error handling

thekidscareya

I use mysql_error() to debug scripts when interacting with a MySQL database.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM `mytable`";
$query = mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error();

That will generate the error found - like no database selected, etc.

My question is how do I debug mail()?

mail($to,$subj,$msg,$headers) or die("cannot send email");

If $to is unset, I will see

cannot send email

on my screen.

How do I change it so that I will see the exact error I see when I use mysql_error()?

Thanks for all your help.

dalecosp

Originally posted by thekidscareya
My question is how do I debug mail()?
mail($to,$subj,$msg,$headers) or die("cannot send email");
If $to is unset, I will see

on my screen.

How do I change it so that I will see the exact error I see when I use mysql_error()?

Thanks for all your help. [/B]

Well, not a bad question. Have you read the Debugging 101 thread over in the "Echo Lounge"?

You might do something like this....

$test = mail($to, $subj, $msg, $headers);

if (!$test) {
   echo "Mail failed!  Variables were:<br />
To:  $to <br />
Subj: $subj<br />
Msg: $msg<br />
Head: $headers <br />
";
exit();
} else {
   echo "Mail sent succesfully!";
}

AAMOF, that's a general concept for many many situations. Of course, you may not wish to leave that in a production site, but there are plenty of other things you can do, with a little ingenuity.

The real problems with [man]mail/man come when $test is true, but the mail still doesn't get to the destination address....