It might not be clear right away but this is how it's seen
by PHP:

<?
class test {
;
  function test() {
    print 'OK';
  }
}

From the manual, http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.basic-syntax.php

"The closing tag for the block will include the immediately trailing newline if one is present. Also, the closing tag automatically implies a semicolon; you do not need to have a semicolon terminating the last line of a PHP block."

According to the answer, I added a variable but without terminating it by a ';':

<?
class test {
  var $dummy
?>
<!-- comment -->
<?
  function test() {
    print 'OK';
  }
}
?>

It still reports the same error, but now at line 6, the opening PHP tag.

You just can't split class definitions in PHP which is documented here:

http://docs.php.net/?q=language.oop

Derick