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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | MYSQL OPTIONS | MYSQL COMMANDS | MYSQL SERVER-SIDE HELP | EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE | MYSQL TIPS | COPYRIGHT | NOTES | SEE ALSO | AUTHOR | COLOPHON |
MYSQL(1) MariaDB Database System MYSQL(1)
mysql - the MariaDB command-line tool
mysql [options] db_name
mysql is a simple SQL shell (with GNU readline capabilities). It
supports interactive and non-interactive use. When used
interactively, query results are presented in an ASCII-table format.
When used non-interactively (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.
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.
You can execute SQL statements in a script file (batch file) like
this:
shell> mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab
mysql supports the following options, which can be specified on the
command line or in the [mysql], [client], [client-server] or [client-
mariadb] option file groups. mysql also supports the options for
processing option files.
· --help, -?, -I
Display a help message and exit.
· --abort-source-on-error
Abort 'source filename' operations in case of errors.
· --auto-rehash
Enable automatic rehashing. This option is on by default, which
enables database, table, and column name completion. Use
--disable-auto-rehash, --no-auto-rehash, or --skip-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.
· --auto-vertical-output
Automatically switch to vertical output mode if the result is
wider than the terminal width.
· --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.
· --binary-mode
By default, ASCII '\0' is disallowed and '\r\n' is translated to
'\n'. This switch turns off both features, and also turns off
parsing of all client commands except \C and DELIMITER, in non-
interactive mode (for input piped to mysql or loaded using the
'source' command). This is necessary when processing output from
mysqlbinlog that may contain blobs.
· --character-sets-dir=path
The directory where character sets are installed.
· --column-names
Write column names in results.
· --column-type-info, -m
Display result set metadata.
· --comments, -c
Whether to preserve comments in statements sent to the server.
The default is --skip-comments (discard comments), enable with
--comments (preserve comments).
· --compress, -C
Compress all information sent between the client and the server
if both support compression.
· --connect-timeout=seconds
Set the number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default
value is 0.)
· --database=db_name, -D db_name
The database to use.
· --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]
Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is
´d:t:o,file_name´. The default is ´d:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace´.
· --debug-check
Print some debugging information when the program exits.
· --debug-info, -T
Prints debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics
when the program exits.
· --default-auth=name
Default authentication client-side plugin to use.
· --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 MariaDB
client uses the latin1 character set by default. You can usually
fix such issues by using this option to force the client to use
the system character set instead.
· --defaults-extra-file=filename
Set filename as the file to read default options from after the
global defaults files has been read. Must be given as first
option.
· --defaults-file=filename
Set filename as the file to read default options from, override
global defaults files. Must be given as first option.
· --defaults-group-suffix=suffix
In addition to the groups named on the command line, read groups
that have the given suffix.
· --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. Disables --force and history
file. The default output format is like that produced with
--batch.
· --force, -f
Continue even if an SQL error occurs. Sets --abort-source-on-
error to 0.
· --host=host_name, -h host_name
Connect to the MariaDB server on the given host.
· --html, -H
Produce HTML output.
· --ignore-spaces, -i
Ignore spaces after function names. Allows one to have spaces
(including tab characters and new line characters) between
function name and '('. The drawback is that this causes built in
functions to become reserved words.
· --init-command=str
SQL Command to execute when connecting to the MariaDB server.
Will automatically be re-executed when reconnecting.
· --line-numbers
Write line numbers for errors. Disable this with
--skip-line-numbers.
· --local-infile[={0|1}]
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.
· --max-allowed-packet=num
Set the maximum packet length to send to or receive from the
server. (Default value is 16MB, largest 1GB.)
· --max-join-size=num
Set the automatic limit for rows in a join when using
--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000,000.)
· --named-commands, -G
Enable named mysql commands. Long-format commands are allowed,
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”. Disabled by default.
·· --net-buffer-lenght=size
Set the buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication. (Default
value is 16KB.)
· --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-defaults
Do not read default options from any option file. This must be
given as the first argument.
· --one-database, -o
Ignore statements except those those that occur while the default
database is the one named on the command line. This filtering is
limited, and based only on USE statements. This is useful for
skipping updates to other databases in the binary log.
· --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. You can use an option file to avoid giving the password
on the command line.
· --pipe, -W
On Windows, connect to the server via a named pipe. This option
applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.
· --plugin-dir=dir_name
Directory for client-side plugins.
· --port=port_num, -P port_num
The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection or 0 for default
to, in order of preference, my.cnf, $MYSQL_TCP_PORT,
/etc/services, built-in default (3306).
· --print-defaults
Print the program argument list and exit. This must be given as
the first argument.
· --progress-reports
Get progress reports for long running commands (such as ALTER
TABLE). (Defaults to on; use --skip-progress-reports to disable.)
· --prompt=format_str
Set the prompt to the specified format. 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.
· --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) |
+----------+
| \ |
+----------+
% 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. Enabled by default, to disable use
--skip-reconnect or --disable-reconnect.
· --safe-updates, --i-am-a-dummy, -U
Allow 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-4.1.1) format.
