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MySQL 3.23, 4.0, 4.1 Reference Manual :: 17 Connectors and APIs
17.1 MySQL Connector/ODBC »
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Chapter 17. Connectors and APIs

Table of Contents     [+/-]

17.1. MySQL Connector/ODBC     [+/-]
17.2. MySQL Connector/NET     [+/-]
17.3. MySQL Connector/J     [+/-]
17.4. MySQL Connector/MXJ     [+/-]
17.5. libmysqld, the Embedded MySQL Server Library     [+/-]
17.6. MySQL C API     [+/-]
17.7. MySQL PHP API     [+/-]
17.8. MySQL Perl API
17.9. MySQL C++ API
17.10. MySQL Python API
17.11. MySQL Ruby APIs     [+/-]
17.12. MySQL Tcl API
17.13. MySQL Eiffel Wrapper

MySQL Connectors provide connectivity to the MySQL server for client programs. APIs provide low-level access to the MySQL protocol and MySQL resources. Both Connectors and the APIs enable you to connect and execute MySQL statements from another language or environment, including Java (JDBC), ODBC, Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, and native C and embedded MySQL instances.

Note

Connector version numbers do not correlate with MySQL Server version numbers. See also Table 17.2, “MySQL Connector Versions and MySQL Server Versions”.

A number of connectors are developed by MySQL:

  • Connector/ODBC provides driver support for connecting to a MySQL server using the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API. Support is available for ODBC connectivity from Windows, Unix and Mac OS X platforms.

  • Connector/NET enables developers to create .NET applications that use data stored in a MySQL database. Connector/NET implement a fully functional ADO.NET interface and provides support for use with ADO.NET aware tools. Applications that want to use Connector/NET can be written in any of the supported .NET languages.

    The MySQL Visual Studio Plugin works with Connector/NET and Visual Studio 2005. The plugin is a MySQL DDEX Provider, which means that you can use the schema and data manipulation tools within Visual Studio to create and edit objects within a MySQL database.

  • Connector/J provides driver support for connecting to MySQL from a Java application using the standard Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API.

  • Connector/MXJ is a tool that enables easy deployment and management of MySQL server and database through your Java application.

There are two direct access methods for using MySQL natively within a C application:

  • The C API provides low-level access to the MySQL protocol through the libmysqlclient library; this is the primary method used to connect to an instance of the MySQL server, and is used both by MySQL command line clients and many of the APIs also detailed in this section.

  • libmysqld is an embedded MySQL server library that enables you to embed an instance of the MySQL server into your C applications.

If you need to access MySQL from a C application, or build an interface to MySQL for a language not supported by the Connectors or APIs in this chapter, the C API is where you would start. A number of programmers utilities are available to help with the process, and also covered in this section.

The remaining APIs provide an interface to MySQL from specific application langauges. These solutions are not developed or supported by MySQL. Basic information on their usage and abilities is provided here for reference purposes only.

All the language APIs are developed using one of two methods, using libmysql or by building a native driver. The two solutions offer different benefits:

  • Using libmysql offers complete compatibility with MySQL as it uses the same libraries as the MySQL client applications. However, the feature set is limited to the implementation and interfaces exposed through libmysql and the performane may be lower as data is copied between the native langiage, and the MySQL API components.

  • Native drivers are an implementation of the MySQL network protocol entirely within the host language or environment. Native drivers are fast, as there is less copying of data between components, and they can offer advanced functionality not available through the standard MySQL API. Native drivers are also easier to build and deploy, as you do not need a copy of the MySQL client libraries to build the native driver components.

A list of many of the libraries and interfaces available for MySQL are shown in the table. See Table 17.1, “MySQL APIs and Interfaces”.

Table 17.1. MySQL APIs and Interfaces

Environment API Type Notes
Ada MySQL Bindings for GNU Ada libmysql See MySQL Bindings for GNU Ada
C++ Connector/C++ libmysql See Connector C++.
  MySQL++ libmysql See Section 17.9, “MySQL C++ API”.
  MySQL wrapped libmysql See MySQL wrapped.
Cocoa MySQL-Cocoa libmysql Compatible with the Objective-C Cocoa environment. See http://mysql-cocoa.sourceforge.net/
D MySQL for D libmysql See MySQL for D.
Eiffel Eiffel MySQL libmysql See Section 17.13, “MySQL Eiffel Wrapper”.
Erlang erlang-mysql-driver libmysql See erlang-mysql-driver.
Haskell Haskell MySQL Bindings Native Driver See Brian O'Sullivan's pure Haskell MySQL bindings.
  hsql-mysql libmysql See MySQL driver for Haskell .
Java/JDBC Connector/J Native Driver See Section 17.3, “MySQL Connector/J”.
Kaya MyDB libmysql See MyDB.
Lua LuaSQL libmysql See LuaSQL.
.NET/Mono Connector/NET Native Driver See Section 17.2, “MySQL Connector/NET”.
Objective Caml MySQL Bindings for OBjective Caml libmysql See MySQL Bindings for Objective Caml.
Octave Database bindings for GNU Octave libmysql See Database bindings for GNU Octave.
ODBC Connector/ODBC libmysql See Section 17.1, “MySQL Connector/ODBC”.
OpenOffice MySQL Connector/OpenOffice.org libmysql Direct connectivity, without using JDBC/ODBC. See MySQL Connector/OpenOffice.org.
Perl DBI/DBD::mysql libmysql See Section 17.8, “MySQL Perl API”.
  Net::MySQL Native Driver See Net::MySQL at CPAN
PHP mysql, ext/mysql interface (deprecated) libmysql See Section 17.7.1, “MySQL”.
  mysqli, ext/mysqli interface libmysql See Section 17.7.2, “MySQL Improved Extension (Mysqli)”.
  PDO_MYSQL libmysql See Section 17.7.4, “MySQL Functions (PDO_MYSQL)”.
  PDO mysqlnd Native Driver See PHP PDO mysqlnd.
Python MySQLdb libmysql See Section 17.10, “MySQL Python API”.
Ruby MySQL/Ruby libmysql Uses libmysql. See Section 17.11.1, “The MySQL/Ruby API”.
  Ruby/MySQL Native Driver See Section 17.11.2, “The Ruby/MySQL API”.
Scheme Myscsh libmysql See Myscsh.
SPL sql_mysql libmysql See sql_mysql for SPL.
Tcl MySQLtcl libmysql See Section 17.12, “MySQL Tcl API”.

Table 17.2. MySQL Connector Versions and MySQL Server Versions

Connector Connector version MySQL Server version
Connector/C++ 1.0.5 GA 5.1, 5.4
Connector/OpenOffice.org 1.0 GA 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/J 5.1.8 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/NET 1.0 (No longer supported) 4.0, 5.0
Connector/NET 5.2 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/NET 6.0 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/NET 6.1 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/ODBC 3.51 (Unicode not supported) 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.4
Connector/ODBC 5.1 4.1.1+, 5.0, 5.1, 5.4