Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 21 Days, Second Edition

The PHP API for MySQL

PHP has a suite of built-in functions for interfacing with MySQL database servers. You can get by with a small subset of them, but we'll try to cover the full function list for completeness.

Connecting to a MySQL Database

Table 11.2 shows the functions for connecting to and disconnecting from a MySQL database server and for selecting a database.

Table 11.2. Functions for Connecting to a MySQL Database

Function	Action
mysql_connect()	Opens a connection to a MySQL server
mysql_pconnect()	Opens a persistent connection to a MySQL server
mysql_select_db()	Selects a MySQL database
mysql_close()	Closes a connection to a MySQL server

You can use the following syntax to connect to a MySQL server:

mysql_connect ([server[,username[,password ...