Raven Manual - MySQL

Just like files, databases are storage containers for data, albeit more complex. Just like files, accessing a database requires opening a resource using a resource descriptor string (a URL in fact) of a particular format. Connect to the database:

'mysql://username:password@localhost:port/database' open as $mysql 

Above, the resource descriptor string should look familiar to anyone who has used a URL to surf to a website, particularly an FTP site requiring username/password credentials. It breaks down as follows:

• mysql:// (required) specifies the database driver to use.
• username (required).
• password (optional).
• localhost (required) is the hostname of the server, which could be any name resolvable through DNS or /etc/hosts. Hostname uses an @ symbol to separate the hostname from the password.
• port (optional) is the port on which the MySQL server is running.
• database (required) is the name of the default database to use.

Once a resource handle has been opened, it may be used to execute queries and return results.

Select data.

'SELECT * FROM mytable' $mysql query as $result 

Determine how many rows are available.

$result selected as $selected_rows 

Retrieve the next available row as a hash.

$result fetch as $row 

Retrieve entire data set a row at a time.

$result each as $row 
    $row print 

Modify data.

'UPDATE mytable SET myfield = 3' $mysql query as $result 

Determine how many rows were affected.

$result affected as $updated_rows