Encoding entire PHP file

you could obfuscate it

here's one tha'ts cheap 35bucks:
http://www.codelock.co.nz/purchase.htm

or use pobs free;
http://pobs.mywalhalla.net/

paid one - obfuscator
http://www.semdesigns.com/Products/Obfuscators/PHPObfuscator.html

Nothing works like the PAID software. There is a good reason for that Paid developers have the ability to continously upgrade and update the software making it better.

Get serious, if you are encoding now, you'll be encoding later also. Keep in mind base64() can be un-base64 as very easy. It wouldn't take much.

Invest $200 and buy one of the following:
- Zend Encoder
- IonCube Encoder
- SourceGuardian

You won't reget it.

My only problem with encoders is that you then rely on the fact that every one of your customers' hosts has installed the extension for the brand of encoder you buy. And you can be guaranteed that the list of brands is not getting shorter...

Personally, I prefer to use an extremely modified version of a PHP obfuscator that I made. It allows you to exclude obfuscation of particular files and particular function names, variable names, class names and constant names. That way I get to pick and choose what gets hidden (and I can use wildcards in my list, too).

I think I prefer just not to have the hassle of worrying about what's installed on some hocky 2c / decade hosting company in the middle of the jungle somewhere. Yeah, I don't automatically get licensing code with it, but I have my own obfuscated library that does that anyway...

To encode/decode just use base64 functions ... to execute the code use seomthing like

eval(decode64("your_encoded_code"));

Regards

eval(base64_decode("encoded stuff"));

But that is stupid, because obviously it can be decoded.. >_>

The only 2 that work are Zend and IonCube and if you don't have too much money then you could try IonCube online encoder - http://www.ioncube.com/online_encoder.php
It works real good and it is also a lot cheaper if you only need to encode some files.