PHP - Syntax errors no longer showing (blank white page)

Question

Server got upgraded from PHP 5.2 to 5.3 and now I am no longer getting syntax errors, just a blank white page. I know this is a common question, and I normally know what needs to be done, I've just never had this situation before.

php.ini has display_errors on and error_reporting is set to E_ALL & E_NOTICE. Are there any other directives that could be affecting it? I used to get syntax error messages ("Unexpected ; in file on line...").

Am I being really stupid here?

Are you reading from the correct php.ini file, and are you sure that display_errors or error_reporting is not redefined later in the file? — thetaiko
– thetaiko, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 15:22
Maybe try putting error_reporting(-1); at the top of the file to see if that works? — ckimbrell
– ckimbrell, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 15:23
wrt to the first comment, if you add a <?php phpinfo(); ?> you can determine which php.ini file your site is using — robjmills
– robjmills, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 15:24
Yes, I'm reading the correct php.ini and the directives are only defined once in the file. I have tried adding error_reporting(-1) to the PHP file itself but it doesn't do anything. — BadHorsie
– BadHorsie, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 15:29
It probably doesn't address your question as to why errors aren't being reported but you can run a PHP lint-check using the php executable on the file to get an actual error message: php -l myFile.php. This should catch syntax error, not run-time errors. — Mike B
– Mike B, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 16:15

BadHorsie · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-01 12:11:18Z

2

I had the directive slightly wrong. The correct value in php.ini needs to be:

E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE

edited Dec 1, 2011 at 12:11

answered Nov 21, 2011 at 16:18

BadHorsie

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Dr Casper Black · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21 15:52:13Z

1

try in php.ini

error_reporting = E_ALL | E_STRICT
display_errors = On

save and restart apache

answered Nov 21, 2011 at 15:52

Dr Casper Black

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LostMohican · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21 15:22:50Z

0

you didnt mention the OS but assuming you work on an Unix variant, you can see the errors by running this command :

tail -f /var/logs/apache2/error.log

or maybe

tail -f /var/log/httpd/error_log

And the web server configurations might have been changed too.

answered Nov 21, 2011 at 15:22

LostMohican

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BadHorsie Over a year ago

Yeah but I want them to appear on the PHP page as before.

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