public function connect()
	{
		//check if there is a valid service instance
		if ( ! $this->validService()) 
		{

			//put this in try...catch block for better error handling
			try{
				
				//make a connection attempt
				$this->service = new \MySQLi($this->host,$this->username,$this->password,$this->database,$this->port);

				//check is the connection attempt returned an error
				if ($this->service->connect_error) 
				{
					//throw exception
					throw new MySQLException("Unable to connect to Database service with the provided settings");

				}

				//set the connection variable to true
				$this->connected = true;

			}

			//diplay error message
			catch(MySQLException $MySQLExceptionObject){

				//display error message
				$MySQLExceptionObject->errorShow();

			}
			
		}

		//return this connection instance
		return $this;

	}