I have an error.php file which can be grossly simplified to:

```
<?

  if (!isset($error))
    $error = "Unspecified Error";

  echo "Error: $error";

?>

```

It is not "normal usage" to just navigate to error.php. Rather, I would do something like:

```
$dbh = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass);

if (!$dbh)
{
  $error = "Can't connect to MySQL: " . mysql_error();
  include('error.php');
  exit();
}

```

That said, if the user *does* navigate to error.php then they will just get "Error: Unspecified Error" as expected.

All my code is working, and the error page shows up and works exactly as expected, however Zend is complaining that $error is undefined on the line: `if (!isset($error))`.

I realise my design pattern is awful, but I'm just throwing together something quick-and-dirty in this case.