NAME
    DBD::mSQL / DBD::mysql - mSQL and mysql drivers for the Perl5 Database
    Interface (DBI)

SYNOPSIS
        use DBI;

        $driver = "mSQL"; # or "mSQL1";
        $dsn = "DBI:$driver:database=$database;host=$hostname";

        $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, undef, undef);

            or

        $driver = "mysql";
        $dsn = "DBI:$driver:database=$database;host=$hostname;port=$port";

        $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $password);

        $drh = DBI->install_driver("mysql");
        @databases = $drh->func($host, $port, '_ListDBs');
        @tables = $dbh->func( '_ListTables' );

        $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM foo WHERE bla");
           or
        $sth = $dbh->prepare("LISTFIELDS $table");
           or
        $sth = $dbh->prepare("LISTINDEX $table $index");
        $sth->execute;
        $numRows = $sth->rows;
        $numFields = $sth->{'NUM_OF_FIELDS'};
        $sth->finish;

        $rc = $drh->func('createdb', $database, $host, $user, $password, 'admin');
        $rc = $drh->func('dropdb', $database, $host, $user, $password, 'admin');
        $rc = $drh->func('shutdown', $host, $user, $password, 'admin');
        $rc = $drh->func('reload', $host, $user, $password, 'admin');

        $rc = $dbh->func('createdb', $database, 'admin');
        $rc = $dbh->func('dropdb', $database, 'admin');
        $rc = $dbh->func('shutdown', 'admin');
        $rc = $dbh->func('reload', 'admin');

EXAMPLE
      #!/usr/bin/perl

      use strict;
      use DBI();

      # Connect to the database.
      my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=test;host=localhost",
                             "joe", "joe's password",
                             {'RaiseError' => 1});

      # Drop table 'foo'. This may fail, if 'foo' doesn't exist.
      # Thus we put an eval around it.
      eval { $dbh->do("DROP TABLE foo") };
      print "Dropping foo failed: $@\n" if $@;

      # Create a new table 'foo'. This must not fail, thus we don't
      # catch errors.
      $dbh->do("CREATE TABLE foo (id INTEGER, name VARCHAR(20))");

      # INSERT some data into 'foo'. We are using $dbh->quote() for
      # quoting the name.
      $dbh->do("INSERT INTO foo VALUES (1, " . $dbh->quote("Tim") . ")");

      # Same thing, but using placeholders
      $dbh->do("INSERT INTO foo VALUES (?, ?)", undef, 2, "Jochen");

      # Now retrieve data from the table.
      my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM foo");
      $sth->execute();
      while (my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref()) {
        print "Found a row: id = $ref->{'id'}, name = $ref->{'name'}\n";
      }
      $sth->finish();

      # Disconnect from the database.
      $dbh->disconnect();

DESCRIPTION
    DBD::mysql and DBD::mSQL are the Perl5 Database Interface drivers for
    the mysql, mSQL 1.*x* and mSQL 2.*x* databases. The drivers are part of
    the *Msql-Mysql-modules* package.

    In other words: DBD::mSQL and DBD::mysql are an interface between the
    Perl programming language and the mSQL or mysql programming API that
    come with the mSQL any mysql relational database management systems.
    Most functions provided by the respective programming API's are
    supported. Some rarely used functions are missing, mainly because noone
    ever requested them. :-)

    In what follows we first discuss the use of DBD::mysql and DBD::mSQL,
    because this is what you will need the most. For installation, see the
    sections on the INSTALLATION manpage, the WIN32 INSTALLATION entry
    elsewhere in this document, the KNOWN PROBLEMS entry elsewhere in this
    document and the KNOWN BUGS entry elsewhere in this document below. See
    the EXAMPLE manpage for a simple example above.

    From perl you activate the interface with the statement

        use DBI;

    After that you can connect to multiple mSQL or MySQL database servers
    and send multiple queries to any of them via a simple object oriented
    interface. Two types of objects are available: database handles and
    statement handles. Perl returns a database handle to the connect method
    like so:

      $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mSQL:database=$db;host=$host",
                          undef, undef, {RaiseError => 1});

    or

      $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=$db;host=$host",
                          $user, $password, {RaiseError => 1});

    Once you have connected to a database, you can can execute SQL
    statements with:

      my $query = sprintf("INSERT INTO foo VALUES (%d, %s)",
                          $number, $dbh->quote("name"));
      $dbh->do($query);

    See the DBI(3) manpage for details on the quote and do methods. An
    alternative approach is

      $dbh->do("INSERT INTO foo VALUES (?, ?)", undef,
               $number, $name);

    in which case the quote method is executed automatically. See also the
    bind_param method in the DBI(3) manpage. See the DATABASE HANDLES entry
    elsewhere in this document below for more details on database handles.

