FBMYSQLFR(1) MySQL 5.1 FBMYSQLFR(1)
MySQL Database System MySQL Database System
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NAME
mysql - the MySQL command-line tool
SYNOPSIS
mysql [options] db_name
DESCRIPTION
mysql is a simple SQL shell with input line editing capabilities. It
supports interactive and noninteractive use. When used interactively,
query results are presented in an ASCII-table format. When used
noninteractively (for example, as a filter), the result is presented
in tab-separated format. The output format can be changed using
command options.
If you have problems due to insufficient memory for large result sets,
use the --quick option. This forces mysql to retrieve results from the
server a row at a time rather than retrieving the entire result set
and buffering it in memory before displaying it. This is done by
returning the result set using the mysql_use_result() C API function
in the client/server library rather than mysql_store_result().
Using mysql is very easy. Invoke it from the prompt of your command
interpreter as follows:
shell> mysql db_name
Or:
shell> mysql --user=user_name --password=your_password db_name
Then type an SQL statement, end it with ;, \g, or \G and press Enter.
As of MySQL 5.1.10, typing Control+C causes mysql to attempt to kill
the current statement. If this cannot be done, or Control+C is typed
again before the statement is killed, mysql exits. Previously,
Control+C caused mysql to exit in all cases.
You can execute SQL statements in a script file (batch file) like
this:
shell> mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab
On Unix, the mysql client logs statements executed interactively to a
history file. See the section called MYSQL LOGGING.
MYSQL OPTIONS
mysql supports the following options, which can be specified on the
command line or in the [mysql] and [client] groups of an option file.
mysql also supports the options for processing option files described
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at Section 4.2.3.4, Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File
Handling.
+ --help, -?
Display a help message and exit.
+ --auto-rehash
Enable automatic rehashing. This option is on by default, which
enables database, table, and column name completion. Use
--disable-auto-rehash to disable rehashing. That causes mysql to
start faster, but you must issue the rehash command if you want to
use name completion.
To complete a name, enter the first part and press Tab. If the
name is unambiguous, mysql completes it. Otherwise, you can press
Tab again to see the possible names that begin with what you have
typed so far. Completion does not occur if there is no default
database.
+ --batch, -B
Print results using tab as the column separator, with each row on
a new line. With this option, mysql does not use the history file.
Batch mode results in nontabular output format and escaping of
special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode;
see the description for the --raw option.
+ --bind-address=ip_address
On a computer having multiple network interfaces, this option can
be used to select which interface is employed when connecting to
the MySQL server.
This option is supported only in the version of the mysql client
that is supplied with MySQL Cluster, beginning with MySQL Cluster
NDB 6.3.4. It is not available in standard MySQL 5.1 releases.
+ --character-sets-dir=path
The directory where character sets are installed. See
Section 10.5, Character Set Configuration.
+ --column-names
Write column names in results.
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+ --column-type-info, -m
Display result set metadata. This option was added in MySQL
5.1.14. (Before that, use --debug-info.) The -m short option was
added in MySQL 5.1.21.
+ --comments, -c
Whether to preserve comments in statements sent to the server. The
default is --skip-comments (discard comments), enable with
--comments (preserve comments). This option was added in MySQL
5.1.23.
+ --compress, -C
Compress all information sent between the client and the server if
both support compression.
+ --database=db_name, -D db_name
The database to use. This is useful primarily in an option file.
+ --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]
Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is
+ --debug-check
Print some debugging information when the program exits. This
option was added in MySQL 5.1.21.
+ --debug-info, -T
Before MySQL 5.1.14, this option prints debugging information and
memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits, and also
causes display of result set metadata during execution. As of
MySQL 5.1.14, use --column-type-info to display result set
metadata.
+ --default-character-set=charset_name
Use charset_name as the default character set for the client and
connection.
A common issue that can occur when the operating system uses utf8
or another multi-byte character set is that output from the mysql
client is formatted incorrectly, due to the fact that the MySQL
client uses the latin1 character set by default. You can usually
fix such issues by using this option to force the client to use
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the system character set instead.
