combining strings

ok i am doing a mass mailing form. It has numerous text boxs that have text in it.
i am trying to combine these boxs text into one variable.

$message="<table cellpadding=3><tr><td><font FACE=\"Verdana\" SIZE=\"2\">Dear $name<p></td></tr>";

$message2 ="<tr><td><font FACE=\"Verdana\" SIZE=\"2\">$newtext</td></tr>";

$message3 ="<tr><td><font FACE=\"Verdana\" SIZE=\"2\">$newtext2</td></tr>";

ect ect

how do i combine all three variable into one big string.

why isnt their a simple string append function?

$bigmessage=$message.$message2.$message3;
. = append

or, a different approach:
$bigmessage=$message;
$bigmessage+=$message2;
$bigmessage+=$message3;

again, += here = append

You should always use .= for string concatenation, as += can have unexpected results if either side contains numbers.

Doh. thats what I get for working on a C++ program (MFC CString uses += for concatenation) and then responding to forum questions at 2 AM local time.