Generic hashing framework for PHP Simplest usages: $digest = hash($algoname, $message); $digest = hash_file($algoname, $filename); Examples: $digest = hash('md5', 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.'); Feeder usage: $context = hash_init($algoname); hash_update($context, $message); $digest = hash_final($context); hash(), hash_file(), and hash_final() each support an optional boolean parameter $raw_output which behaves in the same manner as sha1()'s optional parameter.