    If you want to retrieve results, you need to create a so-called
    statement handle with:

      $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM $table");
      $sth->execute();

    This statement handle can be used for multiple things. First of all you
    can retreive a row of data:

      my $row = $sth->fetchow_hashref();

    If your table has columns ID and NAME, then $row will be hash ref with
    keys ID and NAME. See the STATEMENT HANDLES entry elsewhere in this
    document below for more details on statement handles.

    But now for a more formal approach:

  Class Methods

    connect
            use DBI;

            $driver = "mSQL";  #  or "mSQL1"
            $dsn = "DBI:$driver:$database";
            $dsn = "DBI:$driver:database=$database;host=$hostname";

            $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, undef, undef);

                or

            $dsn = "DBI:mysql:$database";
            $dsn = "DBI:mysql:database=$database;host=$hostname";
            $dsn = "DBI:mysql:database=$database;host=$hostname;port=$port";

            $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $password);

        A `database' must always be specified.

        host
        port    The hostname, if not specified or specified as '', will
                default to an mysql or mSQL daemon running on the local
                machine on the default port for the UNIX socket.

                Should the mysql or mSQL daemon be running on a non-standard
                port number, you may explicitly state the port number to
                connect to in the `hostname' argument, by concatenating the
                *hostname* and *port number* together separated by a colon (
                `:' ) character or by using the `port' argument. This
                doesn't work for mSQL 2: You have to create an alternative
                config file and load it using the msql_configfile attribute,
                see below.

        mysql_client_found_rows
                Enables (TRUE value) or disables (FALSE value) the flag
                CLIENT_FOUND_ROWS while connecting to the MySQL server. This
                has a somewhat funny effect: Without
                mysql_client_found_rows, if you perform a query like

                  UPDATE $table SET id = 1 WHERE id = 1

                then the MySQL engine will always return 0, because no rows
                have changed. With mysql_client_found_rows however, it will
                return the number of rows that have an id 1, as some people
                are expecting. (At least for compatibility to other
                engines.)

                By default this flag is disabled. However, you can enable it
                by default, when installing the Msql-Mysql-modules with

                  perl Makefile.PL --config --mysql-use-client-found-rows
                  make
                  make install

        mysql_compression
                As of MySQL 3.22.3, a new feature is supported: If your DSN
                contains the option "mysql_compression=1", then the
                communication between client and server will be compressed.

        mysql_connect_timeout
                If your DSN contains the option "mysql_connect_timeout=##",
                the connect request to the server will timeout if it has not
                been successful after the given number of seconds.

        mysql_read_default_file
        mysql_read_default_group
                These options can be used to read a config file like
                /etc/my.cnf or ~/.my.cnf. By default MySQL's C client
                library doesn't use any config files unlike the client
                programs (mysql, mysqladmin, ...) that do, but outside of
                the C client library. Thus you need to explicitly request
                reading a config file, as in

                    $dsn = "DBI:mysql:test;mysql_read_default_file=/home/joe/my.cnf";
                    $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $password)

                The option mysql_read_default_group can be used to specify
                the default group in the config file: Usually this is the
                *client* group, but see the following example:

                    [perl]
                    host=perlhost

                    [client]
                    host=localhost

                If you read this config file, then you'll be typically
                connected to *localhost*. However, by using

                    $dsn = "DBI:mysql:test;mysql_read_default_group=perl;"
                        . "mysql_read_default_file=/home/joe/my.cnf";
                    $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $password);

                you'll be connected to *perlhost*. Note that if you specify
                a default group and do not specify a file, then the default
                config files will all be read. See the (missing :-)
                documentation of the C function mysql_options() for details.

        mysql_socket
                As of MySQL 3.21.15, it is possible to choose the Unix
                socket that is used for connecting to the server. This is
                done, for example, with

                    mysql_socket=/dev/mysql

                Usually there's no need for this option, unless you are
                using another location for the socket than that built into
                the client.

  Private MetaData Methods

    ListDBs
            my $drh = DBI->install_driver("mysql");
            @dbs = $drh->func("$hostname:$port", '_ListDBs');
            @dbs = $drh->func($hostname, $port, '_ListDBs');
            @dbs = $dbh->func('_ListDBs');

        Returns a list of all databases managed by the mysql daemon or mSQL
        daemon running on `$hostname', port `$port'. This method is rarely
        needed for databases running on `localhost': You should use the
        portable method

            @dbs = DBI->data_sources("mysql");

                or

            @dbs = DBI->data_sources("mSQL");

        whenever possible. It is a design problem of this method, that
        there's no way of supplying a host name or port number to
        `data_sources', that's the only reason why we still support
        `ListDBs'. :-(

    ListTables
        *WARNING*: This method is obsolete due to DBI's $dbh->table_info().

