1MYSQL(1) MySQL Database System MYSQL(1)
2
6 mysql - the MySQL command-line tool
7
9 mysql [options] db_name
10
12 mysql is a simple SQL shell (with GNU readline capabilities). It
13 supports interactive and noninteractive use. When used interactively,
14 query results are presented in an ASCII-table format. When used
15 noninteractively (for example, as a filter), the result is presented in
16 tab-separated format. The output format can be changed using command
17 options.
18 If you have problems due to insufficient memory for large result sets,
20 use the --quick option. This forces mysql to retrieve results from the
21 server a row at a time rather than retrieving the entire result set and
22 buffering it in memory before displaying it. This is done by returning
23 the result set using the mysql_use_result() C API function in the
24 client/server library rather than mysql_store_result().
25 Using mysql is very easy. Invoke it from the prompt of your command
27 interpreter as follows:
28 shell> mysql db_name
30 Or:
32 shell> mysql --user=user_name --password=your_password db_name
34 Then type an SQL statement, end it with “;”, \g, or \G and press Enter.
36 As of MySQL 5.1.10, typing Control+C causes mysql to attempt to kill
38 the current statement. If this cannot be done, or Control+C is typed
39 again before the statement is killed, mysql exits. Previously,
40 Control+C caused mysql to exit in all cases.
41 You can execute SQL statements in a script file (batch file) like this:
43 shell> mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab
45 On Unix, the mysql client writes a record of executed statements to a
47 history file. See the section called “MYSQL HISTORY FILE”.
48
50 mysql supports the following options, which can be specified on the
51 command line or in the [mysql] and [client] groups of an option file.
52 mysql also supports the options for processing option files described
53 at Section 4.2.3.3.1, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File
54 Handling”.
55 · --help, -?
57 Display a help message and exit.
59 · --auto-rehash
61 Enable automatic rehashing. This option is on by default, which
63 enables database, table, and column name completion. Use
64 --disable-auto-rehash to disable rehashing. That causes mysql to
65 start faster, but you must issue the rehash command if you want to
66 use name completion.
67 To complete a name, enter the first part and press Tab. If the name
69 is unambiguous, mysql completes it. Otherwise, you can press Tab
70 again to see the possible names that begin with what you have typed
71 so far. Completion does not occur if there is no default database.
72 · --batch, -B
74 Print results using tab as the column separator, with each row on a
76 new line. With this option, mysql does not use the history file.
77 Batch mode results in nontabular output format and escaping of
79 special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode; see
80 the description for the --raw option.
81 · --bind-address=ip_address
83 On a computer having multiple network interfaces, this option can
85 be used to select which interface is employed when connecting to
86 the MySQL server.
87 This option is supported only in the version of the mysql client
89 that is supplied with MySQL Cluster, beginning with MySQL Cluster
90 NDB 6.3.4. It is not available in standard MySQL 5.1 releases.
91 · --character-sets-dir=path
93 The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 9.5,
95 “Character Set Configuration”.
96 · --column-names
98 Write column names in results.
100 · --column-type-info, -m
102 Display result set metadata. This option was added in MySQL 5.1.14.
104 (Before that, use --debug-info.) The -m short option was added in
105 MySQL 5.1.21.
106 · --comments, -c
108 Whether to preserve comments in statements sent to the server. The
110 default is --skip-comments (discard comments), enable with
111 --comments (preserve comments). This option was added in MySQL
112 5.1.23.
113 · --compress, -C
115 Compress all information sent between the client and the server if
117 both support compression.
118 · --database=db_name, -D db_name
120 The database to use. This is useful primarily in an option file.
122 · --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]
124 Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is
126 ´d:t:o,file_name´. The default is ´d:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace´.
127 · --debug-check
129 Print some debugging information when the program exits. This
131 option was added in MySQL 5.1.21.
132 · --debug-info, -T
134 Before MySQL 5.1.14, this option prints debugging information and
136 memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits, and also
137 causes display of result set metadata during execution. As of MySQL
138 5.1.14, use --column-type-info to display result set metadata.
139 · --default-character-set=charset_name
141 Use charset_name as the default character set for the client and
143 connection.
144 A common issue that can occur when the operating system uses utf8
146 or another multi-byte character set is that output from the mysql
147 client is formatted incorrectly, due to the fact that the MySQL
148 client uses the latin1 character set by default. You can usually
149 fix such issues by using this option to force the client to use the
150 system character set instead.
151 See Section 9.5, “Character Set Configuration”, for more
153 information.