See Section 10.5, Character Set Configuration, for more
information.
+ --delimiter=str
Set the statement delimiter. The default is the semicolon
character (;).
+ --disable-named-commands
Disable named commands. Use the \* form only, or use named
commands only at the beginning of a line ending with a semicolon
(;). mysql starts with this option enabled by default. However,
even with this option, long-format commands still work from the
first line. See the section called MYSQL COMMANDS.
+ --execute=statement, -e statement
Execute the statement and quit. The default output format is like
that produced with --batch. See Section 4.2.3.1, Using Options on
the Command Line, for some examples. With this option, mysql does
not use the history file.
+ --force, -f
Continue even if an SQL error occurs.
+ --host=host_name, -h host_name
Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.
+ --html, -H
Produce HTML output.
+ --ignore-spaces, -i
Ignore spaces after function names. The effect of this is
described in the discussion for the IGNORE_SPACE SQL mode (see
Section 5.1.7, Server SQL Modes).
+ --line-numbers
Write line numbers for errors. Disable this with
--skip-line-numbers.
+ --local-infile[={0|1}]
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Enable or disable LOCAL capability for LOAD DATA INFILE. With no
value, the option enables LOCAL. The option may be given as
--local-infile=0 or --local-infile=1 to explicitly disable or
enable LOCAL. Enabling LOCAL has no effect if the server does not
also support it.
+ --named-commands, -G
Enable named mysql commands. Long-format commands are permitted,
not just short-format commands. For example, quit and \q both are
recognized. Use --skip-named-commands to disable named commands.
See the section called MYSQL COMMANDS.
+ --no-auto-rehash, -A
This has the same effect as -skip-auto-rehash. See the description
for --auto-rehash.
+ --no-beep, -b
Do not beep when errors occur.
+ --no-named-commands, -g
Deprecated, use --disable-named-commands instead.
--no-named-commands is removed in MySQL 5.5.
+ --no-pager
Deprecated form of --skip-pager. See the --pager option.
--no-pager is removed in MySQL 5.5.
+ --no-tee
Deprecated form of --skip-tee. See the --tee option. --no-tee is
removed in MySQL 5.5.
+ --one-database, -o
Ignore statements except those that occur while the default
database is the one named on the command line. This option is
rudimentary and should be used with care. Statement filtering is
based only on USE statements.
Initially, mysql executes statements in the input because
specifying a database db_name on the command line is equivalent to
inserting USE db_name at the beginning of the input. Then, for
each USE statement encountered, mysql accepts or rejects following
statements depending on whether the database named is the one on
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the command line. The content of the statements is immaterial.
Suppose that mysql is invoked to process this set of statements:
DELETE FROM db2.t2;
USE db2;
DROP TABLE db1.t1;
CREATE TABLE db1.t1 (i INT);
USE db1;
INSERT INTO t1 (i) VALUES(1);
CREATE TABLE db2.t1 (j INT);
If the command line is mysql --force --one-database db1, mysql
handles the input as follows:
+ The DELETE statement is executed because the default database
is db1, even though the statement names a table in a different
database.
+ The DROP TABLE and CREATE TABLE statements are not executed
because the default database is not db1, even though the
statements name a table in db1.
+ The INSERT and CREATE TABLE statements are executed because
the default database is db1, even though the CREATE TABLE
statement names a table in a different database.
+ --pager[=command]
Use the given command for paging query output. If the command is
omitted, the default pager is the value of your PAGER environment
variable. Valid pagers are less, more, cat [> filename], and so
forth. This option works only on Unix and only in interactive
mode. To disable paging, use --skip-pager. the section called
MYSQL COMMANDS, discusses output paging further.
+ --password[=password], -p[password]
The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the
short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option
and the password. If you omit the password value following the
--password or -p option on the command line, mysql prompts for
one.
Specifying a password on the command line should be considered
insecure. See Section 6.1.2.1, End-User Guidelines for Password
Security. You can use an option file to avoid giving the password
on the command line.
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+ --pipe, -W
On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option
applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.
+ --port=port_num, -P port_num
The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.
+ --prompt=format_str
Set the prompt to the specified format. The default is mysql>. The
special sequences that the prompt can contain are described in the
section called MYSQL COMMANDS.
+ --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}
The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is
useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a
protocol to be used other than the one you want. For details on
the permissible values, see Section 4.2.2, Connecting to the MySQL
Server.
+ --quick, -q
Do not cache each query result, print each row as it is received.
This may slow down the server if the output is suspended. With
this option, mysql does not use the history file.
+ --raw, -r
For tabular output, the boxing around columns enables one column
value to be distinguished from another. For nontabular output
(such as is produced in batch mode or when the --batch or --silent
option is given), special characters are escaped in the output so
they can be identified easily. Newline, tab, NUL, and backslash
are written as \n, \t, \0, and \\. The --raw option disables this
character escaping.
The following example demonstrates tabular versus nontabular
output and the use of raw mode to disable escaping:
% mysql
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
+----------+
| CHAR(92) |
+----------+
| \ |
+----------+
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% mysql -s
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
CHAR(92)
\\
% mysql -s -r
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
CHAR(92)
\
+ --reconnect
If the connection to the server is lost, automatically try to
reconnect. A single reconnect attempt is made each time the
connection is lost. To suppress reconnection behavior, use
--skip-reconnect.
+ --safe-updates, --i-am-a-dummy, -U
Permit only those UPDATE and DELETE statements that specify which
rows to modify by using key values. If you have set this option in
an option file, you can override it by using --safe-updates on the
command line. See the section called MYSQL TIPS, for more
information about this option.
+ --secure-auth
Do not send passwords to the server in old (pre-4.1) format. This
prevents connections except for servers that use the newer
password format.
+ --show-warnings
Cause warnings to be shown after each statement if there are any.
This option applies to interactive and batch mode.
+ --sigint-ignore
Ignore SIGINT signals (typically the result of typing Control+C).
+ --silent, -s
Silent mode. Produce less output. This option can be given
multiple times to produce less and less output.
This option results in nontabular output format and escaping of
special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode;
see the description for the --raw option.
+ --skip-column-names, -N
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Do not write column names in results.
+ --skip-line-numbers, -L
Do not write line numbers for errors. Useful when you want to
compare result files that include error messages.
+ --socket=path, -S path
For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on
Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.
+ --ssl*
Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the
server using SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and
certificates. See Section 6.3.6.4, SSL Command Options.
+ --table, -t
Display output in table format. This is the default for
interactive use, but can be used to produce table output in batch
mode.
+ --tee=file_name
Append a copy of output to the given file. This option works only
in interactive mode. the section called MYSQL COMMANDS, discusses
tee files further.
+ --unbuffered, -n
Flush the buffer after each query.
+ --user=user_name, -u user_name
The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.
+ --verbose, -v
Verbose mode. Produce more output about what the program does.
This option can be given multiple times to produce more and more
output. (For example, -v -v -v produces table output format even
in batch mode.)
+ --version, -V
Display version information and exit.
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+ --vertical, -E
Print query output rows vertically (one line per column value).
Without this option, you can specify vertical output for
individual statements by terminating them with \G.
+ --wait, -w
If the connection cannot be established, wait and retry instead of
aborting.
+ --xml, -X
Produce XML output.
Note
Prior to MySQL 5.1.12, there was no differentiation in the
output when using this option between columns containing the
NULL value and columns containing the string literal
<field name="column_name">NULL</field>
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.12, the output when --xml is used with
mysql matches that of mysqldump --xml. See mysqldump(1) for
details.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.18, the XML output also uses an XML
namespace, as shown here:
shell> mysql --xml -uroot -e "SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version%'"
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<resultset statement="SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version%'" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version</field>
<field name="Value">5.0.40-debug</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_comment</field>
<field name="Value">Source distribution</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_compile_machine</field>
<field name="Value">i686</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_compile_os</field>
<field name="Value">suse-linux-gnu</field>
</row>
</resultset>
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(See Bug #25946.)