This prevents connections except for servers that use the newer
password format.
· --select-limit=limit
Set automatic limit for SELECT when using --safe-updates.
(Default value is 1,000.)
· --server-arg=name
Send name as a parameter to the embedded server.
· --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-auto-rehash
Disable automatic rehashing. Synonym for --disable-auto-rehash.
· --skip-column-names, -N
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
Enable SSL for connection (automatically enabled with other
flags). Disable with --skip-ssl.
· --ssl-ca=name
CA file in PEM format (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-capath=name
CA directory (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-cert=name
X509 cert in PEM format (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-cipher=name
SSL cipher to use (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-key=name
X509 key in PEM format (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-crl=name
Certificate revocation list (check OpenSSL docs, implies --ssl).
· --ssl-crlpath=name
Certificate revocation list path (check OpenSSL docs, implies
--ssl).
· --ssl-verify-server-cert
Verify server's "Common Name" in its cert against hostname used
when connecting. This option is disabled by default.
· --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 MariaDB 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.
· --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. The output when --xml is used with mysql
matches that of mysqldump --xml. See mysqldump(1) for details.
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>
You can also set the following variables by using
--var_name=value.
· connect_timeout
The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default
value is 0.)
· max_allowed_packet
The maximum packet length to send to or receive from the
server. (Default value is 16MB.)
· 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.)
On Unix, the mysql client writes a record of executed statements
to a history file. By default, this file is named .mysql_history
and is created in your home directory. To specify a different
file, set the value of the MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable.
The .mysql_history 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.
If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove
.mysql_history if it exists, and then use either of the following
techniques:
· Set the MYSQL_HISTFILE variable to /dev/null. To cause this
setting to take effect each time you log in, put the setting
in one of your shell´s startup files.
· Create .mysql_history as a symbolic link to /dev/null:
shell> ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history
You need do this only once.
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.
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. 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.
· 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]]
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 can be specified as an unquoted or quoted argument.
Quoting can be done with either single quote (´) or douple quote
(") characters. To include a quote within a quoted string, either
quote the string with the other 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 MariaDB. For an unquoted argument, the delmiter 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.
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, and for parsing the
body of stored procedures and functions, triggers, and events.
· 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
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.
· 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 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
via 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.
┌───────┬────────────────────────────┐
│Option │ Description │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\c │ A counter that increments │
│ │ for each statement you │
│ │ issue │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\D │ The full current date │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\d │ The default database │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\h │ The server host │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\l │ The current delimiter │
│ │ (new in 5.1.12) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\m │ Minutes of the current │
│ │ time │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\n │ A newline character │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\O │ The current month in │
│ │ three-letter format (Jan, │
│ │ Feb, ...) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\o │ The current month in │
│ │ numeric format │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\P │ am/pm │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\p │ The current TCP/IP port │
│ │ or socket file │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\R │ The current time, in │
│ │ 24-hour military time │
│ │ (0–23) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\r │ The current time, │
│ │ standard 12-hour time │
│ │ (1–12) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\S │ Semicolon │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\s │ Seconds of the current │
│ │ time │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\t │ A tab character │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\U │ │
│ │ Your full │
│ │ user_name@host_name │
│ │ account name │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\u │ Your user name │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\v │ The server version │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\w │ The current day of the │
│ │ week in three-letter │
│ │ format (Mon, Tue, ...) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\Y │ The current year, four │
│ │ digits │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\y │ The current year, two │
│ │ digits │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\_ │ A space │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\ │ A space (a space follows │
│ │ the backslash) │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\´ │ Single quote │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\" │ Double quote │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\\ │ A literal “\” backslash │
│ │ character │
├───────┼────────────────────────────┤
│\x │ │
│ │ x, for any “x” not │
│ │ listed above │
└───────┴────────────────────────────┘
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]> "
· 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 MariaDB 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 allowable prompt
options and the set of special escape sequences that are
recognized in 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> help search_string
If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
search string to access server-side help. The proper operation of
this command requires that the help tables in the mysql database be
initialized with help topic information.
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
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 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
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.
mysql ignores Unicode byte order mark (BOM) characters at the
beginning of input files. 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.
This section describes some techniques that can help you use mysql
more effectively.
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
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 MariaDB server:
SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, sql_max_join_size=1000000;
The SET statement has the following effects:
· You are not allowed 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)
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.
Copyright 2007-2008 MySQL AB, 2008-2010 Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
2010-2015 MariaDB Foundation
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/.
1. Bug#25946
http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=25946
For more information, please refer to the MariaDB Knowledge Base,
available online at https://mariadb.com/kb/
MariaDB Foundation (http://www.mariadb.org/).
This page is part of the MariaDB (MariaDB database server) project.
Information about the project can be found at ⟨http://mariadb.org/⟩.
If you have a bug report for this manual page, see
⟨https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/reporting-bugs/⟩. This page was
obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/MariaDB/server⟩ on 2017-07-05. If you discover
any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you
believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or
you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail
to man-pages@man7.org
MariaDB 10.1 14/12/2015 MYSQL(1)