catching a 'PDOException' when database is down - php

Question

I am trying to catch an error if I cannot connect to database (eg xamp down or database connection down etc). I have tried to use PDO::errorCode() but yield no reuslts.
In my php I have a connection.php and a method ' to connect to the datatbase many times and return a new PDO instance to achieve various queries. The response displays the error message then all the php queries that call it, which also includes the name and password of the database in a non encrypted format.
How can I catch this error and replace this error message with a human readable alternative (that doesnt display the name and password)?
CONNECTION.PHP
function connect()
{
// set database server access variables:
$host = "localhost";
$user = "root";
$pass = "password";
$dbase = "dbName";
//Establish a connection
$db = new PDO("mysql:host=".$host."; dbname=".$dbase."", $user, $pass); //line 16
$db -> setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_WARNING);
return $db;
}
RESPONSE
Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'PDOException' with message
'SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No connection could be made because the target
machine actively refused it. ' in
D:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Web\htdocs\sitename\php\data\connection.php:16
Stack trace: #0
D:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Web\htdocs\sitename\php\data\connection.php(16):
PDO->__construct('mysql:host=loca...', 'root', 'password') #1
D:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Web\htdocs\sitename\php\function\active-user.php(28):
connect() #2
D:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Web\htdocs\sitename\map-floorplan.php(10):
include('D:\Users\Username...') #3 {main} thrown in
D:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Web\htdocs\sitename\php\data\connection.php
on line 16

Answer 1

do a try/catch to catch exceptions
try{
$db = new PDO("mysql:host=".$host."; dbname=".$dbase."", $user, $pass); //line 16
$db -> setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_WARNING);
return $db;
} catch( PDOException $e){
$originalError = $e->getMessage();
echo 'something went wrong.. '.$originalError;
exit;
}