You can also set the following variables by using --var_name=value.
The --set-variable format is deprecated and is removed in MySQL 5.5.
+ connect_timeout
The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default value is
0.)
+ max_allowed_packet
The maximum size of the buffer for client/server communication.
The default is 16MB, the maximum is 1GB.
+ max_join_size
The automatic limit for rows in a join when using --safe-updates.
(Default value is 1,000,000.)
+ net_buffer_length
The buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication. (Default
value is 16KB.)
+ select_limit
The automatic limit for SELECT statements when using
--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000.)
MYSQL COMMANDS
mysql sends each SQL statement that you issue to the server to be
executed. There is also a set of commands that mysql itself
interprets. For a list of these commands, type help or \h at the
mysql> prompt:
mysql> help
List of all MySQL commands:
Note that all text commands must be first on line and end with ';'
? (\?) Synonym for `help'.
clear (\c) Clear command.
connect (\r) Reconnect to the server. Optional arguments are db and host.
delimiter (\d) Set statement delimiter.
edit (\e) Edit command with $EDITOR.
ego (\G) Send command to mysql server, display result vertically.
exit (\q) Exit mysql. Same as quit.
go (\g) Send command to mysql server.
help (\h) Display this help.
nopager (\n) Disable pager, print to stdout.
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notee (\t) Don't write into outfile.
pager (\P) Set PAGER [to_pager]. Print the query results via PAGER.
print (\p) Print current command.
prompt (\R) Change your mysql prompt.
quit (\q) Quit mysql.
rehash (\#) Rebuild completion hash.
source (\.) Execute an SQL script file. Takes a file name as an argument.
status (\s) Get status information from the server.
system (\!) Execute a system shell command.
tee (\T) Set outfile [to_outfile]. Append everything into given
outfile.
use (\u) Use another database. Takes database name as argument.
charset (\C) Switch to another charset. Might be needed for processing
binlog with multi-byte charsets.
warnings (\W) Show warnings after every statement.
nowarning (\w) Don't show warnings after every statement.
For server side help, type 'help contents'
Each command has both a long and short form. The long form is not case
sensitive; the short form is. The long form can be followed by an
optional semicolon terminator, but the short form should not.
The use of short-form commands within multi-line /* ... */ comments is
not supported.
+ help [arg], \h [arg], \? [arg], ? [arg]
Display a help message listing the available mysql commands.
If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
search string to access server-side help from the contents of the
MySQL Reference Manual. For more information, see the section
called MYSQL SERVER-SIDE HELP.
+ charset charset_name, \C charset_name
Change the default character set and issue a SET NAMES statement.
This enables the character set to remain synchronized on the
client and server if mysql is run with auto-reconnect enabled
(which is not recommended), because the specified character set is
used for reconnects. This command was added in MySQL 5.1.7.
+ clear, \c
Clear the current input. Use this if you change your mind about
executing the statement that you are entering.
+ connect [db_name host_name]], \r [db_name host_name]]
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Reconnect to the server. The optional database name and host name
arguments may be given to specify the default database or the host
where the server is running. If omitted, the current values are
used.
+ delimiter str, \d str
Change the string that mysql interprets as the separator between
SQL statements. The default is the semicolon character (;).
The delimiter string can be specified as an unquoted or quoted
argument on the delimiter command line. Quoting can be done with
either single quote ('), double quote ("), or backtick (`)
characters. To include a quote within a quoted string, either
quote the string with a different quote character or escape the
quote with a backslash (\) character. Backslash should be avoided
outside of quoted strings because it is the escape character for
MySQL. For an unquoted argument, the delimiter is read up to the
first space or end of line. For a quoted argument, the delimiter
is read up to the matching quote on the line.
mysql interprets instances of the delimiter string as a statement
delimiter anywhere it occurs, except within quoted strings. Be
careful about defining a delimiter that might occur within other
words. For example, if you define the delimiter as X, you will be
unable to use the word INDEX in statements. mysql interprets this
as INDE followed by the delimiter X.