154 · --delimiter=str
156 Set the statement delimiter. The default is the semicolon character
158 (“;”).
159 · --disable-named-commands
161 Disable named commands. Use the \* form only, or use named commands
163 only at the beginning of a line ending with a semicolon (“;”).
164 mysql starts with this option enabled by default. However, even
165 with this option, long-format commands still work from the first
166 line. See the section called “MYSQL COMMANDS”.
167 · --execute=statement, -e statement
169 Execute the statement and quit. The default output format is like
171 that produced with --batch. See Section 4.2.3.1, “Using Options on
172 the Command Line”, for some examples. With this option, mysql does
173 not use the history file.
174 · --force, -f
176 Continue even if an SQL error occurs.
178 · --host=host_name, -h host_name
180 Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.
182 · --html, -H
184 Produce HTML output.
186 · --ignore-spaces, -i
188 Ignore spaces after function names. The effect of this is described
190 in the discussion for the IGNORE_SPACE SQL mode (see Section 5.1.6,
191 “Server SQL Modes”).
192 · --line-numbers
194 Write line numbers for errors. Disable this with
196 --skip-line-numbers.
197 · --local-infile[={0|1}]
199 Enable or disable LOCAL capability for LOAD DATA INFILE. With no
201 value, the option enables LOCAL. The option may be given as
202 --local-infile=0 or --local-infile=1 to explicitly disable or
203 enable LOCAL. Enabling LOCAL has no effect if the server does not
204 also support it.
205 · --named-commands, -G
207 Enable named mysql commands. Long-format commands are permitted,
209 not just short-format commands. For example, quit and \q both are
210 recognized. Use --skip-named-commands to disable named commands.
211 See the section called “MYSQL COMMANDS”.
212 · --no-auto-rehash, -A
214 This has the same effect as -skip-auto-rehash. See the description
216 for --auto-rehash.
217 · --no-beep, -b
219 Do not beep when errors occur.
221 · --no-named-commands, -g
223 Deprecated, use --disable-named-commands instead.
225 --no-named-commands is removed in MySQL 5.5.
226 · --no-pager
228 Deprecated form of --skip-pager. See the --pager option.
230 --no-pager is removed in MySQL 5.5.
231 · --no-tee
233 Deprecated form of --skip-tee. See the --tee option. --no-tee is
235 removed in MySQL 5.5.
236 · --one-database, -o
238 Ignore statements except those that occur while the default
240 database is the one named on the command line. This option is
241 rudimentary and should be used with care. Statement filtering is
242 based only on USE statements.
243 Initially, mysql executes statements in the input because
245 specifying a database db_name on the command line is equivalent to
246 inserting USE db_name at the beginning of the input. Then, for each
247 USE statement encountered, mysql accepts or rejects following
248 statements depending on whether the database named is the one on
249 the command line. The content of the statements is immaterial.
250 Suppose that mysql is invoked to process this set of statements:
252 DELETE FROM db2.t2;
254 USE db2;
255 DROP TABLE db1.t1;
256 CREATE TABLE db1.t1 (i INT);
257 USE db1;
258 INSERT INTO t1 (i) VALUES(1);
259 CREATE TABLE db2.t1 (j INT);
260 If the command line is mysql --force --one-database db1, mysql
262 handles the input as follows:
263 · The DELETE statement is executed because the default database
265 is db1, even though the statement names a table in a different
266 database.
267 · The DROP TABLE and CREATE TABLE statements are not executed
269 because the default database is not db1, even though the
270 statements name a table in db1.
271 · The INSERT and CREATE TABLE statements are executed because the
273 default database is db1, even though the CREATE TABLE statement
274 names a table in a different database.
275 · --pager[=command]
277 Use the given command for paging query output. If the command is
279 omitted, the default pager is the value of your PAGER environment
280 variable. Valid pagers are less, more, cat [> filename], and so
281 forth. This option works only on Unix and only in interactive mode.
282 To disable paging, use --skip-pager. the section called “MYSQL
283 COMMANDS”, discusses output paging further.
284 · --password[=password], -p[password]
286 The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the
288 short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option
289 and the password. If you omit the password value following the
290 --password or -p option on the command line, mysql prompts for one.
291 Specifying a password on the command line should be considered
293 insecure. See Section 5.3.2.2, “End-User Guidelines for Password
294 Security”. You can use an option file to avoid giving the password
295 on the command line.
296 · --pipe, -W
298 On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option
300 applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.
