Capturing System output

Hello All.. Had this problem in the past, and always programmed around it, but wondering if there is an easier way. Good Example: Creating a setup for connecting to a mysql database. Want to do something simple to make sure they have entered a valid username/password for the database. So, the idea is something like: $rc = exec("mysql -u $user -p{$pass}", $output); The problem is one error, the stderr does not go to the output array, but rather to the screen. Previously I would redirect the stderr to a file, and then evaluate the contents of the file, but is there an easier way to get this into the PHP variable with no risk of having the output make it through to the screen? Thanks -Brad