When the delimiter recognized by mysql is set to something other
than the default of ;, instances of that character are sent to the
server without interpretation. However, the server itself still
interprets ; as a statement delimiter and processes statements
accordingly. This behavior on the server side comes into play for
multiple-statement execution (see Section 21.8.16, C API Support
for Multiple Statement Execution), and for parsing the body of
stored procedures and functions, triggers, and events (see
Section 19.1, Defining Stored Programs).
+ edit, \e
Edit the current input statement. mysql checks the values of the
EDITOR and VISUAL environment variables to determine which editor
to use. The default editor is vi if neither variable is set.
The edit command works only in Unix.
+ ego, \G
Send the current statement to the server to be executed and
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display the result using vertical format.
+ exit, \q
Exit mysql.
+ go, \g
Send the current statement to the server to be executed.
+ nopager, \n
Disable output paging. See the description for pager.
The nopager command works only in Unix.
+ notee, \t
Disable output copying to the tee file. See the description for
tee.
+ nowarning, \w
Enable display of warnings after each statement.
+ pager [command], \P [command]
Enable output paging. By using the --pager option when you invoke
mysql, it is possible to browse or search query results in
interactive mode with Unix programs such as less, more, or any
other similar program. If you specify no value for the option,
mysql checks the value of the PAGER environment variable and sets
the pager to that. Pager functionality works only in interactive
mode.
Output paging can be enabled interactively with the pager command
and disabled with nopager. The command takes an optional argument;
if given, the paging program is set to that. With no argument, the
pager is set to the pager that was set on the command line, or
stdout if no pager was specified.
Output paging works only in Unix because it uses the popen()
function, which does not exist on Windows. For Windows, the tee
option can be used instead to save query output, although it is
not as convenient as pager for browsing output in some situations.
+ print, \p
Print the current input statement without executing it.
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+ prompt [str], \R [str]
Reconfigure the mysql prompt to the given string. The special
character sequences that can be used in the prompt are described
later in this section.
If you specify the prompt command with no argument, mysql resets
the prompt to the default of mysql>.
+ quit, \q
Exit mysql.
+ rehash, \#
Rebuild the completion hash that enables database, table, and
column name completion while you are entering statements. (See the
description for the --auto-rehash option.)
+ source file_name, \. file_name
Read the named file and executes the statements contained therein.
On Windows, you can specify path name separators as / or \\.
+ status, \s
Provide status information about the connection and the server you
are using. If you are running in --safe-updates mode, status also
prints the values for the mysql variables that affect your
queries.
+ system command, \! command
Execute the given command using your default command interpreter.
The system command works only in Unix.
+ tee [file_name], \T [file_name]
By using the --tee option when you invoke mysql, you can log
statements and their output. All the data displayed on the screen
is appended into a given file. This can be very useful for
debugging purposes also. mysql flushes results to the file after
each statement, just before it prints its next prompt. Tee
functionality works only in interactive mode.
You can enable this feature interactively with the tee command.
Without a parameter, the previous file is used. The tee file can
be disabled with the notee command. Executing tee again re-enables
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logging.
+ use db_name, \u db_name
Use db_name as the default database.
+ warnings, \W
Enable display of warnings after each statement (if there are
any).
Here are a few tips about the pager command:
+ You can use it to write to a file and the results go only to the
file:
mysql> pager cat > /tmp/log.txt
You can also pass any options for the program that you want to use
as your pager:
mysql> pager less -n -i -S
+ In the preceding example, note the -S option. You may find it very
useful for browsing wide query results. Sometimes a very wide
result set is difficult to read on the screen. The -S option to
less can make the result set much more readable because you can
scroll it horizontally using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys.
You can also use -S interactively within less to switch the
horizontal-browse mode on and off. For more information, read the
less manual page:
shell> man less
+ The -F and -X options may be used with less to cause it to exit if
output fits on one screen, which is convenient when no scrolling
is necessary:
mysql> pager less -n -i -S -F -X
+ You can specify very complex pager commands for handling query
output:
mysql> pager cat | tee /dr1/tmp/res.txt \
| tee /dr2/tmp/res2.txt | less -n -i -S
In this example, the command would send query results to two files
in two different directories on two different file systems mounted
on /dr1 and /dr2, yet still display the results onscreen using
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less.
