Managing & Using MySQL, 2nd Edition

Name

mysql_connect

Synopsis

cresource mysql_connect([string hostname [, string username [, string password 
[, boolean new_connection]]]])

Used to establish a connection to the MySQL DBMS. The function returns a connection resource handle on success that can be used to access databases through subsequent function calls. The function returns false on failure.

The function has four optional parameters. The first is the hostname of the DBMS that can include an optional port number. The hostname parameter is usually set to localhost when the MySQL DBMS and the web server are running on the same machine. A default port for MySQL of 3306 is assumed if the port is omitted.

The second and third parameters—a username and password—are MySQL DBMS username and password credentials. These are the same username and password used to access the DBMS though the command-line monitor mysql.

If a second call is made to the function in the same script with the same first three parameters, a new connection is not opened. Instead, the function just returns the connection resource handle of the existing open connection. In the upcoming PHP 4.2 release, you should be able to override this behavior by supplying a fourth new_connection parameter. When it is set to true, a new connection will always be opened.

If all parameters are omitted, the hostname and port default to localhost:3306, the username defaults to the name of the user that owns the MySQL DBMS server process, and the password defaults to an empty ...