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This manual uses certain typographical conventions:
constant
mysqladmin works, invoke it with the
--help option."
When commands are shown that are meant to be executed by a particular
program, the program is indicated by a prompt shown before the command. For
example, shell> indicates a command that you execute from your login
shell, and mysql> indicates a statement that you execute from the
mysql client program:
shell> type a shell command here mysql> type a mysql statement here |
The "shell" is your command interpreter. On Unix, this is typically a
program such as sh or csh. On Windows, the equivalent is
command.com or cmd.exe, typically run in a Windows console.
Note that to enter a command or statement from an example, you do not type the prompt shown in the example.
Commands to set shell variables are shown using Bourne shell syntax. If you
are using csh or tcsh, you will need to issue commands somewhat
differently.
For example, the sequence to set an environment variable and run a command
looks like this in Bourne shell syntax:
shell> VARNAME=value some_command |
For csh or tcsh, you would execute the sequence like this:
shell> setenv VARNAME value shell> some_command |
Database, table, and column names must often be substituted into commands. To
indicate that such substitution is necessary, this manual uses
db_name, tbl_name, and col_name. For example, you might
see a statement like this:
mysql> SELECT col_name FROM db_name.tbl_name; |
This means that if you were to enter a similar statement, you would supply your own database, table, and column names, perhaps like this:
mysql> SELECT author_name FROM biblio_db.author_list; |
SQL keywords are not case sensitive and may be written in uppercase or lowercase. This manual uses uppercase.
In syntax descriptions, square brackets (`[' and `]') are used
to indicate optional words or clauses. For example, in the following
statement, IF EXISTS is optional:
DROP TABLE [IF EXISTS] tbl_name |
When a syntax element consists of a number of alternatives, the alternatives are separated by vertical bars (`|'). When one member from a set of choices may be chosen, the alternatives are listed within square brackets (`[' and `]'):
TRIM([[BOTH | LEADING | TRAILING] [remstr] FROM] str) |
When one member from a set of choices must be chosen, the alternatives are listed within braces (`{' and `}'):
{DESCRIBE | DESC} tbl_name {col_name | wild}
|
An ellipsis (...) indicates the omission of a section of a statement,
typically to provide a shorter version of more complex syntax. For example,
INSERT ... SELECT is shorthand for the form of INSERT statement
that is followed by a SELECT statement.
An ellipsis can also indicate that the preceding syntax element of a statement
may be repeated. In the following example, multiple reset_option values
may be given, with each of those after the first preceded by commas:
RESET reset_option [,reset_option] ... |
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