            @tables = $dbh->func('_ListTables');

        Once connected to the desired database on the desired mysql or mSQL
        mSQL daemon with the `DBI-'connect()> method, we may extract a list
        of the tables that have been created within that database.

        `ListTables' returns an array containing the names of all the tables
        present within the selected database. If no tables have been
        created, an empty list is returned.

            @tables = $dbh->func( '_ListTables' );
            foreach $table ( @tables ) {
                print "Table: $table\n";
              }

  Server Administration

        admin
                $rc = $drh->func("createdb", $dbname, [host, user, password,], 'admin');
                $rc = $drh->func("dropdb", $dbname, [host, user, password,], 'admin');
                $rc = $drh->func("shutdown", [host, user, password,], 'admin');
                $rc = $drh->func("reload", [host, user, password,], 'admin');

                  or

                $rc = $dbh->func("createdb", $dbname, 'admin');
                $rc = $dbh->func("dropdb", $dbname, 'admin');
                $rc = $dbh->func("shutdown", 'admin');
                $rc = $dbh->func("reload", 'admin');

            For server administration you need a server connection. For
            obtaining this connection you have two options: Either use a
            driver handle (drh) and supply the appropriate arguments (host,
            defaults localhost, user, defaults to '' and password, defaults
            to ''). A driver handle can be obtained with

                $drh = DBI->install_driver('mysql');

            Otherwise reuse the existing connection of a database handle
            (dbh).

            There's only one function available for administrative purposes,
            comparable to the m(y)sqladmin programs. The command being
            execute depends on the first argument:

            createdb
                    Creates the database $dbname. Equivalent to
                    "m(y)sqladmin create $dbname".

            dropdb  Drops the database $dbname. Equivalent to "m(y)sqladmin
                    drop $dbname".

                    It should be noted that database deletion is *not
                    prompted for* in any way. Nor is it undo-able from DBI.

                        Once you issue the dropDB() method, the database will be gone!

                    These method should be used at your own risk.

            shutdown
                    Silently shuts down the database engine. (Without
                    prompting!) Equivalent to "m(y)sqladmin shutdown".

            reload  Reloads the servers configuration files and/or tables.
                    This can be particularly important if you modify access
                    privileges or create new users.

DATABASE HANDLES
        The DBD::mysql driver supports the following attributes of database
        handles (read only):

            $infoString = $dbh->{'info'};
            $threadId = $dbh->{'thread_id'};
            $insertId = $dbh->{'mysql_insertid'}

        These correspond to mysql_info(), mysql_thread_id() and
        mysql_insertid(), respectively.

STATEMENT HANDLES
        The statement handles of DBD::mysql and DBD::mSQL support a number
        of attributes. You access these by using, for example,

          my $numFields = $sth->{'NUM_OF_FIELDS'};

        Note, that most attributes are valid only after a successfull
        *execute*. An `undef' value will returned in that case. The most
        important exception is the `mysql_use_result' attribute: This forces
        the driver to use mysql_use_result rather than mysql_store_result.
        The former is faster and less memory consuming, but tends to block
        other processes. (That's why mysql_store_result is the default.)

        To set the `mysql_use_result' attribute, use either of the
        following:

          my $sth = $dbh->prepare("QUERY", { "mysql_use_result" => 1});

        or

          my $sth = $dbh->prepare("QUERY");
          $sth->{"mysql_use_result"} = 1;

        Column dependent attributes, for example *NAME*, the column names,
        are returned as a reference to an array. The array indices are
        corresponding to the indices of the arrays returned by *fetchrow*
        and similar methods. For example the following code will print a
        header of table names together with all rows:

          my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM $table");
          if (!$sth) {
              die "Error:" . $dbh->errstr . "\n";
          }
          if (!$sth->execute) {
              die "Error:" . $sth->errstr . "\n";
          }
          my $names = $sth->{'NAME'};
          my $numFields = $sth->{'NUM_OF_FIELDS'};
          for (my $i = 0;  $i < $numFields;  $i++) {
              printf("%s%s", $$names[$i], $i ? "," : "");
          }
          print "\n";
          while (my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref) {
              for (my $i = 0;  $i < $numFields;  $i++) {
                  printf("%s%s", $$ref[$i], $i ? "," : "");
              }
              print "\n";
          }

        For portable applications you should restrict yourself to attributes
        with capitalized or mixed case names. Lower case attribute names are
        private to DBD::mSQL and DBD::mysql. The attribute list includes:

        ChopBlanks
            this attribute determines whether a *fetchrow* will chop
            preceding and trailing blanks off the column values. Chopping
            blanks does not have impact on the *max_length* attribute.

