title: Get md5/sha1 hash of a mysql tables data?
body: <p>Long story short, in a globally included config file I grab settings from a table, and define a constant in my code with the settingKey, settingVal from the database table, now I don't think there's that much overhead, however if I ended up with a ton of settings it would be better to check if they've changed and if so define them, otherwise not.</p>
  
  <p>So bottom line, should I/Can I get a hash of a table and compare it to the last known table hash to see if values have changed? Or Am I going about this the entirely wrong way, and there's a more efficient method?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>