MYSQL

If you have problems due to insufficient memory for large result sets, use the--quickoption. This forcesmysqlto 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 themysql_use_result()C API function in the client/server library rather thanmysql_store_result().

Note

Alternatively, MySQL Shell offers access to the X DevAPI. For details, seem[blue]MySQL Shell 8.4m[][1].

Usingmysqlis very easy. Invoke it from the prompt of your command interpreter as follows:

mysql db_name

Or:

mysql --user=user_name --password db_name

In this case, you'll need to enter your password in response to the prompt thatmysqldisplays:

Enter password: your_password

Then type an SQL statement, end it with;,\g, or\Gand press Enter.

TypingControl+Cinterrupts the current statement if there is one, or cancels any partial input line otherwise.

You can execute SQL statements in a script file (batch file) like this:

mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab

On Unix, themysqlclient logs statements executed interactively to a history file. Seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING". 

MYSQL CLIENT OPTIONS

mysqlsupports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the[mysql]and[client]groups of an option file. For information about option files used by MySQL programs, seeSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".

•--help,-?

Command-Line Format

--help

Display a help message and exit.

•--auto-rehash

Command-Line Format	--auto-rehash
Disabled by	skip-auto-rehash

Enable automatic rehashing. This option is on by default, which enables database, table, and column name completion. Use--disable-auto-rehashto disable rehashing. That causesmysqlto start faster, but you must issue therehashcommand or its\#shortcut if you want to use name completion.

To complete a name, enter the first part and press Tab. If the name is unambiguous,mysqlcompletes 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.

Note
This feature requires a MySQL client that is compiled with thereadlinelibrary. Typically, thereadlinelibrary is not available on Windows.

•--auto-vertical-output

Command-Line Format

--auto-vertical-output

Cause result sets to be displayed vertically if they are too wide for the current window, and using normal tabular format otherwise. (This applies to statements terminated by;or\G.)

•--batch,-B

Command-Line Format

--batch

Print results using tab as the column separator, with each row on a new line. With this option,mysqldoes 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--rawoption.

•--binary-as-hex

Command-Line Format	--binary-as-hex
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE in noninteractive mode

When this option is given,mysqldisplays binary data using hexadecimal notation (0xvalue). This occurs whether the overall output display format is tabular, vertical, HTML, or XML.

--binary-as-hexwhen enabled affects display of all binary strings, including those returned by functions such asCHAR()andUNHEX(). The following example demonstrates this using the ASCII code forA(65 decimal, 41 hexadecimal):

•--binary-as-hexdisabled:

mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41), UNHEX('41');+------------+-------------+| CHAR(0x41) | UNHEX('41') |+------------+-------------+| A          | A           |+------------+-------------+

•--binary-as-hexenabled:

mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41), UNHEX('41');+------------------------+--------------------------+| CHAR(0x41)             | UNHEX('41')              |+------------------------+--------------------------+| 0x41                   | 0x41                     |+------------------------+--------------------------+

To write a binary string expression so that it displays as a character string regardless of whether--binary-as-hexis enabled, use these techniques:

•TheCHAR()function has aUSING charsetclause:

mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41 USING utf8mb4);+--------------------------+| CHAR(0x41 USING utf8mb4) |+--------------------------+| A                        |+--------------------------+

•More generally, useCONVERT()to convert an expression to a given character set:

mysql> SELECT CONVERT(UNHEX('41') USING utf8mb4);+------------------------------------+| CONVERT(UNHEX('41') USING utf8mb4) |+------------------------------------+| A                                  |+------------------------------------+

Whenmysqloperates in interactive mode, this option is enabled by default. In addition, output from thestatus(or\s) command includes this line when the option is enabled implicitly or explicitly:

Binary data as: Hexadecimal

To disable hexadecimal notation, use--skip-binary-as-hex

•--binary-mode

Command-Line Format

--binary-mode

This option helps when processingmysqlbinlogoutput that may containBLOBvalues. By default,mysqltranslates\r\nin statement strings to\nand interprets\0as the statement terminator.--binary-modedisables both features. It also disables allmysqlcommands exceptcharsetanddelimiterin noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).

•--bind-address=ip_address

Command-Line Format

--bind-address=ip_address

On a computer having multiple network interfaces, use this option to select which interface to use for connecting to the MySQL server.

•--character-sets-dir=dir_name

Command-Line Format	--character-sets-dir=dir_name
Type	Directory name

The directory where character sets are installed. SeeSection 12.15, "Character Set Configuration".

•--column-names

Command-Line Format

--column-names

Write column names in results.

•--column-type-info

Command-Line Format

--column-type-info

Display result set metadata. This information corresponds to the contents of C APIMYSQL_FIELDdata structures. Seem[blue]C API Basic Data Structuresm[][2].

•--comments,-c

Command-Line Format	--comments
Type	Boolean
Default Value	TRUE

Whether to preserve or strip comments in statements sent to the server. The default is to preserve them; to strip them, startmysqlwith--skip-comments.

Note
Themysqlclient always passes optimizer hints to the server, regardless of whether this option is given.

Comment stripping is deprecated. Expect this feature and the options to control it to be removed in a future MySQL release.

•--compress,-C

Command-Line Format	--compress[={OFF|ON}]
Deprecated	Yes
Type	Boolean
Default Value	OFF

Compress all information sent between the client and the server if possible. SeeSection 6.2.8, "Connection Compression Control".

This option is deprecated. Expect it to be removed in a future version of MySQL. Seethe section called "Configuring Legacy Connection Compression".

•--compression-algorithms=value

Command-Line Format	--compression-algorithms=value
Type	Set
Default Value	uncompressed
Valid Values	zlib zstd uncompressed

The permitted compression algorithms for connections to the server. The available algorithms are the same as for theprotocol_compression_algorithmssystem variable. The default value isuncompressed.

For more information, seeSection 6.2.8, "Connection Compression Control".

•--connect-expired-password

Command-Line Format

--connect-expired-password

Indicate to the server that the client can handle sandbox mode if the account used to connect has an expired password. This can be useful for noninteractive invocations ofmysqlbecause normally the server disconnects noninteractive clients that attempt to connect using an account with an expired password. (SeeSection 8.2.16, "Server Handling of Expired Passwords".)

•--connect-timeout=value

Command-Line Format	--connect-timeout=value
Type	Numeric
Default Value	0

The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default value is0.)

•--database=db_name,-D db_name

Command-Line Format	--database=dbname
Type	String

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

•--debug[=debug_options],-# [debug_options]

Command-Line Format	--debug[=debug_options]
Type	String
Default Value	d:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace

Write a debugging log. A typicaldebug_optionsstring isd:t:o,file_name. The default isd:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace.

This option is available only if MySQL was built usingWITH_DEBUG. MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle arenotbuilt using this option.

•--debug-check

Command-Line Format	--debug-check
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE

Print some debugging information when the program exits.

This option is available only if MySQL was built usingWITH_DEBUG. MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle arenotbuilt using this option.

•--debug-info,-T

Command-Line Format	--debug-info
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE

Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits.

This option is available only if MySQL was built usingWITH_DEBUG. MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle arenotbuilt using this option.

•--default-auth=plugin

Command-Line Format	--default-auth=plugin
Type	String

A hint about which client-side authentication plugin to use. SeeSection 8.2.17, "Pluggable Authentication".

•--default-character-set=charset_name

Command-Line Format	--default-character-set=charset_name
Type	String

Usecharset_nameas the default character set for the client and connection.

This option can be useful if the operating system uses one character set and themysqlclient by default uses another. In this case, output may be formatted incorrectly. You can usually fix such issues by using this option to force the client to use the system character set instead.

For more information, seeSection 12.4, "Connection Character Sets and Collations", andSection 12.15, "Character Set Configuration".

•--defaults-extra-file=file_name

Command-Line Format	--defaults-extra-file=file_name
Type	File name

Read this option file after the global option file but (on Unix) before the user option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. Iffile_nameis not an absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current directory.

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--defaults-file=file_name

Command-Line Format	--defaults-file=file_name
Type	File name

Use only the given option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. Iffile_nameis not an absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current directory.

Exception: Even with--defaults-file, client programs read.mylogin.cnf.

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--defaults-group-suffix=str

Command-Line Format	--defaults-group-suffix=str
Type	String

Read not only the usual option groups, but also groups with the usual names and a suffix ofstr. For example,mysqlnormally reads the[client]and[mysql]groups. If this option is given as--defaults-group-suffix=_other,mysqlalso reads the[client_other]and[mysql_other]groups.

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--delimiter=str

Command-Line Format	--delimiter=str
Type	String
Default Value	;

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

•--disable-named-commandsDisable named commands. Use the\*form only, or use named commands only at the beginning of a line ending with a semicolon (;).mysqlstarts with this optionenabledby default. However, even with this option, long-format commands still work from the first line. Seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS".

