I think there is an error with the for() command, but perhaps there is something I am not seeing.

<?php
	        $num_fields = 3
parse error-->	for ( $i = 0; $i < $num_fields; i++){ 
	        echo "It works" ;
		} ;
?>
and according to the manual that should work
for (exp1; exp2; exp3) statement

compiled with
--with-mysql --with-apxs

email me for the php.ini

thanks