mysqlsqlubuntuterminal-emulator

MySQL command output too wide in command-line client

I am using mysql command line client in terminal emulator lxterminal in Ubuntu. When I run the following command:

mysql> select * from routines where routine_name = "simpleproc";

The output is a mess:

My current output

But if I copy and paste it here, the output shows me a nice table:

mysql> select * from routines where routine_name = "simpleproc";

+---------------+-----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------+-----------+--------------------------+------------------------+-------------------+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+------------------+-----------------+----------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------+----------------+----------------------+----------------------+--------------------+
| SPECIFIC_NAME | ROUTINE_CATALOG | ROUTINE_SCHEMA | ROUTINE_NAME | ROUTINE_TYPE | DATA_TYPE | CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH | CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH | NUMERIC_PRECISION | NUMERIC_SCALE | DATETIME_PRECISION | CHARACTER_SET_NAME | COLLATION_NAME | DTD_IDENTIFIER | ROUTINE_BODY | ROUTINE_DEFINITION                                     | EXTERNAL_NAME | EXTERNAL_LANGUAGE | PARAMETER_STYLE | IS_DETERMINISTIC | SQL_DATA_ACCESS | SQL_PATH | SECURITY_TYPE | CREATED             | LAST_ALTERED        | SQL_MODE                                                                                                                                  | ROUTINE_COMMENT | DEFINER        | CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | COLLATION_CONNECTION | DATABASE_COLLATION |
+---------------+-----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------+-----------+--------------------------+------------------------+-------------------+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+------------------+-----------------+----------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------+----------------+----------------------+----------------------+--------------------+
| simpleproc    | def             | test           | simpleproc   | PROCEDURE    |           |                     NULL |                   NULL |              NULL |          NULL |               NULL | NULL               | NULL           | NULL           | SQL          | BEGIN


SELECT COUNT(*) INTO param1 FROM CUSTOMERS1;

END | NULL          | NULL              | SQL             | NO               | CONTAINS SQL    | NULL     | DEFINER       | 2018-01-12 15:18:20 | 2018-01-12 15:18:20 | ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION |                 | root@localhost | utf8                 | utf8_general_ci      | latin1_swedish_ci  |
+---------------+-----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------+-----------+--------------------------+------------------------+-------------------+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+--------------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+------------------+-----------------+----------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------+----------------+----------------------+----------------------+--------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

I wonder if it is possible to view the output in a terminal emulator as a nice table like this one?

Solution

  • Using mysql's ego command

    From mysql's help command:

    ego          (\G) Send command to mysql server, display result vertically.

    So by appending a \G to your select, you can get a very clean vertical output:

    mysql> select * from routines where routine_name = "simpleproc" \G

    Using a pager

    You can tell MySQL to use the less pager with its -S option that chops wide lines and gives you an output that you can scroll with the arrow keys:

    mysql> pager less -S

    Thus, next time you run a command with a wide output, MySQL will let you browse the output with the less pager:

    mysql> select * from routines where routine_name = "simpleproc";

    If you're done with the pager and want to go back to the regular output on stdout, use this:

    mysql> nopager