        mysql_insertid
            MySQL has the ability to choose unique key values automatically.
            If this happened, the new ID will be stored in this attribute.
            This attribute is not valid for DBD::mSQL. An alternative way
            for accessing this attribute is via $dbh->{'mysql_insertid'}.
            (Note we are using the $dbh in this case!)

        mysql_is_blob
            Reference to an array of boolean values; TRUE indicates, that
            the respective column is a blob. This attribute is valid for
            MySQL only.

        mysql_is_key
            Reference to an array of boolean values; TRUE indicates, that
            the respective column is a key. This is valid for MySQL only.

        mysql_is_num
            Reference to an array of boolean values; TRUE indicates, that
            the respective column contains numeric values.

        mysql_is_pri_key
            Reference to an array of boolean values; TRUE indicates, that
            the respective column is a primary key. This is only valid for
            MySQL and mSQL 1.0.x: mSQL 2.x uses indices.

        mysql_length
        mysql_max_length
            A reference to an array of maximum column sizes. The
            *max_length* is the maximum physically present in the result
            table, *length* gives the theoretically possible maximum.
            *max_length* is valid for MySQL only.

        NAME
            A reference to an array of column names.

        NULLABLE
            A reference to an array of boolean values; TRUE indicates that
            this column may contain NULL's.

        NUM_OF_FIELDS
            Number of fields returned by a *SELECT* or *LISTFIELDS*
            statement. You may use this for checking whether a statement
            returned a result: A zero value indicates a non-SELECT statement
            like *INSERT*, *DELETE* or *UPDATE*.

        mysql_table
            A reference to an array of table names, useful in a *JOIN*
            result.

        TYPE
            A reference to an array of column types. The engine's native
            column types are mapped to portable types like
            DBI::SQL_INTEGER() or DBI::SQL_VARCHAR(), as good as possible.
            Not all native types have a meaningfull equivalent, for example
            DBD::mSQL::IDX_TYPE() or DBD::mysql::FIELD_TYPE_INTERVAL are
            mapped to DBI::SQL_VARCHAR(). If you need the native column
            types, use *mysql_type* or *msql_type*, respectively. See below.

        mysql_type
            A reference to an array of MySQL's native column types, for
            example DBD::mysql::FIELD_TYPE_SHORT() or
            DBD::mysql::FIELD_TYPE_STRING(). Use the *TYPE* attribute, if
            you want portable types like DBI::SQL_SMALLINT() or
            DBI::SQL_VARCHAR().

        mysql_type_name
            Similar to mysql, but type names and not numbers are returned.
            Whenever possible, the ANSI SQL name is preferred.

TRANSACTION SUPPORT
        Beginning with Msql-Mysql-modules 1.2216, transactions are supported
        by DBD::mysql. The transaction support works as follows:

        *   By default AutoCommit mode is on, following the DBI
            specifications.

        *   If you execute

                $dbh-E<gt>{'AutoCommit'} = 0;

            or

                $dbh-E<gt>{'AutoCommit'} = 1;

            then the driver will set the MySQL server variable autocommit to
            0 or 1, respectively. Switching from 0 to 1 will also issue a
            COMMIT, following the DBI specifications.

        *   The methods

                $dbh-E<gt>rollback();
                $dbh-E<gt>commit();

            will issue the commands COMMIT and ROLLBACK, respectively. A
            ROLLBACK will also be issued if AutoCommit mode is off and the
            database handles DESTROY method is called. Again, this is
            following the DBI specifications.

        Given the above, you should note the following:

        *   You should never change the server variable autocommit manually,
            unless you are ignoring DBI's transaction support.

        *   Switching AutoCommit mode from on to off or vice versa may fail.
            You should always check for errors, when changing AutoCommit
            mode. The suggested way of doing so is using the DBI flag
            RaiseError. If you don't like RaiseError, you have to use code
            like the following:

              $dbh->{'AutoCommit'} = 0;
              if ($dbh->{'AutoCommit'}) {
                # An error occurred!
              }

        *   If you detect an error while changing the AutoCommit mode, you
            should no longer use the database handle. In other words, you
            should disconnect and reconnect again, because the transaction
            mode is unpredictable. Alternatively you may verify the
            transaction mode by checking the value of the server variable
            autocommit. However, such behaviour isn't portable.

SQL EXTENSIONS
        Certain metadata functions of mSQL and mysql that are available on
        the C API level, haven't been implemented here. Instead they are
        implemented as "SQL extensions" because they return in fact nothing
        else but the equivalent of a statement handle. These are:

        LISTFIELDS $table
            Returns a statement handle that describes the columns of $table.
            Ses the docs of msqlListFields or mysql_list_fields (C API) for
            details.

        LISTINDEX $table $index
            mSQL only; returns a statement handle that describes the index
            $index of table $table. See the docs of msqlListIndex for
            details.