•--dns-srv-name=name

Command-Line Format	--dns-srv-name=name
Type	String

Specifies the name of a DNS SRV record that determines the candidate hosts to use for establishing a connection to a MySQL server. For information about DNS SRV support in MySQL, seeSection 6.2.6, "Connecting to the Server Using DNS SRV Records".

Suppose that DNS is configured with this SRV information for theexample.comdomain:

Name                     TTL   Class   Priority Weight Port Target_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV  0        5      3306 host1.example.com_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV  0        10     3306 host2.example.com_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV  10       5      3306 host3.example.com_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV  20       5      3306 host4.example.com

To use that DNS SRV record, invokemysqllike this:

mysql --dns-srv-name=_mysql._tcp.example.com

mysqlthen attempts a connection to each server in the group until a successful connection is established. A failure to connect occurs only if a connection cannot be established to any of the servers. The priority and weight values in the DNS SRV record determine the order in which servers should be tried.

When invoked with--dns-srv-name,mysqlattempts to establish TCP connections only.

The--dns-srv-nameoption takes precedence over the--hostoption if both are given.--dns-srv-namecauses connection establishment to use themysql_real_connect_dns_srv()C API function rather thanmysql_real_connect(). However, if theconnectcommand is subsequently used at runtime and specifies a host name argument, that host name takes precedence over any--dns-srv-nameoption given atmysqlstartup to specify a DNS SRV record.

•--enable-cleartext-plugin

Command-Line Format	--enable-cleartext-plugin
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE

Enable themysql_clear_passwordcleartext authentication plugin. (SeeSection 8.4.1.4, "Client-Side Cleartext Pluggable Authentication".)

•--execute=statement,-e statement

Command-Line Format	--execute=statement
Type	String

Execute the statement and quit. The default output format is like that produced with--batch. SeeSection 6.2.2.1, "Using Options on the Command Line", for some examples. With this option,mysqldoes not use the history file.

•--force,-f

Command-Line Format

--force

Continue even if an SQL error occurs.

•--get-server-public-key

Command-Line Format	--get-server-public-key
Type	Boolean

Request from the server the public key required for RSA key pair-based password exchange. This option applies to clients that authenticate with thecaching_sha2_passwordauthentication plugin. For that plugin, the server does not send the public key unless requested. This option is ignored for accounts that do not authenticate with that plugin. It is also ignored if RSA-based password exchange is not used, as is the case when the client connects to the server using a secure connection.

If--server-public-key-path=file_nameis given and specifies a valid public key file, it takes precedence over--get-server-public-key.

For information about thecaching_sha2_passwordplugin, seeSection 8.4.1.2, "Caching SHA-2 Pluggable Authentication".

•--histignore

Command-Line Format	--histignore=pattern_list
Type	String

A list of one or more colon-separated patterns specifying statements to ignore for logging purposes. These patterns are added to the default pattern list ("*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*"). The value specified for this option affects logging of statements written to the history file, and tosyslogif the--syslogoption is given. For more information, seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING".

•--host=host_name,-h host_name

Command-Line Format	--host=host_name
Type	String
Default Value	localhost

Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.

The--dns-srv-nameoption takes precedence over the--hostoption if both are given.--dns-srv-namecauses connection establishment to use themysql_real_connect_dns_srv()C API function rather thanmysql_real_connect(). However, if theconnectcommand is subsequently used at runtime and specifies a host name argument, that host name takes precedence over any--dns-srv-nameoption given atmysqlstartup to specify a DNS SRV record.

•--html,-H

Command-Line Format

--html

Produce HTML output.

•--ignore-spaces,-i

Command-Line Format

--ignore-spaces

Ignore spaces after function names. The effect of this is described in the discussion for theIGNORE_SPACESQL mode (seeSection 7.1.11, "Server SQL Modes").

•--init-command=str

Command-Line Format

--init-command=str

Single SQL statement to execute after connecting to the server. If auto-reconnect is enabled, the statement is executed again after reconnection occurs. The definition resets existing statements defined by it orinit-command-add.

•--init-command-add=str

Command-Line Format

--init-command-add=str

Add an additional SQL statement to execute after connecting or reconnecting to the MySQL server. It's usable without--init-commandbut has no effect if used before it becauseinit-commandresets the list of commands to call.

•--line-numbers

Command-Line Format	--line-numbers
Disabled by	skip-line-numbers

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

•--load-data-local-dir=dir_name

Command-Line Format	--load-data-local-dir=dir_name
Type	Directory name
Default Value	empty string

This option affects the client-sideLOCALcapability forLOAD DATAoperations. It specifies the directory in which files named inLOAD DATA LOCALstatements must be located. The effect of--load-data-local-dirdepends on whetherLOCALdata loading is enabled or disabled:

•IfLOCALdata loading is enabled, either by default in the MySQL client library or by specifying--local-infile[=1], the--load-data-local-diroption is ignored.

•IfLOCALdata loading is disabled, either by default in the MySQL client library or by specifying--local-infile=0, the--load-data-local-diroption applies.

When--load-data-local-dirapplies, the option value designates the directory in which local data files must be located. Comparison of the directory path name and the path name of files to be loaded is case-sensitive regardless of the case sensitivity of the underlying file system. If the option value is the empty string, it names no directory, with the result that no files are permitted for local data loading.

For example, to explicitly disable local data loading except for files located in the/my/local/datadirectory, invokemysqllike this:

mysql --local-infile=0 --load-data-local-dir=/my/local/data

When both--local-infileand--load-data-local-dirare given, the order in which they are given does not matter.

Successful use ofLOCALload operations withinmysqlalso requires that the server permits local loading; seeSection 8.1.6, "Security Considerations for LOAD DATA LOCAL"

•--local-infile[={0|1}]

Command-Line Format	--local-infile[={0|1}]
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE

By default,LOCALcapability forLOAD DATAis determined by the default compiled into the MySQL client library. To enable or disableLOCALdata loading explicitly, use the--local-infileoption. When given with no value, the option enablesLOCALdata loading. When given as--local-infile=0or--local-infile=1, the option disables or enablesLOCALdata loading.

IfLOCALcapability is disabled, the--load-data-local-diroption can be used to permit restricted local loading of files located in a designated directory.

Successful use ofLOCALload operations withinmysqlalso requires that the server permits local loading; seeSection 8.1.6, "Security Considerations for LOAD DATA LOCAL"

•--login-path=name

Command-Line Format	--login-path=name
Type	String

Read options from the named login path in the.mylogin.cnflogin path file. A"login path"is an option group containing options that specify which MySQL server to connect to and which account to authenticate as. To create or modify a login path file, use themysql_config_editorutility. Seemysql_config_editor(1).

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--no-login-paths

Command-Line Format

--no-login-paths

Skips reading options from the login path file.

See--login-pathfor related information.

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--max-allowed-packet=value

Command-Line Format	--max-allowed-packet=value
Type	Numeric
Default Value	16777216

The maximum size of the buffer for client/server communication. The default is 16MB, the maximum is 1GB.

•--max-join-size=value

Command-Line Format	--max-join-size=value
Type	Numeric
Default Value	1000000

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

•--named-commands,-G

Command-Line Format	--named-commands
Disabled by	skip-named-commands

Enable namedmysqlcommands. Long-format commands are permitted, not just short-format commands. For example,quitand\qboth are recognized. Use--skip-named-commandsto disable named commands. Seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS".

•--net-buffer-length=value

Command-Line Format	--net-buffer-length=value
Type	Numeric
Default Value	16384

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

•--network-namespace=name

Command-Line Format	--network-namespace=name
Type	String

The network namespace to use for TCP/IP connections. If omitted, the connection uses the default (global) namespace. For information about network namespaces, seeSection 7.1.14, "Network Namespace Support".

This option is available only on platforms that implement network namespace support.

•--no-auto-rehash,-A

Command-Line Format	--no-auto-rehash
Deprecated	Yes

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

•--no-beep,-b

Command-Line Format

--no-beep

Do not beep when errors occur.

•--no-defaults

Command-Line Format

--no-defaults

Do not read any option files. If program startup fails due to reading unknown options from an option file,--no-defaultscan be used to prevent them from being read.

The exception is that the.mylogin.cnffile is read in all cases, if it exists. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way than on the command line even when--no-defaultsis used. To create.mylogin.cnf, use themysql_config_editorutility. Seemysql_config_editor(1).

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--oci-config-file=PATH

Command-Line Format	--oci-config-file
Type	String
Default Value

Alternate path to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure CLI configuration file. Specify the location of the configuration file. If your existing default profile is the correct one, you do not need to specify this option. However, if you have an existing configuration file, with multiple profiles or a different default from the tenancy of the user you want to connect with, specify this option.

•--one-database,-o

Command-Line Format

--one-database

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 onUSEstatements.

