[ < ] | [ > ] | [ << ] | [ Up ] | [ >> ] | [Top] | [Contents] | [Index] | [ ? ] |
To invoke a MySQL program at the command line (that is, from your shell or
command prompt), enter the program name followed by any options or other
arguments needed to instruct the program what you want it to do. The following
commands show some sample program invocations. "shell>
" represents
your command prompt; it is not part of what you type.
shell> mysql test shell> mysqldump --quote-names personnel shell> mysqladmin extended-status variables shell> mysqlshow --help |
Arguments that begin with a dash are option arguments. They typically specify the type of connection a program should make to the server or affect its operational mode. Options have a syntax that is described in 4.3 Specifying Program Options.
Non-option arguments (arguments with no leading dash) provide additional
information to the program. For example, the mysql
program interprets
the first non-option argument as a database name, so the command
mysql test
indicates that you want to use the test
database.
Later sections that describe individual programs indicate which options a program understands and describe the meaning of any additional non-option arguments.
Some options are common to a number of programs. The most common of these are
the --host
, --user
, and --password
options that specify
connection parameters. They indicate the host where the MySQL server is
running, and the username and password of your MySQL account. All MySQL client
programs understand these options; they allow you to specify which server to
connect to and the account to use on that server.
Note that you may find it necessary to invoke MySQL programs using the
pathname to the `bin' directory in which they are installed. This is
likely to be the case if you get a "program not found" error whenever
you attempt to run a MySQL program from any directory other than the
`bin' directory. To make it more convenient to use MySQL, you
can add the pathname of the `bin' directory to your PATH
environment variable setting. Then to run a program you need only type
its name, not its entire pathname.
Consult the documentation for your command interpreter for instructions on
setting your PATH
; the syntax for setting environment variables is
interpreter-specific.
[ < ] | [ > ] | [ << ] | [ Up ] | [ >> ] | [Top] | [Contents] | [Index] | [ ? ] |