Cannot show an error message after creating an error [duplicate]

Question

I'm trying to connect to the database using localhost.

<?php
     //Connecting to the Database
     $servername = "localhost";
     $username = "root";
     $password = "";

    // Create a connection
    $conn = mysqli_connect($servername, $username, $password);

    // Die if connection was not successful
    if (!$conn){
        die("Sorry we failed to connect: ". mysqli_connect_error());
    }
    else{
        echo "Connection was successful";
    }
?>

It works if the connection is made but I don't get the "Sorry we failed to connect" message when I intentionally create an error.

What could be the potential causes of this?

Answer 1

As stated in the documentation:

If MYSQLI_REPORT_STRICT is enabled and the attempt to connect to the requested database fails, a mysqli_sql_exception is thrown.

Since you are getting an exception, this must be set. Your code should change as follows in this case:

try {
    $conn = mysqli_connect($servername, $username, $password);
} catch(mysqli_sql_exception $e) {
    die("Sorry we failed to connect: ". mysqli_connect_error());
}
echo "Connection was successful";