You can also combine the tee and pager functions. Have a tee file
enabled and pager set to less, and you are able to browse the results
using the less program and still have everything appended into a file
the same time. The difference between the Unix tee used with the pager
command and the mysql built-in tee command is that the built-in tee
works even if you do not have the Unix tee available. The built-in tee
also logs everything that is printed on the screen, whereas the Unix
tee used with pager does not log quite that much. Additionally, tee
file logging can be turned on and off interactively from within mysql.
This is useful when you want to log some queries to a file, but not
others.
The prompt command reconfigures the default mysql> prompt. The string
for defining the prompt can contain the following special sequences.
allbox tab(:); lB lB. T{ Option T}:T{ Description T} l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l l. T{ \c T}:T{ A counter that increments for
each statement you issue T} T{ \D T}:T{ The full current date T} T{ \d
T}:T{ The default database T} T{ \h T}:T{ The server host T} T{ \l
T}:T{ The current delimiter (new in 5.1.12) T} T{ \m T}:T{ Minutes of
the current time T} T{ \n T}:T{ A newline character T} T{ \O T}:T{ The
current month in three-letter format (Jan, Feb, ...) T} T{ \o T}:T{
The current month in numeric format T} T{ \P T}:T{ am/pm T} T{ \p
T}:T{ The current TCP/IP port or socket file T} T{ \R T}:T{ The
current time, in 24-hour military time (023) T} T{ \r T}:T{ The
current time, standard 12-hour time (112) T} T{ \S T}:T{ Semicolon T}
T{ \s T}:T{ Seconds of the current time T} T{ \t T}:T{ A tab character
T} T{ \U T}:T{
Your full user_name@host_name account name T} T{ \u T}:T{ Your user
name T} T{ \v T}:T{ The server version T} T{ \w T}:T{ The current day
of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...) T} T{ \Y T}:T{ The
current year, four digits T} T{ \y T}:T{ The current year, two digits
T} T{ \_ T}:T{ A space T} T{ \ T}:T{ A space (a space follows the
backslash) T} T{ \' T}:T{ Single quote T} T{ \" T}:T{ Double quote T}
T{ \\ T}:T{ A literal \ backslash character T} T{ \x T}:T{
x, for any x not listed above T}
You can set the prompt in several ways:
+ Use an environment variable. You can set the MYSQL_PS1
environment variable to a prompt string. For example:
shell> export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
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+ Use a command-line option. You can set the --prompt option on the
command line to mysql. For example:
shell> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
(user@host) [database]>
+ Use an option file. You can set the prompt option in the [mysql]
group of any MySQL option file, such as /etc/my.cnf or the .my.cnf
file in your home directory. For example:
[mysql]
prompt=(\\u@\\h) [\\d]>\\_
In this example, note that the backslashes are doubled. If you set
the prompt using the prompt option in an option file, it is
advisable to double the backslashes when using the special prompt
options. There is some overlap in the set of permissible prompt
options and the set of special escape sequences that are
recognized in option files. (The rules for escape sequences in
option files are listed in Section 4.2.3.3, Using Option Files.)
The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes.
For example, \s is interpreted as a space rather than as the
current seconds value. The following example shows how to define a
prompt within an option file to include the current time in
HH:MM:SS> format:
[mysql]
prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> "
+ Set the prompt interactively. You can change your prompt
interactively by using the prompt (or \R) command. For example:
mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_
PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'
(user@host) [database]>
(user@host) [database]> prompt
Returning to default PROMPT of mysql>
mysql>
MYSQL LOGGING
On Unix, the mysql client logs statements executed interactively to a
history file. By default, this file is named .mysql_history in your
home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of the
MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable.
How Logging Occurs
Statement logging occurs as follows:
+ Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements
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are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe.
It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the
--batch or --execute option.
