how to protect php file with .htaccess from downloading with php5 crashed

Question

Last night I made some admin changes to my webserver. I use php. The php processor failed after the update and if someone went to my homepage, the php page would simply download and show the proprietary code and password to anyone visiting. So I was wondering if there is a way to prevent any form of download for php files using .htaccess -- but still allow for normal viewing of the files.

Answer 1

A good pattern to follow during development is to use a minimal initialization file, which invokes the actual application which resides outside the webroot. That way only a minimal stub with no critical information is exposed in a case like this.

Simplified example:

/
  /app
    critical_code.php
  /webroot
    .htaccess   <- rewrites all requests to index.php
    index.php   <- invokes ../app/critical_code.php (or other files as requested)