COMPATIBILITY ALERT
        The statement attribute *TYPE* has changed its meaning, as of
        Msql-Mysql-modules 1.19_19. Formerly it used to be the an array of
        native engine's column types, but it is now an array of portable SQL
        column types. The old attribute is still available as *mysql_type*
        or *msql_type*, respectively.

        The Msql-Mysql-modules are a moving target, due to a number of
        reasons:

        -       Of course they have to conform the DBI guidelines and
                developments.

        -       They have to keep track with the latest MySQL developments.

        -       And, surprisingly, they have to be as close to ODBC as
                possible: This is due to the current direction of DBI.

        -       And, last not least, as any tool they have a little bit of
                own life.

        This means that a lot of things had to and have to be changed. As I
        am not interested in maintaining a lot of compatibility kludges,
        which only increase the drivers code without being really usefull, I
        did and will remove some features, methods or attributes.

        To ensure a smooth upgrade, the following policy will be applied:

        Obsolete features
                The first step is to declare something obsolete. This means,
                that no code is changed, but the feature appears in the list
                of obsolete features. See the Obsolete Features entry
                elsewhere in this document below.

        Deprecated features
                If the feature has been obsolete for quite some time,
                typically in the next major stable release, warnings will be
                inserted in the code. You can suppress these warnings by
                setting

                    $DBD::mysql = 1;

                In the docs the feature will be moved from the list of
                obsolete features to the list of deprecated features. See
                the Deprecated Features entry elsewhere in this document
                below.

        Removing features
                Finally features will be removed silently in the next major
                stable release. The feature will be shown in the list of
                historic features. See the Historic Features entry elsewhere
                in this document below.

        Example: The statement handle attribute

            $sth->{'LENGTH'}

        was declared obsolete in Msql-Mysql-modules 1.18xy. It is considered
        deprecated in Msql-Mysql-modules 1.20xy (current as of this writing)
        and will finally be removed in Msql-Mysql-modules 1.22xy.

  Obsolete Features

    _ListTables
            This method is obsoleted by DBI's new method

                $dbh->tables()

            See also $dbh->table_info(). Portable applications will prefer

                @tables = map { $_ =~ s/.*\.//; $_ } $dbh->tables()

            because, depending on the engine, the string "user.table" will
            be returned, user being the table owner. The method will be
            deprecated in 1.23_xy and 1.24xy and removed in 1.25_xy and
            1.26xy.

  Deprecated Features

    _InsertID
            The method

                $dbh->func('_InsertID');

            can be replaced with

                $dbh->{'mysql_insertid'};

            The method is deprecated as of 1.21_xy, thus it will be removed
            in 1.23_xy and 1.24xy.

    Statement handle attributes:
            affected_rows
            IS_PRI_KEY
            is_pri_key
            IS_NOT_NULL
            is_not_null
            IS_KEY
            is_key
            IS_BLOB
            is_blob
            IS_NUM
            is_num
            LENGTH
            length
            MAXLENGTH
            maxlength
            NUMROWS
            numrows
            NUMFIELDS
            numfields
            RESULT
            result
            TABLE
            table
            format_max_size
            format_default_size
            format_type_name
            All of the above statement handle attributes are not conforming
            to DBI's naming conventions, thus they have been declared
            deprecated in 1.20xy. However, I forgot to insert warnings in
            the driver. These warnings have been inserted in 1.21_07, thus
            the attributes will be removed in 1.23_xy and 1.24xy.

            In most of the above cases the driver name has been added and
            the resulting name was lowercased. For example, you use

                $sth->{'mysql_is_num'};

            now. IS_NOT_NULL can be replaced with NULLABLE (note you need to
            invert the logical value!), LENGTH, format_max_size and
            format_default_size will be dropped in favour of PRECISION,
            affected_rows and NUMROWS are identical with

                $sth->rows();

            and NUMFIELDS is the same as NUM_OF_FIELDS. Finally
            format_right_justify is the same as mysql_type_name.

  Historic Features

    _CreateDB
    _DropDB The methods

                $dbh->func($db, '_CreateDB');
                $dbh->func($db, '_DropDB');

            have been used for creating or dropping databases. They have
            been removed in 1.21_07 in favour of

                $drh->func("createdb", $dbname, $host, "admin")
                $drh->func("dropdb", $dbname, $host, "admin")

    _ListFields
            The method

                $sth = $dbh->func($table, '_ListFields');

            has been used to list a tables columns names, types and other
            attributes. This method has been removed in 1.21_07 in favour of

                $sth = $dbh->prepare("LISTFIELDS $table");

    _ListSelectedFields
            The method

                $sth->func('_ListSelectedFields');

            use to return a hash ref of attributes like 'IS_NUM', 'IS_KEY'
            and so on. These attributes are now accessible via

                $sth->{'mysql_is_num'};
                $sth->{'mysql_is_key'};

            and so on. Thus the method has been removed in 1.21_07.

