im trying to connect to mysql through a php script, heres the script

<?
trim($firstName);
trim($lastName);
trim($age);

if(!$firstName || !$lastName || !$age) {
echo "you did not enter all the values<br>";
exit;
}

$firstName = addslashes($firstName);
$lastName = addslashes($lastName);
$age = intval($age);

@ $db = msql_pconnect("localhost", "root", "password");
if(!$db) {
echo "Error: could not connect to the msql database<br>";
exit;
}

echo "connection to the database was a success<br>";

?>

i know i shouldnt use the root for access to mysql, this is only to see if i can get a connection. i get no errors just a blank page. is this something in my configuring of LAMP or my programming. thanks

i was just wondering, i use slackware 9.0 do i have to open any ports for this. i use mysql and apache that came with the slack install cd. i dont know why i use the @ before i connect the dastabase but i get an error that php does not recognise the function if i dont use it. my ip address of my comp is assisgned through dhcp from my router. if that helps. thanks

I don't know if this will help but this is the function that I use to open our mysql database:

<?php
function opendatabase(){
global $connection;
$connection = mysql_connect("localhost", "uniforms", "password" or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("siegels", $connection) or die(mysql_error());
}
?>

thanks i got it working and i dont understand why? i used your code

$connection = mysql_connect("localhost", "uniforms", "password") or die(mysql_error());

it worked with the or die(mysql_error()); at the end of the connection function, and i dont know why thanks for helping me patpawlowski. if anyone knows why this is could you share it with me.

yeah i found the answer and its simple as. i feel like the newest newbie of newbies from newbieville. it was a simple syntax error. i spent 3 days looking for the answer doing alot of reading (which wasnt a waste of time) looking for some config problem. sorry for wasting space on your server / with such a simple question