Oracle 8 functions

Hi, im trying to use ora8 functions, and i have some trouble, the documentation is a reference not a guide, so probably im skipping some steps. to connect ocilogon() is used, and the connection establishes, this is verified checking the resurce returned. then i do an ociparse() with a select statement; but every kind of statement i send it returns different of false, including on purpose error to check it. do i need to do something before the call to ociparse()? this is an ora 8.1.7.4.1 database, php 4.3.6RC1 as a CGI on apache 1.3. Thanks in advance. Fidencio Monroy.