301 · --port=port_num, -P port_num
303 The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.
305 · --prompt=format_str
307 Set the prompt to the specified format. The default is mysql>. The
309 special sequences that the prompt can contain are described in the
310 section called “MYSQL COMMANDS”.
311 · --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}
313 The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is
315 useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a
316 protocol to be used other than the one you want. For details on the
317 permissible values, see Section 4.2.2, “Connecting to the MySQL
318 Server”.
319 · --quick, -q
321 Do not cache each query result, print each row as it is received.
323 This may slow down the server if the output is suspended. With this
324 option, mysql does not use the history file.
325 · --raw, -r
327 For tabular output, the “boxing” around columns enables one column
329 value to be distinguished from another. For nontabular output (such
330 as is produced in batch mode or when the --batch or --silent option
331 is given), special characters are escaped in the output so they can
332 be identified easily. Newline, tab, NUL, and backslash are written
333 as \n, \t, \0, and \\. The --raw option disables this character
334 escaping.
335 The following example demonstrates tabular versus nontabular output
337 and the use of raw mode to disable escaping:
338 % mysql
340 mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
341 +----------+
342 | CHAR(92) |
343 +----------+
344 | \ |
345 +----------+
346 % mysql -s
347 mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
348 CHAR(92)
349 \\
350 % mysql -s -r
351 mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
352 CHAR(92)
353 \
354 · --reconnect
356 If the connection to the server is lost, automatically try to
358 reconnect. A single reconnect attempt is made each time the
359 connection is lost. To suppress reconnection behavior, use
360 --skip-reconnect.
361 · --safe-updates, --i-am-a-dummy, -U
363 Permit only those UPDATE and DELETE statements that specify which
365 rows to modify by using key values. If you have set this option in
366 an option file, you can override it by using --safe-updates on the
367 command line. See the section called “MYSQL TIPS”, for more
368 information about this option.
369 · --secure-auth
371 Do not send passwords to the server in old (pre-4.1.1) format. This
373 prevents connections except for servers that use the newer password
374 format.
375 · --show-warnings
377 Cause warnings to be shown after each statement if there are any.
379 This option applies to interactive and batch mode.
380 · --sigint-ignore
382 Ignore SIGINT signals (typically the result of typing Control+C).
384 · --silent, -s
386 Silent mode. Produce less output. This option can be given multiple
388 times to produce less and less output.
389 This option results in nontabular output format and escaping of
391 special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode; see
392 the description for the --raw option.
393 · --skip-column-names, -N
395 Do not write column names in results.
397 · --skip-line-numbers, -L
399 Do not write line numbers for errors. Useful when you want to
401 compare result files that include error messages.
402 · --socket=path, -S path
404 For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on
406 Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.
407 · --ssl*
409 Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the
411 server using SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and
412 certificates. See Section 5.5.6.3, “SSL Command Options”.
413 · --table, -t
415 Display output in table format. This is the default for interactive
417 use, but can be used to produce table output in batch mode.
418 · --tee=file_name
420 Append a copy of output to the given file. This option works only
422 in interactive mode. the section called “MYSQL COMMANDS”,
423 discusses tee files further.
424 · --unbuffered, -n
426 Flush the buffer after each query.
428 · --user=user_name, -u user_name
430 The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.
432 · --verbose, -v
434 Verbose mode. Produce more output about what the program does. This
436 option can be given multiple times to produce more and more output.
437 (For example, -v -v -v produces table output format even in batch
438 mode.)
439 · --version, -V
441 Display version information and exit.
443 · --vertical, -E
445 Print query output rows vertically (one line per column value).
447 Without this option, you can specify vertical output for individual
448 statements by terminating them with \G.
449 · --wait, -w
451 If the connection cannot be established, wait and retry instead of
453 aborting.
454 · --xml, -X
456 Produce XML output.
458 Note
460 Prior to MySQL 5.1.12, there was no differentiation in the
461 output when using this option between columns containing the
462 NULL value and columns containing the string literal ´NULL´;
463 both were represented as
464 <field name="column_name">NULL</field>
466 Beginning with MySQL 5.1.12, the output when --xml is used with
468 mysql matches that of mysqldump --xml. See mysqldump(1) for
469 details.
