I absolutely agree poking thru long complicated manuals is a pain when you
don't know what you're looking for - that's why I still prefer paper.
Naturally, I too have these "the older I get" feelings...
However, I assure you the MySQL doc is of high standard, and does cover
"everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask". A technique I've
found useful with it is to have both the Table of Contents and the main body
of the manual as files on my computer, and as links from "Favorites" in my
browser. Use the one-lump HTML form for the main body. Then do a 'find' in
the ToC for a word of interest e.g. SELECT, and be sure to 'find' using
'match whole words only' and 'match case'. This will probably find you the
right pointer. If not, then apply the same technique to the main body.
I also use that fine editor TextPad, which has a natty 'Find in Files'
feature. Here's an example from a search I did (on a multi-chapter version
of the main body) only a couple of days ago. I was looking for the string
'host='.
many lines omitted
manual_Replication.html(2004):
<DT><code>--report-host=<var>host</var></code>
manual_Replication.html(2308): -> MASTER_HOST='master_host_name',
manual_Replication.html(2780): TO MASTER_HOST='S1'</code> (where
<code>'S1'</code> represents the real hostname of
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(7199): -> WHERE User='<var>user_name</var>' and
Host='<var>host_name</var>';
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(7536): mysql> DELETE FROM mysql.user WHERE
Host='localhost' AND User='';
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(7943): -> WHERE User='bob' AND Host='%.loc.gov';
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(11081): Any slave not started with the
<code>--report-host=slave_name</code>
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(11249): ->
MASTER_HOST='master2.mycompany.com',
manual_SQL_Syntax.html(11299): -> MASTER_HOST='some_dummy_string';
manual_Using_MySQL_Programs.html(274): For example, <code>-h
localhost</code> or <code>--host=localhost</code> indicate
manual_Using_MySQL_Programs.html(495): <code>--host=localhost</code> on the
command line should be specified as
manual_Using_MySQL_Programs.html(496): <code>quick</code> or
<code>host=localhost</code> in an option file.
Found 42 occurrence(s) in 10 file(s)
The really neat thing is that TextPad shows you the search results in a new
document, and you can double-click on the file name & line no in any line,
and go straight there. For 30 USD, I'd buy it for that alone!
HTH, GStC.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Fitzsimons" <johnf@stripped>
To: <win32@stripped>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 2:11 AM
Subject: Re: Steps to importing table data.
On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 10:55:45 +1100, John Fitzsimons wrote:
>Going through hundreds of pages of instructions/manuals is not easy
>IMO. The key to good searching is in knowing what one should be
>searching for. Not an easy thing for a newbie. I have however come
>across a GUI approach so fortunately this issue is less of a problem
>for me now.