Initially,mysqlexecutes statements in the input because specifying a databasedb_nameon the command line is equivalent to insertingUSE db_nameat the beginning of the input. Then, for eachUSEstatement encountered,mysqlaccepts 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 thatmysqlis 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 ismysql --force --one-database db1,mysqlhandles the input as follows:

•TheDELETEstatement is executed because the default database isdb1, even though the statement names a table in a different database.

•TheDROP TABLEandCREATE TABLEstatements are not executed because the default database is notdb1, even though the statements name a table indb1.

•TheINSERTandCREATE TABLEstatements are executed because the default database isdb1, even though theCREATE TABLEstatement names a table in a different database.

•--pager[=command]

Command-Line Format	--pager[=command]
Disabled by	skip-pager
Type	String

Use the given command for paging query output. If the command is omitted, the default pager is the value of yourPAGERenvironment variable. Valid pagers areless,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 CLIENT COMMANDS", discusses output paging further.

•--password[=password],-p[password]

Command-Line Format	--password[=password]
Type	String

The password of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The password value is optional. If not given,mysqlprompts for one. If given, there must beno spacebetween--password=or-pand the password following it. If no password option is specified, the default is to send no password.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an option file. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security".

To explicitly specify that there is no password and thatmysqlshould not prompt for one, use the--skip-passwordoption.

•--password1[=pass_val]The password for multifactor authentication factor 1 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The password value is optional. If not given,mysqlprompts for one. If given, there must beno spacebetween--password1=and the password following it. If no password option is specified, the default is to send no password.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an option file. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security".

To explicitly specify that there is no password and thatmysqlshould not prompt for one, use the--skip-password1option.

--password1and--passwordare synonymous, as are--skip-password1and--skip-password.

•--password2[=pass_val]The password for multifactor authentication factor 2 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The semantics of this option are similar to the semantics for--password1; see the description of that option for details.

•--password3[=pass_val]The password for multifactor authentication factor 3 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The semantics of this option are similar to the semantics for--password1; see the description of that option for details.

•--pipe,-W

Command-Line Format	--pipe
Type	String

On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option applies only if the server was started with thenamed_pipesystem variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by thenamed_pipe_full_access_groupsystem variable.

•--plugin-authentication-kerberos-client-mode=value

Command-Line Format	--plugin-authentication-kerberos-client-mode
Type	String
Default Value	SSPI
Valid Values	GSSAPI SSPI

On Windows, theauthentication_kerberos_clientauthentication plugin supports this plugin option. It provides two possible values that the client user can set at runtime:SSPIandGSSAPI.

The default value for the client-side plugin option uses Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI), which is capable of acquiring credentials from the Windows in-memory cache. Alternatively, the client user can select a mode that supports Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) through the MIT Kerberos library on Windows. GSSAPI is capable of acquiring cached credentials previously generated by using thekinitcommand.

For more information, seeCommands for Windows Clients in GSSAPI Mode.

•--plugin-authentication-webauthn-client-preserve-privacy={OFF|ON}

Command-Line Format	--plugin-authentication-webauthn-client-preserve-privacy
Type	Boolean
Default Value	OFF

Determines how assertions are sent to server in case there is more than one discoverable credential stored for a given RP ID (a unique name given to the relying-party server, which is the MySQL server). If the FIDO2 device contains multiple resident keys for a given RP ID, this option allows the user to choose a key to be used for assertion. It provides two possible values that the client user can set. The default value isOFF. If set toOFF, the challenge is signed by all credentials available for a given RP ID and all signatures are sent to server. If set toON, the user is prompted to choose the credential to be used for signature.

Note
This option has no effect if the device does not support the resident-key feature.

For more information, seeSection 8.4.1.11, "WebAuthn Pluggable Authentication".

•--plugin-dir=dir_name

Command-Line Format	--plugin-dir=dir_name
Type	Directory name

The directory in which to look for plugins. Specify this option if the--default-authoption is used to specify an authentication plugin butmysqldoes not find it. SeeSection 8.2.17, "Pluggable Authentication".

•--port=port_num,-P port_num

Command-Line Format	--port=port_num
Type	Numeric
Default Value	3306

For TCP/IP connections, the port number to use.

•--print-defaults

Command-Line Format

--print-defaults

Print the program name and all options that it gets from option files.

For additional information about this and other option-file options, seeSection 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

•--prompt=format_str

Command-Line Format	--prompt=format_str
Type	String
Default Value	mysql>

Set the prompt to the specified format. The default ismysql>. The special sequences that the prompt can contain are described inthe section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS".

•--protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

Command-Line Format	--protocol=type
Type	String
Default Value	[see text]
Valid Values	TCP SOCKET PIPE MEMORY

The transport protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally result in use of a protocol other than the one you want. For details on the permissible values, seeSection 6.2.7, "Connection Transport Protocols".

•--quick,-q

Command-Line Format

--quick

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,mysqldoes not use the history file.

By default,mysqlfetches all result rows before producing any output; while storing these, it calculates a running maximum column length from the actual value of each column in succession. When printing the output, it uses this maximum to format it. When--quickis specified,mysqldoes not have the rows for which to calculate the length before starting, and so uses the maximum length. In the following example, tablet1has a single column of typeBIGINTand containing 4 rows. The default output is 9 characters wide; this width is equal the maximum number of characters in any of the column values in the rows returned (5), plus 2 characters each for the spaces used as padding and the|characters used as column delimiters). The output when using the--quickoption is 25 characters wide; this is equal to the number of characters needed to represent-9223372036854775808, which is the longest possible value that can be stored in a (signed)BIGINTcolumn, or 19 characters, plus the 4 characters used for padding and column delimiters. The difference can be seen here:

$> mysql -t test -e "SELECT * FROM t1"+-------+| c1    |+-------+|   100 ||  1000 || 10000 ||    10 |+-------+$> mysql --quick -t test -e "SELECT * FROM t1"+----------------------+| c1                   |+----------------------+|                  100 ||                 1000 ||                10000 ||                   10 |+----------------------+

•--raw,-r

Command-Line Format

--raw

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--batchor--silentoption 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--rawoption disables this character escaping.

The following example demonstrates tabular versus nontabular output and the use of raw mode to disable escaping:

% mysqlmysql> SELECT CHAR(92);+----------+| CHAR(92) |+----------+| \        |+----------+% mysql -smysql> SELECT CHAR(92);CHAR(92)\\% mysql -s -rmysql> SELECT CHAR(92);CHAR(92)\

•--reconnect

Command-Line Format	--reconnect
Disabled by	skip-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.

•--register-factor=value

Command-Line Format	--register-factor=value
Type	String

The factor or factors for which FIDO/FIDO2 device registration must be performed before WebAuthn device-based authentication can be used. This option value must be a single value, or two values separated by commas. Each value must be 2 or 3, so the permitted option values are'2','3','2,3'and'3,2'.

For example, an account that requires registration for a third authentication factor invokes themysqlclient as follows:

mysql --user=user_name --register-factor=3

An account that requires registration for second and third authentication factors invokes themysqlclient as follows:

mysql --user=user_name --register-factor=2,3

If registration is successful, a connection is established. If there is an authentication factor with a pending registration, a connection is placed into pending registration mode when attempting to connect to the server. In this case, disconnect and reconnect with the correct--register-factorvalue to complete the registration.

Registration is a two-step process comprisinginitiate registrationandfinish registrationsteps. The initiate registration step executes this statement:

ALTER USER user factor INITIATE REGISTRATION

The statement returns a result set containing a 32 byte challenge, the user name, and the relying party ID (seeauthentication_webauthn_rp_id).

The finish registration step executes this statement:

ALTER USER user factor FINISH REGISTRATION SET CHALLENGE_RESPONSE AS 'auth_string'

The statement completes the registration and sends the following information to the server as part of theauth_string: authenticator data, an optional attestation certificate in X.509 format, and a signature.

The initiate and registration steps must be performed in a single connection, as the challenge received by the client during the initiate step is saved to the client connection handler. Registration would fail if the registration step was performed by a different connection. The--register-factoroption executes both the initiate and registration steps, which avoids the failure scenario described above and prevents having to execute theALTER USERinitiate and registration statements manually.

The--register-factoroption is only available for themysqland MySQL Shell clients. Other MySQL client programs do not support it.

For related information, seethe section called "Using WebAuthn Authentication".

•--safe-updates,--i-am-a-dummy,-U

Command-Line Format	--safe-updates --i-am-a-dummy
Type	Boolean
Default Value	FALSE

If this option is enabled,UPDATEandDELETEstatements that do not use a key in theWHEREclause or aLIMITclause produce an error. In addition, restrictions are placed onSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. If you have set this option in an option file, you can use--skip-safe-updateson the command line to override it. For more information about this option, seeUsing Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates).

•--select-limit=value

Command-Line Format	--select-limit=value
Type	Numeric
Default Value	1000

The automatic limit forSELECTstatements when using--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000.)

•--server-public-key-path=file_name

Command-Line Format	--server-public-key-path=file_name
Type	File name

The path name to a file in PEM format containing a client-side copy of the public key required by the server for RSA key pair-based password exchange. This option applies to clients that authenticate with thesha256_password(deprecated) orcaching_sha2_passwordauthentication plugin. This option is ignored for accounts that do not authenticate with one of those plugins. It is also ignored if RSA-based password exchange is not used, as is the case when the client connects to the server using a secure connection.

If--server-public-key-path=file_nameis given and specifies a valid public key file, it takes precedence over--get-server-public-key.

Forsha256_password(deprecated), this option applies only if MySQL was built using OpenSSL.

For information about thesha256_passwordandcaching_sha2_passwordplugins, seeSection 8.4.1.3, "SHA-256 Pluggable Authentication", andSection 8.4.1.2, "Caching SHA-2 Pluggable Authentication".

•--shared-memory-base-name=name

Command-Line Format	--shared-memory-base-name=name
Platform Specific	Windows

On Windows, the shared-memory name to use for connections made using shared memory to a local server. The default value isMYSQL. The shared-memory name is case-sensitive.

This option applies only if the server was started with theshared_memorysystem variable enabled to support shared-memory connections.

•--show-warnings

Command-Line Format

--show-warnings

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

•--sigint-ignore

Command-Line Format

--sigint-ignore

IgnoreSIGINTsignals (typically the result of typingControl+C).

Without this option, typingControl+Cinterrupts the current statement if there is one, or cancels any partial input line otherwise.

•--silent,-s

Command-Line Format

--silent

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--rawoption.

•--skip-column-names,-N

Command-Line Format

--skip-column-names

Do not write column names in results. Use of this option causes the output to be right-aligned, as shown here:

$> echo "SELECT * FROM t1" | mysql -t test+-------+| c1    |+-------+| a,c,d || c     |+-------+$> echo "SELECT * FROM t1" | ./mysql -uroot -Nt test+-------+| a,c,d ||     c |+-------+

•--skip-line-numbers,-L

Command-Line Format

--skip-line-numbers

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

•--skip-system-command

Command-Line Format	--skip-system-command
Introduced	8.4.3

Disables thesystem(\!) command. Equivalent to--system-command=OFF.

•--socket=path,-S path

Command-Line Format	--socket={file_name|pipe_name}
Type	String

For connections tolocalhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.

On Windows, this option applies only if the server was started with thenamed_pipesystem variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by thenamed_pipe_full_access_groupsystem variable.

•--ssl*Options that begin with--sslspecify whether to connect to the server using encryption and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. Seethe section called "Command Options for Encrypted Connections".

•--ssl-fips-mode={OFF|ON|STRICT}

Command-Line Format	--ssl-fips-mode={OFF|ON|STRICT}
Deprecated	Yes
Type	Enumeration
Default Value	OFF
Valid Values	OFF ON STRICT

Controls whether to enable FIPS mode on the client side. The--ssl-fips-modeoption differs from other--ssl-xxxoptions in that it is not used to establish encrypted connections, but rather to affect which cryptographic operations to permit. SeeSection 8.8, "FIPS Support".

These--ssl-fips-modevalues are permitted:

•OFF: Disable FIPS mode.

•ON: Enable FIPS mode.

•STRICT: Enable"strict"FIPS mode.

Note
If the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module is not available, the only permitted value for--ssl-fips-modeisOFF. In this case, setting--ssl-fips-modetoONorSTRICTcauses the client to produce a warning at startup and to operate in non-FIPS mode.

This option is deprecated. Expect it to be removed in a future version of MySQL.

•--syslog,-j

Command-Line Format

--syslog

This option causesmysqlto send interactive statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile.

Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line.

Mar  7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:  SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,  DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar  7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:  SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,  DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'

For more information, seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING".

•--system-command[={ON|OFF}]

Command-Line Format	--system-command[={ON|OFF}]
Introduced	8.4.3
Disabled by	skip-system-command
Type	Boolean
Default Value	ON

Enable or disable thesystem(\!) command. When this option is disabled, either by--system-command=OFFor by--skip-system-command, thesystemcommand is rejected with an error.

•--table,-t

Command-Line Format

--table

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

Command-Line Format	--tee=file_name
Type	File name

Append a copy of output to the given file. This option works only in interactive mode.the section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS", discusses tee files further.

•--tls-ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list

Command-Line Format	--tls-ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list
Type	String

The permissible ciphersuites for encrypted connections that use TLSv1.3. The value is a list of one or more colon-separated ciphersuite names. The ciphersuites that can be named for this option depend on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. For details, seeSection 8.3.2, "Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers".

•--tls-sni-servername=server_name

Command-Line Format	--tls-sni-servername=server_name
Type	String

When specified, the name is passed to thelibmysqlclientC API library using theMYSQL_OPT_TLS_SNI_SERVERNAMEoption ofmysql_options(). The server name is not case-sensitive. To show which server name the client specified for the current session, if any, check theTls_sni_server_namestatus variable.

Server Name Indication (SNI) is an extension to the TLS protocol (OpenSSL must be compiled using TLS extensions for this option to function). The MySQL implementation of SNI represents the client-side only.

•--tls-version=protocol_list

Command-Line Format	--tls-version=protocol_list
Type	String
Default Value	TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3(OpenSSL 1.1.1 or higher) TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2(otherwise)

The permissible TLS protocols for encrypted connections. The value is a list of one or more comma-separated protocol names. The protocols that can be named for this option depend on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. For details, seeSection 8.3.2, "Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers".

•--unbuffered,-n

Command-Line Format

--unbuffered

Flush the buffer after each query.

•--user=user_name,-u user_name

Command-Line Format	--user=user_name
Type	String

The user name of the MySQL account to use for connecting to the server.

•--verbose,-v

Command-Line Format

--verbose

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 -vproduces table output format even in batch mode.)

•--version,-V

Command-Line Format

--version

Display version information and exit.

•--vertical,-E

Command-Line Format

--vertical

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

Command-Line Format

--wait

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

•--xml,-X

Command-Line Format

--xml

Produce XML output.

<field name="column_name">NULL</field>

The output when--xmlis used withmysqlmatches that ofmysqldump--xml. Seemysqldump(1), for details.

The XML output also uses an XML namespace, as shown here:

$> 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>

•--zstd-compression-level=level

Command-Line Format	--zstd-compression-level=#
Type	Integer

The compression level to use for connections to the server that use thezstdcompression algorithm. The permitted levels are from 1 to 22, with larger values indicating increasing levels of compression. The defaultzstdcompression level is 3. The compression level setting has no effect on connections that do not usezstdcompression.

For more information, seeSection 6.2.8, "Connection Compression Control".

•telemetry_client

Command-Line Format	--telemetry_client
Type	Boolean
Default Value	OFF

Enables the telemetry client plugin (Linux only).

For more information, seeChapter 35, Telemetry.

MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS

mysqlsends each SQL statement that you issue to the server to be executed. There is also a set of commands thatmysqlitself interprets. For a list of these commands, typehelpor\hat themysql>prompt:

mysql> helpList of all MySQL commands:Note that all text commands must be first on line and end with ';'?         (\?) Synonym for `help'.clear     (\c) Clear the current input statement.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.resetconnection(\x) Clean session context.query_attributes Sets string parameters (name1 value1 name2 value2 ...)for the next query to pick up.ssl_session_data_print Serializes the current SSL session data to stdout or file.For server side help, type 'help contents'

Ifmysqlis invoked with the--binary-modeoption, allmysqlcommands are disabled exceptcharsetanddelimiterin noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).

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 multiple-line/* ... */comments is not supported. Short-form commands do work within single-line/*! ... */version comments, as do/*+ ... */optimizer-hint comments, which are stored in object definitions. If there is a concern that optimizer-hint comments may be stored in object definitions so that dump files when reloaded withmysqlwould result in execution of such commands, either invokemysqlwith the--binary-modeoption or use a reload client other thanmysql.

•help [arg],\h [arg],\? [arg],? [arg]

Display a help message listing the availablemysqlcommands.

If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses it as a search string to access server-side help from the contents of the MySQL Reference Manual. For more information, seethe section called "MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP".

•charset charset_name,\C charset_name

Change the default character set and issue aSET NAMESstatement. This enables the character set to remain synchronized on the client and server ifmysqlis 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.

If theconnectcommand specifies a host name argument, that host takes precedence over any--dns-srv-nameoption given atmysqlstartup to specify a DNS SRV record.

•delimiter str,\d str

Change the string thatmysqlinterprets as the separator between SQL statements. The default is the semicolon character (;).