+ mysql logs each nonempty statement line individually.
+ If a statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating
delimiter), mysql concatenates the lines to form the complete
statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a
delimiter.
Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be
logged twice. Consider this input:
mysql> SELECT
-> 'Today is'
-> ,
-> CONCAT()
-> ;
In this case, mysql logs the SELECT, ,, CONCAT(), and ; lines as it
reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mapping
SELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE() to SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(),
plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output:
SELECT
,
CURDATE()
;
SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE();
Controlling the History File
The .mysql_history file should be protected with a restrictive access
mode because sensitive information might be written to it, such as the
text of SQL statements that contain passwords. See Section 6.1.2.1,
End-User Guidelines for Password Security.
If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove
.mysql_history if it exists. Then use either of the following
techniques to prevent it from being created again:
+ Set the MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable to /dev/null. To cause
this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of
your shell's startup files.
+ Create .mysql_history as a symbolic link to /dev/null; this need
be done only once:
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shell> ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history
MYSQL SERVER-SIDE HELP
mysql> help search_string
If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
search string to access server-side help from the contents of the
MySQL Reference Manual. The proper operation of this command requires
that the help tables in the mysql database be initialized with help
topic information (see Section 5.1.9, Server-Side Help).
If there is no match for the search string, the search fails:
mysql> help me
Nothing found
Please try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics
Use help contents to see a list of the help categories:
mysql> help contents
You asked for help about help category: "Contents"
For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of the
following categories:
Account Management
Administration
Data Definition
Data Manipulation
Data Types
Functions
Functions and Modifiers for Use with GROUP BY
Geographic Features
Language Structure
Plugins
Storage Engines
Stored Routines
Table Maintenance
Transactions
Triggers
If the search string matches multiple items, mysql shows a list of
matching topics:
mysql> help logs
Many help items for your request exist.
To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',
where <item> is one of the following topics:
SHOW
SHOW BINARY LOGS
SHOW ENGINE
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SHOW LOGS
Use a topic as the search string to see the help entry for that topic:
mysql> help show binary logs
Name: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'
Description:
Syntax:
SHOW BINARY LOGS
SHOW MASTER LOGS
Lists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used as
part of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows how
to determine which logs can be purged.
mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;
+---------------+-----------+
| Log_name | File_size |
+---------------+-----------+
| binlog.000015 | 724935 |
| binlog.000016 | 733481 |
+---------------+-----------+
The search string can contain the the wildcard characters % and _.
These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations
performed with the LIKE operator. For example, HELP rep% returns a
list of topics that begin with rep:
mysql> HELP rep%
Many help items for your request exist.
To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',
where <item> is one of the following
topics:
REPAIR TABLE
REPEAT FUNCTION
REPEAT LOOP
REPLACE
REPLACE FUNCTION
EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE
The mysql client typically is used interactively, like this:
shell> mysql db_name
However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and
then tell mysql to read its input from that file. To do so, create a
text file text_file that contains the statements you wish to execute.
Then invoke mysql as shown here:
shell> mysql db_name < text_file
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If you place a USE db_name statement as the first statement in the
file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command
line:
shell> mysql < text_file
If you are already running mysql, you can execute an SQL script file
using the source command or \. command:
mysql> source file_name
mysql> \. file_name
Sometimes you may want your script to display progress information to
the user. For this you can insert statements like this:
SELECT '<info_to_display>' AS ' ';
The statement shown outputs <info_to_display>.
You can also invoke mysql with the --verbose option, which causes each
statement to be displayed before the result that it produces.
As of MySQL 5.1.23, mysql ignores Unicode byte order mark (BOM)
characters at the beginning of input files. Previously, it read them
and sent them to the server, resulting in a syntax error. Presence of
a BOM does not cause mysql to change its default character set. To do
that, invoke mysql with an option such as
--default-character-set=utf8.
For more information about batch mode, see Section 3.5, Using mysql in
Batch Mode.
MYSQL TIPS
This section describes some techniques that can help you use mysql
more effectively.
