<?php.........define variables like DB_HOSTNAME, etc ..function getDBH(){ $dsn = 'mysql:host='.DB_HOSTNAME.';dbname='.DB_NAME; $options = array( PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => 'SET NAMES utf8', PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false //to get native data types from prepared statements.(> PHP 5.3 && mysqlnd) ); $dbh = new PDO($dsn, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, $options); return $dbh;}?>