my sql query failing and yet returns no mySQL errors

I have been writing php and mySQL functions all day and as I was writing the simplest part of my project I have hit a wall.

The function should simply count how many entries are in the database and return that number (If there is a more simple way please let me know, this is my first php + mysql project)

Here is the code:

function quoteCount(){
    global $db;
    $totalQuoteNum = array();
    $query = "SELECT * FROM Quotes";
    $result_set = mysqli_query($db, $query)
    or die ("Query $query failed ".mysqli_error($db)); //fails here
    $totalQuoteNum = mysql_num_rows($result_set) 
    or die ('couldnt count rows'.mysqli_error($db));
    echo 'COUNTED EVERYTHING!!!';
    return $totalQuoteNum;
};

Now when the die statement prints I get the string but not the mysqli error.

Things I have tried and ruled out:

1. $db is cor开发者_JAVA百科rect
2. query works in mysql
3. I wasnt sure if the database was connected, so I added the connect inside this function and stil nothing.

Any ideas? From what I see it should work and its not giving me any error to work from. Please help!

Based on the comments, it seems as though $db is the database name.

Functions such as mysqli_query() expect a database link (resource), not simply the database name.

This resource is created by constructing a new mysqli object. Following your procedural style, use mysqli_connect().