The delimiter string can be specified as an unquoted or quoted argument on thedelimitercommand line. Quoting can be done with either single quote ('), double quote ("), or backtick (`) characters. To include a quote within a quoted string, either quote the string with a different quote character or escape the quote with a backslash (\) character. Backslash should be avoided outside of quoted strings because it is the escape character for MySQL. For an unquoted argument, the delimiter is read up to the first space or end of line. For a quoted argument, the delimiter is read up to the matching quote on the line.

mysqlinterprets instances of the delimiter string as a statement delimiter anywhere it occurs, except within quoted strings. Be careful about defining a delimiter that might occur within other words. For example, if you define the delimiter asX, it is not possible to use the wordINDEXin statements.mysqlinterprets this asINDEfollowed by the delimiterX.

When the delimiter recognized bymysqlis 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 (seem[blue]Multiple Statement Execution Supportm[][3]), and for parsing the body of stored procedures and functions, triggers, and events (seeSection 27.1, "Defining Stored Programs").

•edit,\e

Edit the current input statement.mysqlchecks the values of theEDITORandVISUALenvironment variables to determine which editor to use. The default editor isviif neither variable is set.

Theeditcommand 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

Exitmysql.

•go,\g

Send the current statement to the server to be executed.

•nopager,\n

Disable output paging. See the description forpager.

Thenopagercommand works only in Unix.

•notee,\t

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

•nowarning,\w

Disable display of warnings after each statement.

•pager [command],\P [command]

Enable output paging. By using the--pageroption when you invokemysql, it is possible to browse or search query results in interactive mode with Unix programs such asless,more, or any other similar program. If you specify no value for the option,mysqlchecks the value of thePAGERenvironment variable and sets the pager to that. Pager functionality works only in interactive mode.

Output paging can be enabled interactively with thepagercommand and disabled withnopager. 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, orstdoutif no pager was specified.

Output paging works only in Unix because it uses thepopen()function, which does not exist on Windows. For Windows, theteeoption can be used instead to save query output, although it is not as convenient aspagerfor browsing output in some situations.

•print,\p

Print the current input statement without executing it.

•prompt [str],\R [str]

Reconfigure themysqlprompt to the given string. The special character sequences that can be used in the prompt are described later in this section.

If you specify thepromptcommand with no argument,mysqlresets the prompt to the default ofmysql>.

•query_attributes name value [name value ...]

Define query attributes that apply to the next query sent to the server. For discussion of the purpose and use of query attributes, seeSection 11.6, "Query Attributes".

Thequery_attributescommand follows these rules:

•The format and quoting rules for attribute names and values are the same as for thedelimitercommand.

•The command permits up to 32 attribute name/value pairs. Names and values may be up to 1024 characters long. If a name is given without a value, an error occurs.

•If multiplequery_attributescommands are issued prior to query execution, only the last command applies. After sending the query,mysqlclears the attribute set.

•If multiple attributes are defined with the same name, attempts to retrieve the attribute value have an undefined result.

•An attribute defined with an empty name cannot be retrieved by name.

•If a reconnect occurs whilemysqlexecutes the query,mysqlrestores the attributes after reconnecting so the query can be executed again with the same attributes.

•quit,\q

Exitmysql.

•rehash,\#

Rebuild the completion hash that enables database, table, and column name completion while you are entering statements. (See the description for the--auto-rehashoption.)

•resetconnection,\x

Reset the connection to clear the session state. This includes clearing any current query attributes defined using thequery_attributescommand.

Resetting a connection has effects similar tomysql_change_user()or an auto-reconnect except that the connection is not closed and reopened, and re-authentication is not done. Seem[blue]mysql_change_user()m[][4], andm[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].

This example shows howresetconnectionclears a value maintained in the session state:

mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID(3);+-------------------+| LAST_INSERT_ID(3) |+-------------------+|                 3 |+-------------------+mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID();+------------------+| LAST_INSERT_ID() |+------------------+|                3 |+------------------+mysql> resetconnection;mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID();+------------------+| LAST_INSERT_ID() |+------------------+|                0 |+------------------+

•source file_name,\. file_name

Read the named file and executes the statements contained therein. On Windows, specify path name separators as/or\\.

Quote characters are taken as part of the file name itself. For best results, the name should not include space characters.

•ssl_session_data_print [file_name]

Fetches, serializes, and optionally stores the session data of a successful connection. The optional file name and arguments may be given to specify the file to store serialized session data. If omitted, the session data is printed tostdout.

If the MySQL session is configured for reuse, session data from the file is deserialized and supplied to theconnectcommand to reconnect. When the session is reused successfully, thestatuscommand contains a row showingSSL session reused: truewhile the client remains reconnected to the server.

•status,\s

Provide status information about the connection and the server you are using. If you are running with--safe-updatesenabled,statusalso prints the values for themysqlvariables that affect your queries.

•system command,\! command

Execute the given command using your default command interpreter.

In MySQL 8.4.3 and later, this command can be disabled by starting the client with--system-command=OFFor--skip-system-command.

•tee [file_name],\T [file_name]

By using the--teeoption when you invokemysql, 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.mysqlflushes 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 theteecommand. Without a parameter, the previous file is used. Theteefile can be disabled with thenoteecommand. Executingteeagain re-enables logging.

•use db_name,\u db_name

Usedb_nameas the default database.

•warnings,\W

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

Here are a few tips about thepagercommand:

•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-Soption. 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-Soption tolesscan 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-Sinteractively withinlessto switch the horizontal-browse mode on and off. For more information, read thelessmanual page:

man less

•The-Fand-Xoptions may be used withlessto 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/dr1and/dr2, yet still display the results onscreen usingless.

You can also combine theteeandpagerfunctions. Have ateefile enabled andpagerset toless, and you are able to browse the results using thelessprogram and still have everything appended into a file the same time. The difference between the Unixteeused with thepagercommand and themysqlbuilt-inteecommand is that the built-inteeworks even if you do not have the Unixteeavailable. The built-inteealso logs everything that is printed on the screen, whereas the Unixteeused withpagerdoes not log quite that much. Additionally,teefile logging can be turned on and off interactively from withinmysql. This is useful when you want to log some queries to a file, but not others.

Thepromptcommand reconfigures the defaultmysql>prompt. The string for defining the prompt can contain the following special sequences.

