Where are the error messages!!

Hi guys.

I started messing around with php a year or so ago but didnt get far as other things cropped up. I have just started trying to learn again and have installed the latest version of php, MySQL and Apache. The installation appears ok so far. My question is this. Where have all the error messages gone. On the last version of php if i had missed a semi colon etc then i would have been given notification of this. However this doesnt appear to happen now and I have been left looking at a blank screen. Looking at some posts I get the impression that this is the default behaviour and I need to alter the php.in file. I would be grateful if someone could confirm this. I have found the following piece in the php.ini file.

; – display_errors = Off [Security]
; With this directive set to off, errors that occur during the execution of
; scripts will no longer be displayed as a part of the script output, and thus,
; will no longer be exposed to remote users. With some errors, the error message
; content may expose information about your script, web server, or database
; server that may be exploitable for hacking. Production sites should have this
; directive set to off.

If i change the -display_errors = Off to -display_errors = On
will this solve the problem??

Thanks

Dave

Oh and just another quick question if anyone can answer. I am going through some examples in a book and it suggests using;
$name = $HTTP_POST_VARS[‘name’]; to create short variable names.
However this doesnt appear to work so I have been using
$name = $_POST[‘name’]; is this correct??

Double Thanks ?

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