Creating and Selecting a Database
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If the administrator creates your database for you when setting up your
permissions, you can begin using it. Otherwise, you need to create it
yourself:
mysql> CREATE DATABASE menagerie;
Under Unix, database names are case sensitive (unlike SQL keywords), so
you must always refer to your database as `menagerie', not as
`Menagerie', `MENAGERIE', or some other variant. This is also true for
table names. (Under Windows, this restriction does not apply, although
you must refer to databases and tables using the same lettercase
throughout a given query.)
Creating a database does not select it for use; you must do that
explicitly. To make `menagerie' the current database, use this command:
mysql> USE menagerie
Database changed
Your database needs to be created only once, but you must select it for
use each time you begin a `mysql' session. You can do this by issuing a
`USE' statement as shown above. Alternatively, you can select the
database on the command line when you invoke `mysql'. Just specify its
name after any connection parameters that you might need to provide.
For example:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p menagerie
Enter password: ********
Note that `menagerie' is not your password on the command just shown.
If you want to supply your password on the command line after the `-p'
option, you must do so with no intervening space (for example, as
`-pmypassword', not as `-p mypassword'). However, putting your
password on the command line is not recommended, because doing so
exposes it to snooping by other users logged in on your machine.