MySQL in a Nutshell

Name

HANDLER

Synopsis

HANDLER table OPEN [AS handle]
   
   
HANDLER handle READ index operator (value,...) 
   [WHERE condition] [LIMIT  . . . ]
   
HANDLER handle READ index {FIRST|NEXT|PREV|LAST} 
   [WHERE condition] [LIMIT  . . . ]
   
HANDLER handle READ {FIRST|NEXT} 
   [WHERE condition] [LIMIT  . . . ]
   
      
HANDLER handle CLOSE

Use this statement as a faster alternative to the SELECT statement. The HANDLER statement establishes a handle for reading a MyISAM or an InnoDB table, much like a file handle in a programming language such as Perl. You must issue the HANDLER table OPEN method first to establish a table handle and assign it the name in the AS clause. The AS clause and handle name are optional, though. If an alias is not set up, the table name is used for subsequent HANDLER statements. A handle provides direct access to the table, as opposed to working from a results set. The handle is usable only by the current connection thread that established it. The table is still accessible by others, though, and is not locked by this statement. Because of this and because the method provides direct table access, the data read can change and even be incomplete on an active database while running subsequent read statements.

You can use the three HANDLER handle READ... formats shown here to read data from a table. The HANDLER handle CLOSE method is used to close a table handle. Here are a couple of basic examples of the HANDLER statement:

HANDLER clients OPEN AS clients_handle;
HANDLER clients_handle READ FIRST;

The first ...