MySQL Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Writing Applications That Adapt to the MySQL Server Version

Problem

You want to use a given feature that is only available in a particular version of MySQL.

Solution

Ask the server for its version number. If the server is too old to support a given feature, maybe you can fall back to a workaround, if one exists.

Discussion

Each version of MySQL adds features. If you’re writing an application that requires certain features, check the server version to determine if they are present; if not, you must perform some sort of workaround (assuming there is one).

To get the server version, issue a SELECT VERSION() statement. The result is a string that looks something like 5.0.13-rc or 4.1.10a. In other words, it returns a string consisting of major , minor, and “teeny” version numbers, possibly some letter at the end of the “teeny” version, and possibly some suffix. The version string can be used as is for presentation purposes if you want to produce a status display for the user. However, for comparisons, it’s simpler to work with a number—in particular, a five-digit number in Mmmtt format, in which M, mm, tt are the major, minor, and teeny version numbers. The conversion can be performed by splitting the string at the periods, stripping off from the third piece the suffix that begins with the first nonnumeric character, and then joining the pieces. For example, 5.0.13-rc. becomes 50013, and 4.1.10a becomes 40110.

Here’s a Perl DBI function that takes a database handle argument and returns a ...