Option	Description
C	The current connection identifier
	A counter that increments for each statement you issue
D	The full current date
	The default database
The server hostT}T{ The current delimiterT}T{mT}:T{Minutes of the current timeT}T{T}:T{A newline characterT}T{OT}:T{The current month in three-letter format (Jan, Feb, ...)T}T{The current month in numeric formatT}T{PT}:T{am/pmT}T{ T}:T{The current TCP/IP port or socket fileT}T{RT}:T{The current time, in 24-hour military time (0-23)T}T{T}:T{The current time, standard 12-hour time (1-12)T}T{ST}:T{SemicolonT}T{T}:T{Seconds of the current timeT}T{TT}:T{Print an asterisk (*) if the current session is               inside a transaction blockT}T{ T}:T{A tab characterT}T{UT}:T{ Your fulluser_name@host_nameaccount nameT}T{T}:T{Your user nameT}T{The server versionT}T{The current day of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...)T}T{YT}:T{The current year, four digitsT}T{yT}:T{The current year, two digitsT}T{_T}:T{A spaceT}T{\ T}:T{A space (a space follows the backslash)T}T{'T}:T{Single quoteT}T{T}:T{Double quoteT}T{\T}:T{A literal  backslash characterT}T{\fIxT}:T{ x, for any"x"not listed aboveT} You can set the prompt in several ways: •Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example: export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> " •Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example: $> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]> •Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format: [mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> " •Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example: mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>   MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively: •On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable. •On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile. The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type. •How Logging Occurs •Controlling the History File •syslog Logging Characteristics How Logging Occurs For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows: •Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption. •Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later. •mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually. •If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter. Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input: mysql> SELECT -> 'Today is' -> , -> CURDATE() -> ; In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output: SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(); mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special: •?matches any single character. •*matches any sequence of zero or more characters. To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list. Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this: mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*" Controlling the History File The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History. If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again: •Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files. •Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once: ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history syslog Logging Characteristics If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics. Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability. Message size is limited to 1024 bytes. Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values: •SYSTEM_USER The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown. •MYSQL_USER The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown. •CONNECTION_ID: The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session. •DB_SERVER The server host or--if the host is unknown. •DB The default database or--if no database has been selected. •QUERY The text of the logged statement. Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line. Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'   MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP mysql> help search_string If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support"). If there is no match for the search string, the search fails: mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories: mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics: mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged. mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes || binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |+---------------+-----------+-----------+ The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep: mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics: REPAIR TABLE REPEAT FUNCTION REPEAT LOOP REPLACE REPLACE FUNCTION   EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this: mysql db_name However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here: mysql db_name < text_file If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line: mysql < text_file If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command: mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces. mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4. For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode".  MYSQL CLIENT TIPS This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior. •Input-Line Editing •Disabling Interactive History •Unicode Support on Windows •Displaying Query Results Vertically •Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) •Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect •mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Input-Line Editing mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter. On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary). Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline. For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary): bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform. On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer. To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option. If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode. To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server: 1.Open a console window. 2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode. 3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets". With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.) To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe. Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile: [mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3 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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones reply: jonesAATTexample.com mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com> sbj: UTF-8 txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones file: inbox-jani-1 hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec) Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables: SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000; TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows: •Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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; •Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause. •Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations. To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql: mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000 It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column: •Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization". •If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs. These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode: •EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause. •When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index. •For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan. Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id: 1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec) The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption. For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples: •The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled. Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled. •Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side. If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).   COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 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. MySQL Shell 8.4 https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/ 2. C API Basic Data Structures https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html 3. Multiple Statement Execution Support https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html 4. mysql_change_user() https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html 5. Automatic Reconnection Control https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html   SEE ALSO For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,which may already be installed locally and which is also availableonline at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.  AUTHOR Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).	The server host
The current delimiterT}T{mT}:T{Minutes of the current timeT}T{T}:T{A newline characterT}T{OT}:T{The current month in three-letter format (Jan, Feb, ...)T}T{The current month in numeric formatT}T{PT}:T{am/pmT}T{ T}:T{The current TCP/IP port or socket fileT}T{RT}:T{The current time, in 24-hour military time (0-23)T}T{T}:T{The current time, standard 12-hour time (1-12)T}T{ST}:T{SemicolonT}T{T}:T{Seconds of the current timeT}T{TT}:T{Print an asterisk (*) if the current session is               inside a transaction blockT}T{ T}:T{A tab characterT}T{UT}:T{ Your fulluser_name@host_nameaccount nameT}T{T}:T{Your user nameT}T{The server versionT}T{The current day of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...)T}T{YT}:T{The current year, four digitsT}T{yT}:T{The current year, two digitsT}T{_T}:T{A spaceT}T{\ T}:T{A space (a space follows the backslash)T}T{'T}:T{Single quoteT}T{T}:T{Double quoteT}T{\T}:T{A literal  backslash characterT}T{\fIxT}:T{ x, for any"x"not listed aboveT} You can set the prompt in several ways: •Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example: export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> " •Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example: $> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]> •Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format: [mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> " •Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example: mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>   MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively: •On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable. •On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile. The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type. •How Logging Occurs •Controlling the History File •syslog Logging Characteristics How Logging Occurs For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows: •Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption. •Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later. •mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually. •If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter. Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input: mysql> SELECT -> 'Today is' -> , -> CURDATE() -> ; In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output: SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(); mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special: •?matches any single character. •*matches any sequence of zero or more characters. To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list. Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this: mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*" Controlling the History File The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History. If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again: •Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files. •Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once: ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history syslog Logging Characteristics If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics. Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability. Message size is limited to 1024 bytes. Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values: •SYSTEM_USER The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown. •MYSQL_USER The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown. •CONNECTION_ID: The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session. •DB_SERVER The server host or--if the host is unknown. •DB The default database or--if no database has been selected. •QUERY The text of the logged statement. Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line. Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'   MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP mysql> help search_string If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support"). If there is no match for the search string, the search fails: mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories: mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics: mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged. mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes || binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |+---------------+-----------+-----------+ The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep: mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics: REPAIR TABLE REPEAT FUNCTION REPEAT LOOP REPLACE REPLACE FUNCTION   EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this: mysql db_name However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here: mysql db_name < text_file If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line: mysql < text_file If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command: mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces. mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4. For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode".  MYSQL CLIENT TIPS This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior. •Input-Line Editing •Disabling Interactive History •Unicode Support on Windows •Displaying Query Results Vertically •Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) •Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect •mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Input-Line Editing mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter. On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary). Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline. For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary): bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform. On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer. To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option. If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode. To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server: 1.Open a console window. 2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode. 3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets". With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.) To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe. Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile: [mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3 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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones reply: jonesAATTexample.com mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com> sbj: UTF-8 txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones file: inbox-jani-1 hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec) Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables: SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000; TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows: •Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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; •Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause. •Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations. To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql: mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000 It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column: •Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization". •If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs. These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode: •EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause. •When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index. •For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan. Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id: 1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec) The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption. For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples: •The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled. Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled. •Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side. If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).   COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 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 4MySQL Shell 8.4 https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/ 4C API Basic Data Structures https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html 4Multiple Statement Execution Support https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html 4mysql_change_user() https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html 4Automatic Reconnection Control https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html   SEE ALSO For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,which may already be installed locally and which is also availableonline at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.  AUTHOR Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).	The current delimiter
m	Minutes of the current time
	A newline character
O	The current month in three-letter format (Jan, Feb, ...)
The current month in numeric formatT}T{PT}:T{am/pmT}T{ T}:T{The current TCP/IP port or socket fileT}T{RT}:T{The current time, in 24-hour military time (0-23)T}T{T}:T{The current time, standard 12-hour time (1-12)T}T{ST}:T{SemicolonT}T{T}:T{Seconds of the current timeT}T{TT}:T{Print an asterisk (*) if the current session is               inside a transaction blockT}T{ T}:T{A tab characterT}T{UT}:T{ Your fulluser_name@host_nameaccount nameT}T{T}:T{Your user nameT}T{The server versionT}T{The current day of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...)T}T{YT}:T{The current year, four digitsT}T{yT}:T{The current year, two digitsT}T{_T}:T{A spaceT}T{\ T}:T{A space (a space follows the backslash)T}T{'T}:T{Single quoteT}T{T}:T{Double quoteT}T{\T}:T{A literal  backslash characterT}T{\fIxT}:T{ x, for any"x"not listed aboveT} You can set the prompt in several ways: •Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example: export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> " •Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example: $> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]> •Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format: [mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> " •Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example: mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>   MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively: •On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable. •On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile. The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type. •How Logging Occurs •Controlling the History File •syslog Logging Characteristics How Logging Occurs For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows: •Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption. •Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later. •mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually. •If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter. Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input: mysql> SELECT -> 'Today is' -> , -> CURDATE() -> ; In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output: SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(); mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special: •?matches any single character. •*matches any sequence of zero or more characters. To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list. Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this: mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*" Controlling the History File The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History. If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again: •Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files. •Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once: ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history syslog Logging Characteristics If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics. Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability. Message size is limited to 1024 bytes. Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values: •SYSTEM_USER The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown. •MYSQL_USER The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown. •CONNECTION_ID: The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session. •DB_SERVER The server host or--if the host is unknown. •DB The default database or--if no database has been selected. •QUERY The text of the logged statement. Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line. Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'   MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP mysql> help search_string If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support"). If there is no match for the search string, the search fails: mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories: mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics: mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged. mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes || binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |+---------------+-----------+-----------+ The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep: mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics: REPAIR TABLE REPEAT FUNCTION REPEAT LOOP REPLACE REPLACE FUNCTION   EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this: mysql db_name However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here: mysql db_name < text_file If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line: mysql < text_file If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command: mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces. mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4. For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode".  MYSQL CLIENT TIPS This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior. •Input-Line Editing •Disabling Interactive History •Unicode Support on Windows •Displaying Query Results Vertically •Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) •Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect •mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Input-Line Editing mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter. On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary). Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline. For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary): bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform. On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer. To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option. If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode. To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server: 1.Open a console window. 2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode. 3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets". With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.) To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe. Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile: [mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3 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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones reply: jonesAATTexample.com mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com> sbj: UTF-8 txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones file: inbox-jani-1 hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec) Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables: SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000; TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows: •Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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; •Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause. •Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations. To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql: mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000 It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column: •Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization". •If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs. These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode: •EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause. •When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index. •For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan. Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id: 1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec) The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption. For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples: •The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled. Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled. •Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side. If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).   COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 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 1.4MySQL Shell 8.4 https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/ 2.4C API Basic Data Structures https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html 3.4Multiple Statement Execution Support https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html 4.4mysql_change_user() https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html 5.4Automatic Reconnection Control https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html   SEE ALSO For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,which may already be installed locally and which is also availableonline at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.  AUTHOR Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).	The current month in numeric format
P	am/pm
	The current TCP/IP port or socket file
R	The current time, in 24-hour military time (0-23)
	The current time, standard 12-hour time (1-12)
S	Semicolon
	Seconds of the current time
T	Print an asterisk (*) if the current session is               inside a transaction block
	A tab character
U	Your fulluser_name@host_nameaccount name
	Your user name
The server versionT}T{The current day of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...)T}T{YT}:T{The current year, four digitsT}T{yT}:T{The current year, two digitsT}T{_T}:T{A spaceT}T{\ T}:T{A space (a space follows the backslash)T}T{'T}:T{Single quoteT}T{T}:T{Double quoteT}T{\T}:T{A literal  backslash characterT}T{\fIxT}:T{ x, for any"x"not listed aboveT} You can set the prompt in several ways: •Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example: export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> " •Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example: $> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]> •Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format: [mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> " •Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example: mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>   MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively: •On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable. •On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile. The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type. •How Logging Occurs •Controlling the History File •syslog Logging Characteristics How Logging Occurs For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows: •Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption. •Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later. •mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually. •If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter. Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input: mysql> SELECT -> 'Today is' -> , -> CURDATE() -> ; In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output: SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(); mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special: •?matches any single character. •*matches any sequence of zero or more characters. To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list. Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this: mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*" Controlling the History File The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History. If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again: •Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files. •Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once: ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history syslog Logging Characteristics If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics. Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability. Message size is limited to 1024 bytes. Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values: •SYSTEM_USER The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown. •MYSQL_USER The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown. •CONNECTION_ID: The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session. •DB_SERVER The server host or--if the host is unknown. •DB The default database or--if no database has been selected. •QUERY The text of the logged statement. Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line. Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'   MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP mysql> help search_string If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support"). If there is no match for the search string, the search fails: mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories: mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics: mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged. mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes || binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |+---------------+-----------+-----------+ The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep: mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics: REPAIR TABLE REPEAT FUNCTION REPEAT LOOP REPLACE REPLACE FUNCTION   EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this: mysql db_name However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here: mysql db_name < text_file If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line: mysql < text_file If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command: mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces. mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4. For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode".  MYSQL CLIENT TIPS This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior. •Input-Line Editing •Disabling Interactive History •Unicode Support on Windows •Displaying Query Results Vertically •Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) •Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect •mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Input-Line Editing mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter. On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary). Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline. For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary): bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform. On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer. To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option. If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode. To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server: 1.Open a console window. 2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode. 3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets". With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.) To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe. Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile: [mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3 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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones reply: jonesAATTexample.com mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com> sbj: UTF-8 txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones file: inbox-jani-1 hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec) Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables: SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000; TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows: •Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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; •Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause. •Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations. To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql: mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000 It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column: •Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization". •If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs. These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode: •EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause. •When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index. •For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan. Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id: 1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec) The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption. For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples: •The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled. Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled. •Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side. If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).   COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 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 1.4MySQL Shell 8.4 https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/ 2.4C API Basic Data Structures https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html 3.4Multiple Statement Execution Support https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html 4.4mysql_change_user() https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html 5.4Automatic Reconnection Control https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html   SEE ALSO For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,which may already be installed locally and which is also availableonline at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.  AUTHOR Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).	The server version
The current day of the week in three-letter format (Mon, Tue, ...)T}T{YT}:T{The current year, four digitsT}T{yT}:T{The current year, two digitsT}T{_T}:T{A spaceT}T{\ T}:T{A space (a space follows the backslash)T}T{'T}:T{Single quoteT}T{T}:T{Double quoteT}T{\T}:T{A literal  backslash characterT}T{\fIxT}:T{ x, for any"x"not listed aboveT} You can set the prompt in several ways: •Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example: export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> " •Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example: $> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]> •Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format: [mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> " •Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example: mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>   MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively: •On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable. •On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile. The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type. •How Logging Occurs •Controlling the History File •syslog Logging Characteristics How Logging Occurs For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows: •Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption. •Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later. •mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually. •If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter. Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input: mysql> SELECT -> 'Today is' -> , -> CURDATE() -> ; In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output: SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(); mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special: •?matches any single character. •*matches any sequence of zero or more characters. To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list. Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this: mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*" Controlling the History File The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History. If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again: •Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files. •Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once: ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history syslog Logging Characteristics If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics. Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability. Message size is limited to 1024 bytes. Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values: •SYSTEM_USER The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown. •MYSQL_USER The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown. •CONNECTION_ID: The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session. •DB_SERVER The server host or--if the host is unknown. •DB The default database or--if no database has been selected. •QUERY The text of the logged statement. Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line. Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]: SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23, DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'   MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP mysql> help search_string If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support"). If there is no match for the search string, the search fails: mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories: mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics: mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged. mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes || binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |+---------------+-----------+-----------+ The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep: mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics: REPAIR TABLE REPEAT FUNCTION REPEAT LOOP REPLACE REPLACE FUNCTION   EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this: mysql db_name However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here: mysql db_name < text_file If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line: mysql < text_file If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command: mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces. mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4. For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode".  MYSQL CLIENT TIPS This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior. •Input-Line Editing •Disabling Interactive History •Unicode Support on Windows •Displaying Query Results Vertically •Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) •Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect •mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Input-Line Editing mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter. On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary). Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline. For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary): bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform. On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer. To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option. If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode. To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server: 1.Open a console window. 2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode. 3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets". With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.) To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe. Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile: [mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3 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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones reply: jonesAATTexample.com mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com> sbj: UTF-8 txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones file: inbox-jani-1 hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec) Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates) For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables: SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000; TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows: •Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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; •Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause. •Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations. To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql: mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000 It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column: •Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization". •If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs. These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode: •EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause. •When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index. •For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan. Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id: 1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec) The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption. For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples: •The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled. Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled. •Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side. If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).   COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 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 1.4MySQL Shell 8.4 https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/ 2.4C API Basic Data Structures https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html 3.4Multiple Statement Execution Support https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html 4.4mysql_change_user() https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html 5.4Automatic Reconnection Control https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html   SEE ALSO For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,which may already be installed locally and which is also availableonline at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.  AUTHOR Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).	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
\fIx	x, for any"x"not listed above

You can set the prompt in several ways:

•Use an environment variable.You can set theMYSQL_PS1environment variable to a prompt string. For example:

export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> "

•Use a command-line option.You can set the--promptoption on the command line tomysql. For example:

$> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "(userAATThost) [database]>

•Use an option file.You can set thepromptoption in the[mysql]group of any MySQL option file, such as/etc/my.cnfor the.my.cnffile 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 thepromptoption 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 inSection 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,\sis 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 inhh:mm:ss>format:

[mysql]prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> "

•Set the prompt interactively.You can change your prompt interactively by using theprompt(or\R) command. For example:

mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'(user@host) [database]>(user@host) [database]> promptReturning to default PROMPT of mysql>mysql>

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

Themysqlclient can do these types of logging for statements executed interactively:

•On Unix,mysqlwrites the statements to a history file. By default, this file is named.mysql_historyin your home directory. To specify a different file, set the value of theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable.

•On all platforms, if the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites the statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this issyslog; on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the/var/log/messagesfile.

The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all logging types and provides information specific to each logging type.

•How Logging Occurs

•Controlling the History File

•syslog Logging Characteristics

For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as follows:

•Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe. It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the--batchor--executeoption.

•Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in the"ignore"list. This list is described later.

•mysqllogs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually.

•If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the terminating delimiter),mysqlconcatenates the lines to form the complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result, plus a delimiter.

Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be logged twice. Consider this input:

mysql> SELECT    -> 'Today is'    -> ,    -> CURDATE()    -> ;

In this case,mysqllogs the"SELECT","'Today is'",",","CURDATE()", and";"lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement, after mappingSELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE()toSELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output:

SELECT'Today is',CURDATE();SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE();

mysqlignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in the"ignore"list. By default, the pattern list is"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two characters are special:

•?matches any single character.

•*matches any sequence of zero or more characters.

To specify additional patterns, use the--histignoreoption or set theMYSQL_HISTIGNOREenvironment variable. (If both are specified, the option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default pattern list.

Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them specially. For example, to suppress logging forUPDATEandDELETEstatements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invokemysqllike this:

mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*"

Controlling the History File

The.mysql_historyfile 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. SeeSection 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are accessible from themysqlclient when theup-arrowkey is used to recall the history. SeeDisabling Interactive History.

If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove.mysql_historyif it exists. Then use either of the following techniques to prevent it from being created again:

•Set theMYSQL_HISTFILEenvironment variable to/dev/null. To cause this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of your shell's startup files.

•Create.mysql_historyas a symbolic link to/dev/null; this need be done only once:

ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history

If the--syslogoption is given,mysqlwrites interactive statements to the system logging facility. Message logging has the following characteristics.

Logging occurs at the"information"level. This corresponds to theLOG_INFOpriority forsyslogon Unix/Linuxsyslogcapability and toEVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPEfor the Windows Event Log. Consult your system documentation for configuration of your logging capability.

Message size is limited to 1024 bytes.

Messages consist of the identifierMysqlClientfollowed by these values:

•SYSTEM_USER

The operating system user name (login name) or--if the user is unknown.

•MYSQL_USER

The MySQL user name (specified with the--useroption) or--if the user is unknown.

