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FBMYSQLFR(1)	      MySQL Database System	     FBMYSQLFR(1)

NAME
       mysql - the MySQL command-line tool

SYNOPSIS
       mysql [options] db_name

DESCRIPTION
       mysql is a simple SQL shell (with GNU readline 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 writes a record of executed statements to a
       history file. See the section called "MYSQL HISTORY FILE".

MYSQL OPTIONS
       mysql supports the following options, which can be specified on the
       command line or in the [mysql] and [client] option file groups.	mysql
       also supports the options for processing option files described at
       Section 4.2.3.3.1, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File
       Handling".

       o   --help, -?

	   Display a help message and exit.

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       o   --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.

       o   --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.

       o   --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.

       o   --character-sets-dir=path

	   The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 9.5,
	   "Character Set Configuration".

       o   --column-names

	   Write column names in results.

       o   --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.

       o   --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.

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       o   --compress, -C

	   Compress all information sent between the client and the server if
	   both support compression.

       o   --database=db_name, -D db_name

	   The database to use. This is useful primarily in an option file.

       o   --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'.

       o   --debug-check

	   Print some debugging information when the program exits. This
	   option was added in MySQL 5.1.21.

       o   --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.

       o   --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 the
	   system character set instead.

	   See Section 9.5, "Character Set Configuration", for more
	   information.

       o   --delimiter=str

	   Set the statement delimiter. The default is the semicolon character
	   (";").

       o   --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".

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       o   --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.

       o   --force, -f

	   Continue even if an SQL error occurs.

       o   --host=host_name, -h host_name

	   Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.

       o   --html, -H

	   Produce HTML output.

       o   --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").

       o   --line-numbers

	   Write line numbers for errors. Disable this with
	   --skip-line-numbers.

       o   --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.

       o   --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".

       o   --no-auto-rehash, -A

	   This has the same effect as -skip-auto-rehash. See the description
	   for --auto-rehash.

       o   --no-beep, -b

	   Do not beep when errors occur.

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       o   --no-named-commands, -g

	   Deprecated, use --disable-named-commands instead.
	   --no-named-commands is removed in MySQL 5.5.

       o   --no-pager

	   Deprecated form of --skip-pager. See the --pager option.
	   --no-pager is removed in MySQL 5.5.

       o   --no-tee

	   Deprecated form of --skip-tee. See the --tee option.	 --no-tee is
	   removed in MySQL 5.5.

       o   --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
	   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:

	   o   The DELETE statement is executed because the default database
	       is db1, even though the statement names a table in a different
	       database.

	   o   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.

	   o   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.

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       o   --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.

       o   --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 5.3.2.2, "End-User Guidelines for Password
	   Security". You can use an option file to avoid giving the password
	   on the command line.

       o   --pipe, -W

	   On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option
	   applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.

       o   --port=port_num, -P port_num

	   The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.

       o   --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".

       o   --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".

       o   --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.

       o   --raw, -r

	   For tabular output, the "boxing" around columns enables one column
	   value to be distinguished from another. For nontabular output (such

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	   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)
	       \

       o   --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.

       o   --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.

       o   --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.

       o   --show-warnings

	   Cause warnings to be shown after each statement if there are any.
	   This option applies to interactive and batch mode.

       o   --sigint-ignore

	   Ignore SIGINT signals (typically the result of typing Control-C).

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       o   --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.

       o   --skip-column-names, -N

	   Do not write column names in results.

       o   --skip-line-numbers, -L

	   Do not write line numbers for errors. Useful when you want to
	   compare result files that include error messages.

       o   --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.

       o   --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 5.5.6.3, "SSL Command Options".

       o   --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.

       o   --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.

       o   --unbuffered, -n

	   Flush the buffer after each query.

       o   --user=user_name, -u user_name

	   The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.

       o   --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.)

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       o   --version, -V

	   Display version information and exit.

       o   --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.

       o   --wait, -w

	   If the connection cannot be established, wait and retry instead of
	   aborting.

       o   --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 'NULL';
	       both were represented as

	       <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 m[blue]Bug#25946m[][1].)

       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.

       o   connect_timeout

	   The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default value is
	   0.)

       o   max_allowed_packet

	   The maximum packet length to send to or receive from the server.
	   (Default value is 16MB.)

       o   max_join_size

	   The automatic limit for rows in a join when using --safe-updates.
	   (Default value is 1,000,000.)

       o   net_buffer_length

	   The buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication. (Default value
	   is 16KB.)

       o   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.
	   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.

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	   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.

       o   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".

       o   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.

       o   clear, \c

	   Clear the current input. Use this if you change your mind about
	   executing the statement that you are entering.

       o   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.

       o   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.

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	   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
	   MySQL. 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 (see Section 21.9.12, "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").

       o   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.

       o   ego, \G

	   Send the current statement to the server to be executed and display
	   the result using vertical format.

       o   exit, \q

	   Exit mysql.

       o   go, \g

	   Send the current statement to the server to be executed.

       o   nopager, \n

	   Disable output paging. See the description for pager.

	   The nopager command works only in Unix.

       o   notee, \t

	   Disable output copying to the tee file. See the description for
	   tee.

       o   nowarning, \w

	   Enable display of warnings after each statement.

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       o   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.

       o   print, \p

	   Print the current input statement without executing it.

       o   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>.

       o   quit, \q

	   Exit mysql.

       o   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.)

       o   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 \\.

       o   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.

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       o   system command, \! command

	   Execute the given command using your default command interpreter.

	   The system command works only in Unix.

       o   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.

       o   use db_name, \u db_name

	   Use db_name as the default database.

       o   warnings, \W

	   Enable display of warnings after each statement (if there are any).

       Here are a few tips about the pager command:

       o   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

       o   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

       o   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:

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	       mysql> pager less -n -i -S -F -X

       o   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
	   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.

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       You can set the prompt in several ways:

       o   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]> "

       o   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]>

       o   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> "

       o   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 HISTORY FILE
       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. See Section 5.3.2.2, "End-

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       User Guidelines for Password Security".

       It is possible to suppress logging of statements to the history file by
       using the --batch or --execute option.

       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:

       o   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.

       o   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 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 5.1.8, "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

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	      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
       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:

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	   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.

   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)

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   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 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:

       o   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;

       o   The server limits all large SELECT results to 1,000 rows unless the
	   statement includes a LIMIT clause.

       o   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

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	   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 21.9.11,
       "Controlling Automatic Reconnection Behavior".

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 1997, 2010, 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/.

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

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/).

MySQL 5.1		    11/29/2010			       21

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