470 Beginning with MySQL 5.1.18, the XML output also uses an XML
472 namespace, as shown here:
473 shell> mysql --xml -uroot -e "SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ´version%´"
475 <?xml version="1.0"?>
476 <resultset statement="SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ´version%´" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
477 <row>
478 <field name="Variable_name">version</field>
479 <field name="Value">5.0.40-debug</field>
480 </row>
481 <row>
482 <field name="Variable_name">version_comment</field>
483 <field name="Value">Source distribution</field>
484 </row>
485 <row>
486 <field name="Variable_name">version_compile_machine</field>
487 <field name="Value">i686</field>
488 </row>
489 <row>
490 <field name="Variable_name">version_compile_os</field>
491 <field name="Value">suse-linux-gnu</field>
492 </row>
493 </resultset>
494 (See Bug #25946.)
496 You can also set the following variables by using --var_name=value. The
498 --set-variable format is deprecated and is removed in MySQL 5.5.
499 · connect_timeout
501 The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default value is
503 0.)
504 · max_allowed_packet
506 The maximum packet length to send to or receive from the server.
508 (Default value is 16MB.)
509 · max_join_size
511 The automatic limit for rows in a join when using --safe-updates.
513 (Default value is 1,000,000.)
514 · net_buffer_length
516 The buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication. (Default value
518 is 16KB.)
519 · select_limit
521 The automatic limit for SELECT statements when using
523 --safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000.)
524
526 mysql sends each SQL statement that you issue to the server to be
527 executed. There is also a set of commands that mysql itself interprets.
528 For a list of these commands, type help or \h at the mysql> prompt:
529 mysql> help
531 List of all MySQL commands:
532 Note that all text commands must be first on line and end with ´;´
533 ? (\?) Synonym for `help´.
534 clear (\c) Clear command.
535 connect (\r) Reconnect to the server. Optional arguments are db and host.
536 delimiter (\d) Set statement delimiter.
537 edit (\e) Edit command with $EDITOR.
538 ego (\G) Send command to mysql server, display result vertically.
539 exit (\q) Exit mysql. Same as quit.
540 go (\g) Send command to mysql server.
541 help (\h) Display this help.
542 nopager (\n) Disable pager, print to stdout.
543 notee (\t) Don´t write into outfile.
544 pager (\P) Set PAGER [to_pager]. Print the query results via PAGER.
545 print (\p) Print current command.
546 prompt (\R) Change your mysql prompt.
547 quit (\q) Quit mysql.
548 rehash (\#) Rebuild completion hash.
549 source (\.) Execute an SQL script file. Takes a file name as an argument.
550 status (\s) Get status information from the server.
551 system (\!) Execute a system shell command.
552 tee (\T) Set outfile [to_outfile]. Append everything into given
553 outfile.
554 use (\u) Use another database. Takes database name as argument.
555 charset (\C) Switch to another charset. Might be needed for processing
556 binlog with multi-byte charsets.
557 warnings (\W) Show warnings after every statement.
558 nowarning (\w) Don´t show warnings after every statement.
559 For server side help, type ´help contents´
560 Each command has both a long and short form. The long form is not case
562 sensitive; the short form is. The long form can be followed by an
563 optional semicolon terminator, but the short form should not.
564 The use of short-form commands within multi-line /* ... */ comments is
566 not supported.
567 · help [arg], \h [arg], \? [arg], ? [arg]
569 Display a help message listing the available mysql commands.
571 If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
573 search string to access server-side help from the contents of the
574 MySQL Reference Manual. For more information, see the section
575 called “MYSQL SERVER-SIDE HELP”.
576 · charset charset_name, \C charset_name
578 Change the default character set and issue a SET NAMES statement.
580 This enables the character set to remain synchronized on the client
581 and server if mysql is run with auto-reconnect enabled (which is
582 not recommended), because the specified character set is used for
583 reconnects. This command was added in MySQL 5.1.7.
584 · clear, \c
586 Clear the current input. Use this if you change your mind about
588 executing the statement that you are entering.
589 · connect [db_name host_name]], \r [db_name host_name]]
591 Reconnect to the server. The optional database name and host name
593 arguments may be given to specify the default database or the host
594 where the server is running. If omitted, the current values are
595 used.
596 · delimiter str, \d str
598 Change the string that mysql interprets as the separator between
600 SQL statements. The default is the semicolon character (“;”).
601 The delimiter string can be specified as an unquoted or quoted
603 argument on the delimiter command line. Quoting can be done with
604 either single quote (´), douple quote ("), or backtick (`)
605 characters. To include a quote within a quoted string, either quote
606 the string with a different quote character or escape the quote
607 with a backslash (“\”) character. Backslash should be avoided
608 outside of quoted strings because it is the escape character for
609 MySQL. For an unquoted argument, the delimiter is read up to the
610 first space or end of line. For a quoted argument, the delimiter is
611 read up to the matching quote on the line.
612 mysql interprets instances of the delimiter string as a statement
614 delimiter anywhere it occurs, except within quoted strings. Be
615 careful about defining a delimiter that might occur within other
616 words. For example, if you define the delimiter as X, you will be
617 unable to use the word INDEX in statements. mysql interprets this
618 as INDE followed by the delimiter X.
619 When the delimiter recognized by mysql is set to something other
621 than the default of “;”, instances of that character are sent to
622 the server without interpretation. However, the server itself still
623 interprets “;” as a statement delimiter and processes statements
624 accordingly. This behavior on the server side comes into play for
625 multiple-statement execution (see Section 20.9.12, “C API Support
626 for Multiple Statement Execution”), and for parsing the body of
627 stored procedures and functions, triggers, and events (see
628 Section 18.1, “Defining Stored Programs”).
629 · edit, \e
631 Edit the current input statement. mysql checks the values of the
633 EDITOR and VISUAL environment variables to determine which editor
634 to use. The default editor is vi if neither variable is set.
635 The edit command works only in Unix.
637 · ego, \G
639 Send the current statement to the server to be executed and display
641 the result using vertical format.
642 · exit, \q
644 Exit mysql.
646 · go, \g
648 Send the current statement to the server to be executed.
650 · nopager, \n
652 Disable output paging. See the description for pager.
654 The nopager command works only in Unix.
656 · notee, \t
658 Disable output copying to the tee file. See the description for
660 tee.
661 · nowarning, \w
663 Enable display of warnings after each statement.
665 · pager [command], \P [command]
667 Enable output paging. By using the --pager option when you invoke
669 mysql, it is possible to browse or search query results in
670 interactive mode with Unix programs such as less, more, or any
671 other similar program. If you specify no value for the option,
672 mysql checks the value of the PAGER environment variable and sets
673 the pager to that. Pager functionality works only in interactive
674 mode.
675 Output paging can be enabled interactively with the pager command
677 and disabled with nopager. The command takes an optional argument;
678 if given, the paging program is set to that. With no argument, the
679 pager is set to the pager that was set on the command line, or
680 stdout if no pager was specified.
681 Output paging works only in Unix because it uses the popen()
683 function, which does not exist on Windows. For Windows, the tee
684 option can be used instead to save query output, although it is not
685 as convenient as pager for browsing output in some situations.
686 · print, \p
688 Print the current input statement without executing it.
690 · prompt [str], \R [str]
692 Reconfigure the mysql prompt to the given string. The special
694 character sequences that can be used in the prompt are described
695 later in this section.
696 If you specify the prompt command with no argument, mysql resets
698 the prompt to the default of mysql>.
699 · quit, \q
701 Exit mysql.
703 · rehash, \#
705 Rebuild the completion hash that enables database, table, and
707 column name completion while you are entering statements. (See the
708 description for the --auto-rehash option.)
709 · source file_name, \. file_name
711 Read the named file and executes the statements contained therein.
713 On Windows, you can specify path name separators as / or \\.
714 · status, \s
716 Provide status information about the connection and the server you
718 are using. If you are running in --safe-updates mode, status also
719 prints the values for the mysql variables that affect your queries.
720 · system command, \! command
722 Execute the given command using your default command interpreter.
724 The system command works only in Unix.
726 · tee [file_name], \T [file_name]
728 By using the --tee option when you invoke mysql, you can log
730 statements and their output. All the data displayed on the screen
731 is appended into a given file. This can be very useful for
732 debugging purposes also. mysql flushes results to the file after
733 each statement, just before it prints its next prompt. Tee
734 functionality works only in interactive mode.
735 You can enable this feature interactively with the tee command.
737 Without a parameter, the previous file is used. The tee file can be
738 disabled with the notee command. Executing tee again re-enables
739 logging.
740 · use db_name, \u db_name
742 Use db_name as the default database.
744 · warnings, \W
746 Enable display of warnings after each statement (if there are any).
748 Here are a few tips about the pager command:
750 · You can use it to write to a file and the results go only to the
752 file:
753 mysql> pager cat > /tmp/log.txt
755 You can also pass any options for the program that you want to use
757 as your pager:
758 mysql> pager less -n -i -S
760 · In the preceding example, note the -S option. You may find it very
762 useful for browsing wide query results. Sometimes a very wide
763 result set is difficult to read on the screen. The -S option to
764 less can make the result set much more readable because you can
765 scroll it horizontally using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys.
766 You can also use -S interactively within less to switch the
767 horizontal-browse mode on and off. For more information, read the
768 less manual page:
769 shell> man less
771 · The -F and -X options may be used with less to cause it to exit if
773 output fits on one screen, which is convenient when no scrolling is
774 necessary:
775 mysql> pager less -n -i -S -F -X
777 · You can specify very complex pager commands for handling query
779 output:
780 mysql> pager cat | tee /dr1/tmp/res.txt \
782 | tee /dr2/tmp/res2.txt | less -n -i -S
783 In this example, the command would send query results to two files
785 in two different directories on two different file systems mounted
786 on /dr1 and /dr2, yet still display the results onscreen using
787 less.
788 You can also combine the tee and pager functions. Have a tee file
790 enabled and pager set to less, and you are able to browse the results
791 using the less program and still have everything appended into a file
792 the same time. The difference between the Unix tee used with the pager
793 command and the mysql built-in tee command is that the built-in tee
794 works even if you do not have the Unix tee available. The built-in tee
795 also logs everything that is printed on the screen, whereas the Unix
796 tee used with pager does not log quite that much. Additionally, tee
797 file logging can be turned on and off interactively from within mysql.
798 This is useful when you want to log some queries to a file, but not
799 others.
800 The prompt command reconfigures the default mysql> prompt. The string
802 for defining the prompt can contain the following special sequences.
803 ┌───────┬────────────────────────────┐
805 │Option │ Description │
806 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
807 │\c │ A counter that increments │
808 │ │ for each statement you │
809 │ │ issue │
810 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
811 │\D │ The full current date │
812 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
813 │\d │ The default database │
814 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
815 │\h │ The server host │
816 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
817 │\l │ The current delimiter (new │
818 │ │ in 5.1.12) │
819 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
820 │\m │ Minutes of the current │
821 │ │ time │
822 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
823 │\n │ A newline character │
824 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
825 │\O │ The current month in │
826 │ │ three-letter format (Jan, │
827 │ │ Feb, ...) │
828 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
829 │\o │ The current month in │
830 │ │ numeric format │
831 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
832 │\P │ am/pm │
833 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
834 │\p │ The current TCP/IP port or │
835 │ │ socket file │
836 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
837 │\R │ The current time, in │
838 │ │ 24-hour military time │
839 │ │ (0–23) │
840 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
841 │\r │ The current time, standard │
842 │ │ 12-hour time (1–12) │
843 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
844 │\S │ Semicolon │
845 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
846 │\s │ Seconds of the current │
847 │ │ time │
848 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
849 │\t │ A tab character │
850 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
851 │\U │ │
852 │ │ Your full │
853 │ │ user_name@host_name │
854 │ │ account name │
855 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
856 │\u │ Your user name │
857 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
858 │\v │ The server version │
859 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
860 │\w │ The current day of the │
861 │ │ week in three-letter │
862 │ │ format (Mon, Tue, ...) │
863 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
864 │\Y │ The current year, four │
865 │ │ digits │
866 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
867 │\y │ The current year, two │
868 │ │ digits │
869 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
870 │\_ │ A space │
871 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
872 │\ │ A space (a space follows │
873 │ │ the backslash) │
874 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
875 │\´ │ Single quote │
876 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
877 │\" │ Double quote │
878 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
879 │\\ │ A literal “\” backslash │
880 │ │ character │
881 ├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
882 │\x │ │
883 │ │ x, for any “x” not │
884 │ │ listed above │
885 └───────┴────────────────────────────┘
886 You can set the prompt in several ways:
888 · Use an environment variable. You can set the MYSQL_PS1 environment
890 variable to a prompt string. For example:
891 shell> export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
893 · Use a command-line option. You can set the --prompt option on the
895 command line to mysql. For example:
896 shell> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
898 (user@host) [database]>
899 · Use an option file. You can set the prompt option in the [mysql]
901 group of any MySQL option file, such as /etc/my.cnf or the .my.cnf
902 file in your home directory. For example:
903 [mysql]
905 prompt=(\\u@\\h) [\\d]>\\_
906 In this example, note that the backslashes are doubled. If you set
908 the prompt using the prompt option in an option file, it is
909 advisable to double the backslashes when using the special prompt
910 options. There is some overlap in the set of permissible prompt
911 options and the set of special escape sequences that are recognized
912 in option files. (The rules for escape sequences in option files
913 are listed in Section 4.2.3.3, “Using Option Files”.) The overlap
914 may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,
915 \s is interpreted as a space rather than as the current seconds
916 value. The following example shows how to define a prompt within an
917 option file to include the current time in HH:MM:SS> format:
918 [mysql]
920 prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> "
921 · Set the prompt interactively. You can change your prompt
923 interactively by using the prompt (or \R) command. For example:
924 mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_
926 PROMPT set to ´(\u@\h) [\d]>\_´
927 (user@host) [database]>
928 (user@host) [database]> prompt
929 Returning to default PROMPT of mysql>
930 mysql>
931
933 On Unix, the mysql client writes a record of executed statements to a
934 history file. By default, this file is named .mysql_history and is
935 created in your home directory. To specify a different file, set the
936 value of the MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable.
937 The .mysql_history should be protected with a restrictive access mode
939 because sensitive information might be written to it, such as the text
940 of SQL statements that contain passwords. See Section 5.3.2.2, “End-
941 User Guidelines for Password Security”.
942 It is possible to suppress logging of statements to the history file by
944 using the --batch or --execute option.
945 If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove
947 .mysql_history if it exists, and then use either of the following
948 techniques:
949 · Set the MYSQL_HISTFILE variable to /dev/null. To cause this setting
951 to take effect each time you log in, put the setting in one of your
952 shell´s startup files.
953 · Create .mysql_history as a symbolic link to /dev/null:
955 shell> ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history
957 You need do this only once.
959
961 mysql> help search_string
962 If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
964 search string to access server-side help from the contents of the MySQL
965 Reference Manual. The proper operation of this command requires that
966 the help tables in the mysql database be initialized with help topic
967 information (see Section 5.1.8, “Server-Side Help”).
968 If there is no match for the search string, the search fails:
970 mysql> help me
972 Nothing found
973 Please try to run ´help contents´ for a list of all accessible topics
974 Use help contents to see a list of the help categories:
976 mysql> help contents
978 You asked for help about help category: "Contents"
979 For more information, type ´help <item>´, where <item> is one of the
980 following categories:
981 Account Management
982 Administration
983 Data Definition
984 Data Manipulation
985 Data Types
986 Functions
987 Functions and Modifiers for Use with GROUP BY
988 Geographic Features
989 Language Structure
990 Plugins
991 Storage Engines
992 Stored Routines
993 Table Maintenance
994 Transactions
995 Triggers
996 If the search string matches multiple items, mysql shows a list of
998 matching topics:
999 mysql> help logs
1001 Many help items for your request exist.
1002 To make a more specific request, please type ´help <item>´,
1003 where <item> is one of the following topics:
1004 SHOW
1005 SHOW BINARY LOGS
1006 SHOW ENGINE
1007 SHOW LOGS
1008 Use a topic as the search string to see the help entry for that topic:
1010 mysql> help show binary logs
1012 Name: ´SHOW BINARY LOGS´
1013 Description:
1014 Syntax:
1015 SHOW BINARY LOGS
1016 SHOW MASTER LOGS
1017 Lists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used as
1018 part of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows how
1019 to determine which logs can be purged.
1020 mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;
1021 +---------------+-----------+
1022 | Log_name | File_size |
1023 +---------------+-----------+
1024 | binlog.000015 | 724935 |
1025 | binlog.000016 | 733481 |
1026 +---------------+-----------+
1027
1029 The mysql client typically is used interactively, like this:
1030 shell> mysql db_name
1032 However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and
1034 then tell mysql to read its input from that file. To do so, create a
1035 text file text_file that contains the statements you wish to execute.
1036 Then invoke mysql as shown here:
1037 shell> mysql db_name < text_file
1039 If you place a USE db_name statement as the first statement in the
1041 file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command
1042 line:
1043 shell> mysql < text_file
1045 If you are already running mysql, you can execute an SQL script file
1047 using the source command or \. command:
1048 mysql> source file_name
1050 mysql> \. file_name
1051 Sometimes you may want your script to display progress information to
1053 the user. For this you can insert statements like this:
1054 SELECT ´<info_to_display>´ AS ´ ´;
1056 The statement shown outputs <info_to_display>.
1058 You can also invoke mysql with the --verbose option, which causes each
1060 statement to be displayed before the result that it produces.
1061 As of MySQL 5.1.23, mysql ignores Unicode byte order mark (BOM)
1063 characters at the beginning of input files. Previously, it read them
1064 and sent them to the server, resulting in a syntax error. Presence of a
1065 BOM does not cause mysql to change its default character set. To do
1066 that, invoke mysql with an option such as --default-character-set=utf8.
1067 For more information about batch mode, see Section 3.5, “Using mysql in
1069 Batch Mode”.
1070
1072 This section describes some techniques that can help you use mysql more
1073 effectively.
1074 Displaying Query Results Vertically
1076 Some query results are much more readable when displayed vertically,
1077 instead of in the usual horizontal table format. Queries can be
1078 displayed vertically by terminating the query with \G instead of a
1079 semicolon. For example, longer text values that include newlines often
1080 are much easier to read with vertical output:
1081 mysql> SELECT * FROM mails WHERE LENGTH(txt) < 300 LIMIT 300,1\G
1083 *************************** 1. row ***************************
1084 msg_nro: 3068
1085 date: 2000-03-01 23:29:50
1086 time_zone: +0200
1087 mail_from: Monty
1088 reply: monty@no.spam.com
1089 mail_to: "Thimble Smith" <tim@no.spam.com>
1090 sbj: UTF-8
1091 txt: >>>>> "Thimble" == Thimble Smith writes:
1092 Thimble> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiar
1093 Thimble> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I´ll put this on my
1094 Thimble> TODO list and see what happens.
1095 Yes, please do that.
1096 Regards,
1097 Monty
1098 file: inbox-jani-1
1099 hash: 190402944
1100 1 row in set (0.09 sec)
1101 Using the --safe-updates Option
1103 For beginners, a useful startup option is --safe-updates (or
1104 --i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). It is helpful for cases
1105 when you might have issued a DELETE FROM tbl_name statement but
1106 forgotten the WHERE clause. Normally, such a statement deletes all rows
1107 from the table. With --safe-updates, you can delete rows only by
1108 specifying the key values that identify them. This helps prevent
1109 accidents.
1110 When you use the --safe-updates option, mysql issues the following
1112 statement when it connects to the MySQL server:
1113 SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, sql_max_join_size=1000000;
1115 See Section 5.1.3, “Server System Variables”.
1117 The SET statement has the following effects:
1119 · You are not permitted to execute an UPDATE or DELETE statement
1121 unless you specify a key constraint in the WHERE clause or provide
1122 a LIMIT clause (or both). For example:
1123 UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val WHERE key_column=val;
1125 UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val LIMIT 1;
1126 · The server limits all large SELECT results to 1,000 rows unless the
1128 statement includes a LIMIT clause.
1129 · The server aborts multiple-table SELECT statements that probably
1131 need to examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations.
1132 To specify limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override
1134 the defaults by using the --select_limit and --max_join_size options:
1135 shell> mysql --safe-updates --select_limit=500 --max_join_size=10000
1137 Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect
1139 If the mysql client loses its connection to the server while sending a
1140 statement, it immediately and automatically tries to reconnect once to
1141 the server and send the statement again. However, even if mysql
1142 succeeds in reconnecting, your first connection has ended and all your
1143 previous session objects and settings are lost: temporary tables, the
1144 autocommit mode, and user-defined and session variables. Also, any
1145 current transaction rolls back. This behavior may be dangerous for you,
1146 as in the following example where the server was shut down and
1147 restarted between the first and second statements without you knowing
1148 it:
1149 mysql> SET @a=1;
1151 Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)
1152 mysql> INSERT INTO t VALUES(@a);
1153 ERROR 2006: MySQL server has gone away
1154 No connection. Trying to reconnect...
1155 Connection id: 1
1156 Current database: test
1157 Query OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)
1158 mysql> SELECT * FROM t;
1159 +------+
1160 | a |
1161 +------+
1162 | NULL |
1163 +------+
1164 1 row in set (0.05 sec)
1165 The @a user variable has been lost with the connection, and after the
1167 reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to have mysql
1168 terminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start
1169 the mysql client with the --skip-reconnect option.
1170 For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state
1172 information when a reconnection occurs, see Section 20.9.11,
1173 “Controlling Automatic Reconnection Behavior”.
1174
1176 Copyright © 1997, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights
1177 reserved.
1178 This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
1180 modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
1181 published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
1182 This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1184 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1185 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
1186 General Public License for more details.
1187 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
1189 with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
1190 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see
1191 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
1192
1195 For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual, which
1196 may already be installed locally and which is also available online at
1197 http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.
1198
1200 Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).
1201MySQL 5.1 10/26/2011 MYSQL(1)