MySQL the command line and pagers

mysql> pager less
PAGER set to 'less'

This post is old, but still very helpful.

You can set the pager to whatever you want, including a script that parses all output before feeding it back to you. The examples there include using an add-on tool that makes EXPLAIN output more readable.

_{Also note that to turn off this functionality and return to normal stdout the command is nopager.}

You might want to try pspg: Unix pager designed for work with tables. Designed for PostgreSQL, but MySQL is supported too.

Main target

• possibility to freeze first few rows, first few columns

• possibility to use fancy colors - like mcview or FoxPro

In action:

The MySQL client just passes its output to whatever command you specify with \P (for "Pager").

-Sin are commandline switches to the program less. From man less:

-i Causes searches to ignore case
-n Suppresses line numbers
-S Causes lines longer than the screen width to be chopped rather than folded.

For more options of the MySQL client, see reference.