    _NumRows
            The method

                $sth->func('_NumRows');

            used to be equivalent to

                $sth->rows();

            and has been removed in 1.21_07.

MULTITHREADING
    The multithreading capabilities of the Msql-Mysql-modules depend
    completely on the underlying C libraries: The modules are working with
    handle data only, no global variables are accessed or (to the best of my
    knowledge) thread unsafe functions are called. Thus DBD::mSQL and
    DBD::mysql are completely thread safe, if the C libraries thread safe
    and you don't share handles among threads.

    The obvious questions is: Are the C libraries thread safe? In the case
    of mSQL the answer is definitely "no". The C library has a concept of
    one single active connection at a time and that is not what threads
    like.

    In the case of MySQL the answer is "mostly" and, in theory, you should
    be able to get a "yes", if the C library is compiled for being thread
    safe (By default it isn't.) by passing the option
    -with-thread-safe-client to configure. See the section on *How to make a
    threadsafe client* in the manual.

INSTALLATION
    Windows users may skip this section and pass over to the WIN32
    INSTALLATION entry elsewhere in this document below. Others, go on
    reading.

    First of all, you do not need an installed MySQL server for installing
    DBD::mSQL and/or DBD::mysql. However, you need at least the client
    libraries and possibly the header files, if you are compiling DBD::mysql
    or DBD::mSQL from source. In the case of MySQL you can create a
    client-only version by using the configure option --without-server. If
    you are using precompiled binaries, then it may be possible to use just
    selected RPM's like MySQL-client and MySQL-devel or something similar,
    depending on the distribution.

    First you need to install the DBI module. For using *dbimon*, a simple
    DBI shell it is recommended to install Data::ShowTable another Perl
    module.

    I recommend trying automatic installation via the CPAN module. Try

      perl -MCPAN -e shell

    If you are using the CPAN module for the first time, it will prompt you
    a lot of questions. If you finally receive the CPAN prompt, enter

      install Bundle::DBD::mSQL

    or

      install Bundle::DBD::mysql

    If this fails (which may be the case for a number of reasons, for
    example because you are behind a firewall or don't have network access),
    you need to do a manual installation. First of all you need to fetch the
    archives from any CPAN mirror, for example

      ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/modules/by-module

    The following archives are required (version numbers may have changed, I
    choose those which are current as of this writing):

      DBI/DBI-1.13.tar.gz
      Data/Data-ShowTable-3.3.tar.gz
      DBD/Msql-Mysql-modules-1.2217.tar.gz

    Then enter the following commands:

      gzip -cd DBI-1.13.tar.gz | tar xf -
      cd DBI-1.13
      perl Makefile.PL
      make
      make test
      make install

      cd ..
      gzip -cd Data-ShowTable-3.3.tar.gz | tar xf -
      cd Data-ShowTable-3.3
      perl Makefile.PL
      make
      make install  # Don't try make test, the test suite is broken

      cd ..
      gzip -cd Msql-Mysql-modules-1.2217.tar.gz | tar xf -
      cd Msql-Mysql-modules-1.2217
      perl Makefile.PL
      make
      make test
      make install

    During "perl Makefile.PL" you will be prompted some questions. In
    particular you have to choose the installed drivers (MySQL, mSQL2 and/or
    mSQL1). The MySQL driver will be called DBD::mysql, a single mSQL driver
    will be called DBD::mSQL. If you want to support both mSQL1 and mSQL2,
    they former will be DBD::mSQL1.

    Other questions are the directories with header files and libraries. For
    example, of your file mysql.h is in /usr/include/mysql/mysql.h, then
    enter the header directory /usr, likewise for
    /usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.a or /usr/lib/libmysqlclient.so. For mSQL
    go looking for msql.h (typically in /usr/include/msql.h and libmsql.a
    (probably in /usr/lib/libmsql.a).

    See the the KNOWN PROBLEMS entry elsewhere in this document section
    below if you encounter any problems within "make" or "make test".

WIN32 INSTALLATION
    I have never attempted to install DBD::mSQL under Win32, so this is only
    for MySQL. If anyone succeeds, please let me know what you did.

    If you are using ActivePerl, you may use ppm to install DBD-mysql. For
    Perl 5.6, upgrade to Build 623 or later, then it is sufficient to run

      ppm install DBI
      ppm install DBD::mysql

    The same applied to Perl 5.005.

