql_connect (localhost, username, password); What if I have to change my password? Rather then change dozens of scripts, I want to put this line into an external file and call it with "include". The problem is security. If I make the file a class, then the file extension must be .inc. Anyone can type in the URL and see the contents of the file. I've tried these solutions, without success: Changing the permission to "everyone-execute" and "owner-read" doesn't work, apparently because a .inc file is read, not executed. Using the .php file extension (instead of .inc) executes the script when the URL is accessed. The user sees nothing, if the file contains no HTML. But class only works with the .inc extension. Using "include" without making a class treats the file as HTML and it doesn't execute. -- Thomas David Kehoe, author of "THE EVOLUTION OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS" How Our Brains Are Hardwired For Relationships http://www.FriendshipCenter.com/TEIR/