Call to 'mysqli_connect()' Kills PHP Procedure (1 reply)

I have the following code in a PHP procedure:

echo "<p>host_name:  $host_name</p>";
echo "<p>userid:  $userid</p>";
echo "<p>password:  $password</p>";
$connect = mysqli_connect("$host_name", "$userid", "$password");
echo "<p>connect_TEMP:  $connect</p>";

The first three 'echo' lines disp oklay as expected; the fourth 'echo' line does not display.

No error message is displayed from the call to 'mysqli_connect()'.

Why does the call to 'mysqli_connect() seemingly kill the PHP procedure?