mysql_select_db problem

Hi, I'm a newbie, so please have mercy on my silliness... I've checked my formats, and can't seem to understand why I can connect to the db, but not select the db that I want to use. The following code always returns the "Couldn't select database" error. If I use the mysql monitor, I can select the database directly without any problems. Could someone point out what I'm missing? <? $db_name="mydb"; $table_name="my_table"; $connection = @mysql_connect("localhost", "user", "password") or die ("Couldn't connect."); $db = @mysql_select_db($db_name) or die ("Couldn't select database"); ?> Regards, Carol