sub dbconnect {
# params.
my ($host, $port, $db, $user, $password)=@_;

# redirect errors
local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { set_dberror(join('',@_))};

# connect or bust
my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=$db:host=$host:port=$port",$user,$password);
return $dbh;
}