MySQL Cookbook

Controlling mysql’s Verbosity Level

Problem

You want mysql to produce more output. Or less.

Solution

Use the -v or -s options for more or less verbosity.

Discussion

When you run mysql non-interactively, not only does the default output format change, it becomes more terse. For example, mysql doesn’t print row counts or indicate how long queries took to execute. To tell mysql to be more verbose, use -v or --verbose. These options can be specified multiple times for increasing verbosity. Try the following commands to see how the output differs:

% echo "SELECT NOW( )" | mysql
% echo "SELECT NOW( )" | mysql -v
% echo "SELECT NOW( )" | mysql -vv
% echo "SELECT NOW( )" | mysql -vvv

The counterparts of -v and --verbose are -s and --silent. These options too may be used multiple times for increased effect.