cant connect to database, and dont know how to tell if i am

[DKY]

is this all I have to do to connect

$connectmysql               = mysql_connect($host,$user,$password) or die ($cantconnectmysqlmessage);

or do I have to echo the $connectmysql after assigning a variable? I'm lost. Also, how do I know if it is connected, can I do like a if $connectmysql == "1" {echo "you're connected"} or something?

[DougieC]

I do this to see if I am connected

$connection = mysql_connect("$server","$username","$password");
if($connection){

echo " connection made";

}

[hermzz]

or better yet, display a message whenever it DOESN'T connect:

$conn = mysql_connect("localhost","user","pass");

if(!$conn) {
	exit("Can't get a database link.");
	}
$db = mysql_select_db("db", $conn);
if(!$db) {
	exit("Can't select the database.");
	}