PHP failing, not sure about why

Question

<?php
echo "hello";

$db='(DESCRIPTION = ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = some_ip)(PORT = some_port))(CONNECT_DATA = (SID = xxx.yyy)))';

$conn=oci_connect('user','pass','$db');

if (!$conn){
   echo "No connection";
}
else{
   echo "Connected!";
}
?>

I got the above code. It displays hello but anything else, and I don't know why, because even if the connection failed, it should display "No connection", shouldn't it?

Answer 1

Variables under single quotes will not be parsed !

Change this

$conn=oci_connect('user','pass','$db');

to

$conn=oci_connect('user','pass',$db); //<--- Removed the single quotes around the variable!

As Alvaro G Vicario mentioned .. you need to enable the error reporting on your PHP code.

Add this on top of your code.

ini_set('display_errors',1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors',1);
error_reporting(-1);

---

You need to enable the oci extension. Go to your PHP.ini and uncomment these lines by removing the semicolon before them , save the file and restart your webserver

;extension=php_oci8.dll      
;extension=php_oci8_11g.dll