    Otherwise you definitely *need* a C compiler. And it *must* be the same
    compiler that was being used for compiling Perl itself. If you don't
    have a C compiler, the file README.win32 from the Perl source
    distribution tells you where to obtain freely distributable C compilers
    like egcs or gcc. The Perl sources are available on any CPAN mirror in
    the src directory, for example

        ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz

    I recommend using the win32clients package for installing DBD::mysql
    under Win32, available for download on www.tcx.se. The following steps
    have been required for me:

    -       The current Perl versions (5.6, as of this writing) do have a
            problem with detecting the C libraries. I recommend to apply the
            following patch:

              *** c:\Perl\lib\ExtUtils\Liblist.pm.orig Sat Apr 15 20:03:40 2000
              --- c:\Perl\lib\ExtUtils\Liblist.pm      Sat Apr 15 20:03:45 2000
              ***************
              *** 230,235 ****
              --- 230,239 ----
                  # add "$Config{installarchlib}/CORE" to default search path
                  push @libpath, "$Config{installarchlib}/CORE";

              +     if ($VC  and  exists($ENV{LIB})  and  defined($ENV{LIB})) {
              +       push(@libpath, split(/;/, $ENV{LIB}));
              +     }
              +
                  foreach (Text::ParseWords::quotewords('\s+', 0, $potential_libs)){

                    $thislib = $_;
                                                                       
    -       Extract sources into C:\. This will create a directory C:\mysql
            with subdirectories include and lib.

            IMPORTANT: Make sure this subdirectory is not shared by other
            TCX files! In particular do *not* store the MySQL server in the
            same directory. If the server is already installed in C:\mysql,
            choose a location like C:\tmp, extract the win32clients there.
            Note that you can remove this directory entirely once you have
            installed the Msql-Mysql-modules.

    -       Extract the Msql-Mysql-modules sources into another directory,
            for example C:\src\siteperl

    -       Open a DOS shell and change directory to C:\src\siteperl.

    -       The next step is only required if you repeat building the
            modules: Make sure that you have a clean build tree by running

              nmake realclean

            If you don't have VC++, replace nmake with your flavour of make.
            If error messages are reported in this step, you may safely
            ignore them.

    -       Run

              perl Makefile.PL

            which will prompt you for some settings. The really important
            ones are:

              Which DBMS do you want to use?

            enter a 1 here (MySQL only), and

              Where is your mysql installed? Please tell me the directory that
              contains the subdir include.

            where you have to enter the win32clients directory, for example
            C:\mysql or C:\tmp\mysql.

    -       Continued in the usual way:

              nmake
              nmake install

    See the first section of the KNOWN PROBLEMS entry elsewhere in this
    document below.

    If you want to create a PPM package for the ActiveState Perl version,
    then modify the above steps as follows: Run

      perl Makefile.PL NAME=DBD-mysql BINARY_LOCATION=DBD-mysql.tar.gz
      nmake ppd
      nmake

    Once that is done, use tar and gzip (for example those from the CygWin32
    distribution) to create an archive:

      mkdir x86
      tar cf x86/DBD-mysql.tar blib
      gzip x86/DBD-mysql.tar

    Put the files x86/DBD-mysql.tar.gz and DBD-mysql.ppd onto some WWW
    server and install them by typing

      install http://your.server.name/your/directory/DBD-mysql.ppd

    in the PPM program.

KNOWN PROBLEMS
    1.)     If the MySQL binaries are compiled with gcc or egcs (as the
            precompiled binaries are), but your Perl is using another
            compiler, it is likely that you receive an error message like
            the following when running "make test":

              t/00base............install_driver(mysql) failed: Can't load
              '../blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.so' for module DBD::mysql:
              ../blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.so: undefined symbol: _umoddi3
              at /usr/local/perl-5.005/lib/5.005/i586-linux-thread/DynaLoader.pm
              line 168.

            This means, that your linker doesn't include libgcc.a. You have
            the following options:

            a)          Either recompile Perl or Mysql, it doesn't matter
                        which. The important thing is that you use the same
                        compiler for both. This is definitely the
                        recommended solution in the long term.

            b)          A simple workaround is to include libgcc.a manually.
                        Do a "make clean" and "make" and in the output wait
                        for a line like

                          LD_RUN_PATH="/usr/lib/mysql:/lib" egcs -o
                          ../blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.so  -shared -L/usr/local/lib
                          dbdimp.o mysql.o -L/usr/lib/mysql -L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient
                          -lm

                        Repeat the same line in the shell by adding

                          -L/usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-redhat-linux/gcc-2.7.2.3 -lgcc

                        where the directory is the location of libgcc.a. The
                        best choice for locating this file is executing

                          gcc --print-libgcc-file

                        or

                          gcc -v

    2.)     There are known problems with shared versions of libmysqlclient,
            at least on some Linux boxes. If you receive an error message
            similar to

              install_driver(mysql) failed: Can't load
              '/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/i586-linux/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.so'
              for module DBD::mysql: File not found at
              /usr/lib/perl5/i586-linux/5.00404/DynaLoader.pm line 166

            then this error message can be misleading: It's not mysql.so
            that fails being loaded, but libmysqlclient.so!

            As a workaround, recompile the Msql-Mysql-modules with

              perl Makefile.PL --static --config
              make
              make test
              make install

            This option forces linkage against the static libmysqlclient.a.

    3.)     By default mSQL2 is installed to allow local access only. This
            can break the test scripts akmisc.t, msql1.t and msql2.t. You
            might notice a message like

              t/akmisc............Can't connect to MSQL server on localhost at
              t/akmisc.t line 131
              Cannot connect: Can't connect to MSQL server on localhost
              It looks as if your server (on localhost) is not up and running.
              This test requires a running server.
              Please make sure your server is running and retry.
              dubious
              Test returned status 10 (wstat 2560, 0xa00)

            If this is the case, try to change the value of "Remote_Access"
            in your msql.conf file to "True". If the value was set
            intentionally, you might restore the old value after the tests
            ran ok.

    4.)     If linking fails under Win32 because of a missing symbol
            pthread_cond_init, apply the following patch to dbd/dbdimp.c:

              *** dbd/dbdimp.c.orig Wed Sep 23 14:39:33 1998
              --- dbd/dbdimp.c      Fri Oct 02 10:37:16 1998
              ***************
              *** 1708,1712 ****
              --- 1709,1720 ----
                  }
                  return TRUE;
                }
              + 
              + #if !defined(_UNIX_)  &&  defined(WIN32)
              + int pthread_cond_init()
              + {
              +   return 0;
              + }
              + #endif

                #endif

            (I could make this part of the source distribution, but I think
            this is an ugly hack and hopefully Monty will fix the missing
            symbol in the next release of MyODBC.)

    5.)     mSQL 2.0.4 had a bug, that caused the test t/40bindparam.t to
            fail. This bug is fixed in later versions, 2.0.6 and higher.

    6.)     From time to time compiling DBD::mSQL fails with messages like

              In file included from ../dbd/myMsql.h:55,
                               from ../dbd/dbdimp.h:32,
                               from dbdimp.c:29:
              /usr/local/Hughes/include/common/portability.h:74:
                redefinition of `u_int'
              /usr/include/sys/types.h:52: `u_int' previously declared here
              /usr/local/Hughes/include/common/portability.h:78: redefinition of
                `ssize_t'
              /usr/include/sys/types.h:116: `ssize_t' previously declared here
              *** Error code 1

            A workaroud is using

                    perl Makefile.PL --config DEFINE="-DHAVE_SSIZE_T  -DHAVE_U_INT"

KNOWN BUGS
    The *port* part of the first argument to the connect call is implemented
    in an unsafe way when using mSQL. In fact it is just setting the
    environment variable MSQL_TCP_PORT during the connect call. If another
    connect call uses another port and the handles are used simultaneously,
    they will interfere. I doubt that this will ever change.

AUTHORS
    The current versions of DBD::mSQL and DBD::mysql is almost completely
    written by Jochen Wiedmann (*joe@ispsoft.de*). The first version's
    author was Alligator Descartes(*descarte@symbolstone.org*), who has been
    aided and abetted by Gary Shea, Andreas König and Tim Bunce amongst
    others.

    The Msql and Mysql modules have originally been written by Andreas König
    <koenig@kulturbox.de>. The current version, mainly an emulation layer,
    is from Jochen Wiedmann.

COPYRIGHT
    This module is Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Jochen Wiedmann, with code
    portions Copyright (c)1994-1997 their original authors. This module is
    released under the same license as Perl itself. See the Perl README for
    details.

MAILING LIST SUPPORT
MAILING LIST SUPPORT
    This module is maintained and supported on a mailing list,

        msql-mysql-modules@lists.mysql.com

    To subscribe to this list, send a mail to

        msql-mysql-modules-subscribe@lists.mysql.com

    or

        msql-mysql-modules-digest-subscribe@lists.mysql.com

    Mailing list archives are available at

        http://www.progressive-comp.com/Lists/?l=msql-mysql-modules

    Additionally you might try the dbi-user mailing list for questions about
    DBI and its modules in general. Subscribe via

        http://www.fugue.com/dbi

    Mailing list archives are at

         http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/PerlDB-Interest/
         http://outside.organic.com/mail-archives/dbi-users/
         http://www.coe.missouri.edu/~faq/lists/dbi.html

ADDITIONAL DBI INFORMATION
    Additional information on the DBI project can be found on the World Wide
    Web at the following URL:

        http://www.symbolstone.org/technology/perl/DBI

    where documentation, pointers to the mailing lists and mailing list
    archives and pointers to the most current versions of the modules can be
    used.

    Information on the DBI interface itself can be gained by typing:

        perldoc DBI

    right now!