Input-Line Editing
mysql supports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the
current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For
example, the left-arrow and right-arrow keys move horizontally within
the current input line, and the up-arror and down-arrow keys move up
and down through the set of previously entered lines. Backspace
deletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters
enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, press Enter.
On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for
command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend
on the input library used to build mysql (for example, the libedit or
readline library).
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Documentation for the libedit and readline libraries is available
online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input
library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a
file in your home directory: .editrc for libedit and .inputrc for
readline.
For example, in libedit, Control+W deletes everything before the
current cursor position and Control+U deletes the entire line. In
readline, Control+W deletes the word before the cursor and Control+U
deletes everything before the current cursor position. If mysql was
built using libedit, a user who prefers the readline behavior for
these two keys can put the following lines in the .editrc file
(creating the file if necessary):
bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-word
bind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev
To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that
says only bind at the end of .editrc. mysql will show the bindings
when it starts.
Displaying Query Results Vertically
Some query results are much more readable when displayed vertically,
instead of in the usual horizontal table format. Queries can be
displayed vertically by terminating the query with \G instead of a
semicolon. For example, longer text values that include newlines often
are much easier to read with vertical output:
mysql> SELECT * FROM mails WHERE LENGTH(txt) < 300 LIMIT 300,1\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
msg_nro: 3068
date: 2000-03-01 23:29:50
time_zone: +0200
mail_from: Monty
reply: monty@no.spam.com
mail_to: "Thimble Smith" <tim@no.spam.com>
sbj: UTF-8
txt: >>>>> "Thimble" == Thimble Smith writes:
Thimble> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiar
Thimble> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on my
Thimble> TODO list and see what happens.
Yes, please do that.
Regards,
Monty
file: inbox-jani-1
hash: 190402944
1 row in set (0.09 sec)
Using the --safe-updates Option
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For beginners, a useful startup option is --safe-updates (or
--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). It is helpful for cases
when you might have issued a DELETE FROM tbl_name statement but
forgotten the WHERE clause. Normally, such a statement deletes all
rows from the table. With --safe-updates, you can delete rows only by
specifying the key values that identify them. This helps prevent
accidents.
When you use the --safe-updates option, mysql issues the following
statement when it connects to the MySQL server:
SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, sql_max_join_size=1000000;
See Section 5.1.4, Server System Variables.
The SET statement has the following effects:
+ You are not permitted to execute an UPDATE or DELETE statement
unless you specify a key constraint in the WHERE clause or provide
a LIMIT clause (or both). For example:
UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val WHERE key_column=val;
UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val LIMIT 1;
+ The server limits all large SELECT results to 1,000 rows unless
the statement includes a LIMIT clause.
+ The server aborts multiple-table SELECT statements that probably
need to examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations.
To specify limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override
the defaults by using the --select_limit and --max_join_size options:
shell> mysql --safe-updates --select_limit=500 --max_join_size=10000
Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect
If the mysql client loses its connection to the server while sending a
statement, it immediately and automatically tries to reconnect once to
the server and send the statement again. However, even if mysql
succeeds in reconnecting, your first connection has ended and all your
previous session objects and settings are lost: temporary tables, the
autocommit mode, and user-defined and session variables. Also, any
current transaction rolls back. This behavior may be dangerous for
you, as in the following example where the server was shut down and
restarted between the first and second statements without you knowing
it:
mysql> SET @a=1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)
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mysql> INSERT INTO t VALUES(@a);
ERROR 2006: MySQL server has gone away
No connection. Trying to reconnect...
Connection id: 1
Current database: test
Query OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM t;
+------+
| a |
+------+
| NULL |
+------+
1 row in set (0.05 sec)
The @a user variable has been lost with the connection, and after the
reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to have mysql
terminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start
the mysql client with the --skip-reconnect option.
For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state
information when a reconnection occurs, see Section 21.8.15,
Controlling Automatic Reconnection Behavior.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright c 1997, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights
reserved.
This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or
see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
SEE ALSO
For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,
which may already be installed locally and which is also available
online at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.
AUTHOR
Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).
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