PHP eval() fatal error

Here's the thing: I'm trying to do some dynamic code compilation within PHP using eval(). The code I'm trying to compile raises an E_ERROR (Fatal). Here's a simple example: <?php $code = ' $returnValue = 12*A+; '; // Clearly incorrect code :-) $returnValue = 0; eval($code); ?> Now, I'd like to catch the error made by eval: // ... try { eval($code); } catch (Exception $ex) { var_dump($ex); } // ... Problem persists: a fatal error occurs. Using set_error_handler() and set_exception_handler() is not working either... Is there any way to gracefully catch this error? Regards, Maarten