# hash

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.2, PECL hash:1.1-1.5)

hash — Generate a hash value (message digest)

### Description

string hash ( string `$algo` , string `$data` [, bool `$raw_output` ] )

### Parameters

`algo`

  Name of selected hashing algorithm (i.e. "md5", "sha256", "haval160,4", etc..)

`data`

  Message to be hashed.

`raw_output`

  When set to `TRUE`, outputs raw binary data. Default value (`FALSE`) outputs lowercase hexits.

### Return Values

Returns a string containing the calculated message digest as lowercase hexits unless `raw_output` is set to true in which case the raw binary representation of the message digest is returned.

### Examples

Example#1 A hash() example

`<?php
echo hash('ripemd160', 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.');
?>`

The above example will output:

    ec457d0a974c48d5685a7efa03d137dc8bbde7e3

### See Also

- hash_file()
- hash_hmac()
- hash_init()