mysql(1) — Linux manual page

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

MARIADB(1)               MariaDB Database System              MARIADB(1)

NAME         top

       mariadb - the MariaDB command-line tool (mysql is now a symlink
       to mariadb)

SYNOPSIS         top


       mysql [options] db_name

DESCRIPTION         top

       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 OPTIONS         top

       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

           Binary mode allows certain character sequences to be
           processed as data that would otherwise be treated with a
           special meaning by the parser.  Specifically, this switch
           turns off parsing of all client commands except \C and
           DELIMITER in non-interactive mode (i.e., when binary mode is
           combined with either 1) piped input, 2) the --batch mysql
           option, or 3) the 'source' command). Also, in binary mode,
           occurrences of '\r\n' and ASCII '\0' are preserved within
           strings, whereas by default, '\r\n' is translated to '\n' and
           '\0' is disallowed in user input.

       •   --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”.

       •   --enable-cleartext-plugin

           Obsolete option. Exists only for MySQL compatibility.

       •   --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-length=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).  Forces
           --protocol=tcp when specified on the command line without
           other connection properties.

       •   --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.  Forces
           --protocol=socket when specified on the command line without
           other connection properties; on Windows, forces
           --protocol=pipe.

       •   --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 COMMANDS         top

       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 SERVER-SIDE HELP         top

           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 |
           +---------------+-----------+

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE         top

       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.

MYSQL TIPS         top

       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: [email protected]
             mail_to: "Thimble Smith" <[email protected]>
                 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         top

       Copyright 2007-2008 MySQL AB, 2008-2010 Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
       2010-2020 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
       02110-1335 USA or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

NOTES         top

        1. Bug#25946
           http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=25946

SEE ALSO         top

       For more information, please refer to the MariaDB Knowledge Base,
       available online at https://mariadb.com/kb/

AUTHOR         top

       MariaDB Foundation (http://www.mariadb.org/).

COLOPHON         top

       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 2024-06-14.  (At that
       time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2023-05-11.)  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
       [email protected]

MariaDB 10.8                   15 May 2020                    MARIADB(1)