•CONNECTION_ID:

The client connection identifier. This is the same as theCONNECTION_ID()function value within the session.

•DB_SERVER

The server host or--if the host is unknown.

•DB

The default database or--if no database has been selected.

•QUERY

The text of the logged statement.

Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using--syslog. This output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes a single line.

Mar  7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:  SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,  DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'Mar  7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:  SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,  DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

mysql> help search_string

If you provide an argument to thehelpcommand,mysqluses 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 themysqldatabase be initialized with help topic information (seeSection 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support").

If there is no match for the search string, the search fails:

mysql> help meNothing foundPlease try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics

Usehelp contentsto see a list of the help categories:

mysql> help contentsYou asked for help about help category: "Contents"For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of thefollowing 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,mysqlshows a list of matching topics:

mysql> help logsMany 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 logsName: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'Description:Syntax:SHOW BINARY LOGSLists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used aspart of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows howto determine which logs can be purged.

mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;+---------------+-----------+-----------+| Log_name      | File_size | Encrypted |+---------------+-----------+-----------+| binlog.000015 |    724935 | Yes       || binlog.000016 |    733481 | Yes       |+---------------+-----------+-----------+

The search string can contain the wildcard characters%and_. These have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with theLIKEoperator. For example,HELP rep%returns a list of topics that begin withrep:

mysql> HELP rep%Many help items for your request exist.To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',where <item> is one of the followingtopics:   REPAIR TABLE   REPEAT FUNCTION   REPEAT LOOP   REPLACE   REPLACE FUNCTION

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

Themysqlclient typically is used interactively, like this:

mysql db_name

However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and then tellmysqlto read its input from that file. To do so, create a text filetext_filethat contains the statements you wish to execute. Then invokemysqlas shown here:

mysql db_name < text_file

If you place aUSE db_namestatement as the first statement in the file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command line:

mysql < text_file

If you are already runningmysql, you can execute an SQL script file using thesourcecommand or\.command:

mysql> source file_namemysql> \. 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 invokemysqlwith the--verboseoption, which causes each statement to be displayed before the result that it produces.

mysqlignores 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 causemysqlto change its default character set. To do that, invokemysqlwith an option such as--default-character-set=utf8mb4.

For more information about batch mode, seeSection 5.5, "Using mysql in Batch Mode". 

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

This section provides information about techniques for more effective use ofmysqland aboutmysqloperational behavior.

•Input-Line Editing

•Disabling Interactive History

•Unicode Support on Windows

•Displaying Query Results Vertically

•Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates)

•Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect

•mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser

mysqlsupports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For example, theleft-arrowandright-arrowkeys move horizontally within the current input line, and theup-arrowanddown-arrowkeys move up and down through the set of previously entered lines.Backspacedeletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, pressEnter.

On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend on the input library used to buildmysql(for example, thelibeditorreadlinelibrary).

Documentation for thelibeditandreadlinelibraries is available online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a file in your home directory:.editrcforlibeditand.inputrcforreadline.

For example, inlibedit,Control+Wdeletes everything before the current cursor position andControl+Udeletes the entire line. Inreadline,Control+Wdeletes the word before the cursor andControl+Udeletes everything before the current cursor position. Ifmysqlwas built usinglibedit, a user who prefers thereadlinebehavior for these two keys can put the following lines in the.editrcfile (creating the file if necessary):

bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-wordbind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev

To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that says onlybindat the end of.editrc.mysqlshows the bindings when it starts.Disabling Interactive History

Theup-arrowkey enables you to recall input lines from current and previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior may be unsuitable.mysqlsupports disabling the interactive history partially or fully, depending on the host platform.

On Windows, the history is stored in memory.Alt+F7deletes all input lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed withF7and recalled (by number) withF9. New input lines entered after you pressAlt+F7repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the--syslogoption was used to startmysql. Closing the console window also clears the current history buffer.

To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the.mysql_historyfile, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then startmysqlwith the--histignore="*"option to ignore all new input lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restartmysqlwithout the option.

If you prevent the.mysql_historyfile from being created (seeControlling the History File) and use--histignore="*"to start themysqlclient, the interactive history recall facility is disabled fully. Alternatively, if you omit the--histignoreoption, you can recall the input lines entered during the current session.Unicode Support on Windows

Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to the console; themysqlclient for Windows is able to use these APIs. The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu namedMySQL command line client - Unicode. This item invokes themysqlclient with properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server using Unicode.

To take advantage of this support manually, runmysqlwithin a console that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the server:

1.Open a console window.

2.Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS raster font that is inadequate for Unicode.

3.Executemysql.exewith the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option. This option is necessary becauseutf16leis one of the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set. Seethe section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets".

With those changes,mysqluses the Windows APIs to communicate with the console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8. (The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as just described.)

To avoid those steps each time you runmysql, you can create a shortcut that invokesmysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the--default-character-set=utf8mb4(orutf8mb3) option tomysql.exe.

Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and set the character set in the[mysql]group of yourmy.inifile:

[mysql]default-character-set=utf8mb4   # or utf8mb3

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 23:29:50time_zone: +0200mail_from: Jones    reply: jonesAATTexample.com  mail_to: "John Smith" <smithAATTexample.com>      sbj: UTF-8      txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:John> Hi.  I think this is a good idea.  Is anyone familiarJohn> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on myJohn> TODO list and see what happens.Yes, please do that.Regards,Jones     file: inbox-jani-1     hash: 1904029441 row in set (0.09 sec)

Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates)

For beginners, a useful startup option is--safe-updates(or--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is helpful for cases when you might have issued anUPDATEorDELETEstatement but forgotten theWHEREclause indicating which rows to modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the table. With--safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the key values that identify them, or aLIMITclause, or both. This helps prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restrictsSELECTstatements that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets.

The--safe-updatesoption causesmysqlto execute the following statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session values of thesql_safe_updates,sql_select_limit, andmax_join_sizesystem variables:

SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000;

TheSETstatement affects statement processing as follows:

•Enablingsql_safe_updatescausesUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in theWHEREclause, or provide aLIMITclause, 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;

•Settingsql_select_limitto 1,000 causes the server to limit allSELECTresult sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes aLIMITclause.

•Settingmax_join_sizeto 1,000,000 causes multiple-tableSELECTstatements to produce an error if the server estimates it must examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations.

To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you can override the defaults by using the--select-limitand--max-join-sizeoptions when you invokemysql:

mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000

It is possible forUPDATEandDELETEstatements to produce an error in safe-updates mode even with a key specified in theWHEREclause, if the optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column:

•Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds that permitted by therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizesystem variable. The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. Seethe section called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization".

•If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be used (seeSection 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that an indexed string columnc1is compared to a numeric value usingWHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically (seeSection 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"), preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an error occurs.

These behaviors are included in safe-updates mode:

•EXPLAINwithUPDATEandDELETEstatements does not produce safe-updates errors. This enables use ofEXPLAINplusSHOW WARNINGSto see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such as when arange_optimizer_max_mem_sizeviolation or type conversion occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key column was specified in theWHEREclause.

•When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that therange_optimizer_max_mem_sizevalue was exceeded or type conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index.

•For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan.

If themysqlclient 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 ifmysqlsucceeds 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 awayNo connection. Trying to reconnect...Connection id:    1Current database: testQuery OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)mysql> SELECT * FROM t;+------+| a    |+------+| NULL |+------+1 row in set (0.05 sec)

The@auser variable has been lost with the connection, and after the reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to havemysqlterminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start themysqlclient with the--skip-reconnectoption.

For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state information when a reconnection occurs, seem[blue]Automatic Reconnection Controlm[][5].mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser

Themysqlclient uses a parser on the client side that is not a duplicate of the complete parser used by themysqldserver on the server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain constructs. Examples:

•The server parser treats strings delimited by"characters as identifiers rather than as plain strings if theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode is enabled.

Themysqlclient parser does not take theANSI_QUOTESSQL mode into account. It treats strings delimited by",', and`characters the same, regardless of whetherANSI_QUOTESis enabled.

•Within/*! ... */and/*+ ... */comments, themysqlclient parser interprets short-formmysqlcommands. The server parser does not interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server side.

If it is desirable formysqlnot to interpret short-form commands within comments, a partial workaround is to use the--binary-modeoption, which causes allmysqlcommands to be disabled except\Cand\din noninteractive mode (for input piped tomysqlor loaded using thesourcecommand).

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 1997, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

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

1.4MySQL Shell 8.4

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.4/en/

2.4C API Basic Data Structures

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-data-structures.html

3.4Multiple Statement Execution Support

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html

4.4mysql_change_user()

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/mysql-change-user.html

5.4Automatic Reconnection Control

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.4/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

Index

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

MYSQL CLIENT OPTIONS

MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING

MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP

EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE

MYSQL CLIENT TIPS

COPYRIGHT

NOTES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR