4.5.6. mysqlshow — Display Database, Table, and Column Information

The mysqlshow client can be used to quickly see which databases exist, their tables, or a table's columns or indexes.

mysqlshow provides a command-line interface to several SQL SHOW statements. See Section 13.7.5, "SHOW Syntax". The same information can be obtained by using those statements directly. For example, you can issue them from the mysql client program.

Invoke mysqlshow like this:

shell> mysqlshow [options]
        [db_name [tbl_name [col_name]]]

If no database is given, a list of database names is shown.
If no table is given, all matching tables in the database are shown.
If no column is given, all matching columns and column types in the table are shown.

The output displays only the names of those databases, tables, or columns for which you have some privileges.

If the last argument contains shell or SQL wildcard characters ("*", "?", "%", or "_"), only those names that are matched by the wildcard are shown. If a database name contains any underscores, those should be escaped with a backslash (some Unix shells require two) to get a list of the proper tables or columns. "*" and "?" characters are converted into SQL "%" and "_" wildcard characters. This might cause some confusion when you try to display the columns for a table with a "_" in the name, because in this case, mysqlshow shows you only the table names that match the pattern. This is easily fixed by adding an extra "%" last on the command line as a separate argument.

mysqlshow supports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the [mysqlshow] and [client] groups of an option file. mysqlshow also supports the options for processing option files described at Section 4.2.3.4, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

Table 4.9. mysqlshow Options

Format	Option File	Description	Introduced
--bind-address=ip_address	bind-address	Use the specified network interface to connect to the MySQL Server
--compress	compress	Compress all information sent between the client and the server
--count	count	Show the number of rows per table
--debug[=debug_options]	debug	Write a debugging log
--debug-check	debug-check	Print debugging information when the program exits
--debug-info	debug-info	Print debugging information, memory and CPU statistics when the program exits
--default-auth=plugin	default-auth=plugin	The authentication plugin to use	5.6.2
--default-character-set=charset_name	default-character-set	Use charset_name as the default character set
--help		Display help message and exit
--host=host_name	host	Connect to the MySQL server on the given host
--keys	keys	Show table indexes
--login-path=name		Read login path options from .mylogin.cnf	5.6.6
--password[=password]	password	The password to use when connecting to the server
--pipe		On Windows, connect to server using a named pipe
--plugin-dir=path	plugin-dir=path	The directory where plugins are located	5.6.2
--port=port_num	port	The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection
--protocol=type	protocol	The connection protocol to use
--show-table-type		Show a column indicating the table type
--socket=path	socket	For connections to localhost
--ssl-ca=file_name	ssl-ca	The path to a file that contains a list of trusted SSL CAs
--ssl-capath=dir_name	ssl-capath	The path to a directory that contains trusted SSL CA certificates in PEM format
--ssl-cert=file_name	ssl-cert	The name of the SSL certificate file to use for establishing a secure connection
--ssl-cipher=cipher_list	ssl-cipher	A list of allowable ciphers to use for SSL encryption
--ssl-crl=file_name	ssl-crl	The path to a file that contains certificate revocation lists	5.6.3
--ssl-crlpath=dir_name	ssl-crlpath	The path to a directory that contains certificate revocation list files	5.6.3
--ssl-key=file_name	ssl-key	The name of the SSL key file to use for establishing a secure connection
--ssl-verify-server-cert	ssl-verify-server-cert	The server's Common Name value in its certificate is verified against the host name used when connecting to the server
--status	status	Display extra information about each table
--user=user_name,	user	MySQL user name to use when connecting to server
--verbose		Verbose mode
--version		Display version information and exit

--help, -?

Display a help message and exit.
--bind-address=ip_address

On a computer having multiple network interfaces, this option can be used to select which interface is employed when connecting to the MySQL server.

This option is supported beginning with MySQL 5.6.1.
--character-sets-dir=path

The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 10.5, "Character Set Configuration".
--compress, -C

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

Show the number of rows per table. This can be slow for non-MyISAM tables.
--debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]

Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is 'd:t:o,file_name'. The default is 'd:t:o'.
--debug-check

Print some debugging information when the program exits.
--debug-info

Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits.
--default-character-set=charset_name

Use charset_name as the default character set. See Section 10.5, "Character Set Configuration".
--default-auth=plugin

The client-side authentication plugin to use. See Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".

This option was added in MySQL 5.6.2.
--host=host_name, -h host_name

Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.
--keys, -k

Show table indexes.
--password[=password], -p[password]

The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following the --password or -p option on the command line, mysqlshow prompts for one.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. See Section 6.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". You can use an option file to avoid giving the password on the command line.
--pipe, -W

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

The directory in which to look for plugins. It may be necessary to specify this option if the --default-auth option is used to specify an authentication plugin but mysqlshow does not find it. See Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".

This option was added in MySQL 5.6.2.
--port=port_num, -P port_num

The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.
--protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a protocol to be used other than the one you want. For details on the permissible values, see Section 4.2.2, "Connecting to the MySQL Server".
--show-table-type, -t

Show a column indicating the table type, as in SHOW FULL TABLES. The type is BASE TABLE or VIEW.
--socket=path, -S path

For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.
--ssl*

Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the server using SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. See Section 6.3.9.4, "SSL Command Options".
--status, -i

Display extra information about each table.
--user=user_name, -u user_name

The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.
--verbose, -v

Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does. This option can be used multiple times to increase the amount of information.
--version, -V

Display version information and exit.