require() not working for file even within same folder

Question

This works in localhost on my PC, as well as localhost on the remote server:

connection.php

<?php
    $server   = "localhost";
    $database = "somedatabase";
    $username = "someuser";
    $password = "somepassword";

 $mysqlConnection = mysql_connect($server, $username, $password);
    if (!$mysqlConnection)
        {
            echo "Please try later.";
        }
    else
        {
            mysql_select_db($database, $mysqlConnection);
        }
?>

However, while this works in localhost on my PC, it doesn't work on localhost on the remote server (db.php and connection2.php are in the same folder). I get "Please try later" echoed out.

db.php

<?
    $server   = "localhost";
    $database = "somedb";
    $username = "someuser";
    $password = "somepass";
?>

connection2.php

<?php
    require("db.php");

    $mysqlConnection = mysql_connect($server, $username, $password);
        if (!$mysqlConnection)
            {
                echo "Please try later.";
            }
        else
            {
                mysql_select_db($database, $mysqlConnection);
            }
?>

Thoughts?

Update: Per CharlesRojas' suggestion, I tried echoing out the variables in connection2.php but nothing got echoed out. So, connection2.php is not reading the contents in db.php.

Update 2: I've added the solution below and will mark it as correct when I am able.

Answer 1

Have you tried echo getcwd();? That returns the current working directory that's it's looking for db.php in. Also, how are the permissions set for db.php? What is the exact error it's returning?

PS: The mysql functions (mysql_connect, mysql_select_db) are depricated, you should use mysqli or PDO unless you're just messing around.

EDIT

The required file started with

When I changed it to

Still, it's not clear why this combination worked fine on localhost on my local PC, but not on the remote server.

Ah, I totally missed that. Sounds like your local php config has short tags enabled, while your server does not.

Answer 2

Ok, instead of creating a file with variable names, here's what I suggest you do: create a config.php!

Here's what the config.php should look like:

<?php
define('DB_USER','root');
define('DB_HOST','localhost');
define('DB_PASS','asecretpass');
define('DB_NAME','somethingalittlespecial');
?>

Here's what your file SHOULD look like now:

<?php
    require_once("config.php");

    $mysqlConnection = mysql_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS);
        if (!$mysqlConnection)
            {
                echo "Please try later.";
            }
        else
            {
                mysql_select_db(DB_NAME, $mysqlConnection);
            }
?>

Also, instead of using mysql, you should be using mysqli:

sudo apt-get install php5-mysql php5-mysqlnd
sudo service apache2 restart

Rename all mysql commands to mysqli (i.e. mysqli_select_db)

Answer 3

The required file started with <?.

When I changed it to <?php , just like the referencing file started, it worked fine.

Still, it's not clear why this combination worked fine on localhost on my local PC, but not on the remote server.