code: function EncodeFile ($path, $encoding = "base64") {
          if(!@$fd = fopen($path, "rb"))
          {
              $this->SetError($this->Lang("file_open") . $path);
              return "";
          }
          $magic_quotes = get_magic_quotes_runtime();
          set_magic_quotes_runtime(0);
          $file_buffer = fread($fd, filesize($path));
          $file_buffer = $this->EncodeString($file_buffer, $encoding);
          fclose($fd);
          set_magic_quotes_runtime($magic_quotes);
  
          return $file_buffer;
      }
docs: Encodes attachment in requested format.  Returns an
  empty string on failure.
  @access private
  @return string