To obtain/store the current time in mysql, function "NOW()" needs to be used. But this takes into consideration the timezone set on the server.

To store the UTC time, in the same format, "UTC_TIMESTAMP()" function can be used:

mysql> select now();
+---------------------+
| now() |
+---------------------+
| 2011-12-16 10:19:33 |
+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> select UTC_TIMESTAMP();
+---------------------+
| UTC_TIMESTAMP() |
+---------------------+
| 2011-12-16 09:19:36 |
+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.05 ...

Below is an example of a mysql stored procedure that:
1) drops the procedure if it already exists
2) creates procedure and defines the fields that it accepts
3) declares an internal variable
4) inserts a row in multiple tables having a common key all tables using last_insert_id() from the first table as their first column's value
5) sets the internal variable to the last_insert_id()
6) selects the internal variable, returning it to the calling ...

How to select rows from a mysql table containing multiple records, all of them having a datetime column.

Example mysql table:


Selecting rows with datetime column equal to today's ...

Unlike other sql commands, stored procedures need to be called. Therefore the CALL command needs to be used:

Mysql command to show stored procedures



or to show stored procedure for a specific database:

To find out what unique indexes are in a table issue:


In the above case, there is a unique index / key named 'unique_user' on 'user' column.

To drop the unique key run:

To rename a mysql table from old_name to new_name, command is:

To rename a mysql table, just use the rename mysql command

The column order in mysql is not very important in most of the cases, since the SELECT statement can create another column order, one specifically for the application being developed (but not the "SELECT *" statement).

But in cases where order is important, this command will change the position of "column_two" after "column_one".

Remember that column type must be a char, varchar, enum or some other column type that supports default value. TEXT/BLOB columns do NOT support default values.

If an attempt to set a text column's default value a mysql error will be produced: