>I need to check if php/sql is working correctly.
>
>Is there a standard test code for this or what is the simplest query i can
>write to do this?

SELECT 2+2;

Hint: the result should be 4.

>Would something as simple as this work and display all the info from a
>database?.
>
><php>
>select * from database database1
></php>

No. You can do that for a table (which you need to be sure exists
first), not a whole database.

>How would i then link to the mysql connection details?, something like?:
>
><?
>$conn=mysql_connect('localhost', 'test', 'test');
>?>

You need to ASK THE ADMINISTRATOR. However, initial guesses of
host: localhost, database: test, username: root (not sure if this
is the default on Windows systems), password: none are not too bad
for initial installs. The test database will probably not have any
tables in it, though.