MySQL Embedded -

Getting started with

libmysqld
Anders Karlsson
Principal Sales Engineer, MySQL
Agenda
• Who am I? (Good question!)
• Why libmysqld?
• What is libmysqld?
> What is MySQL Emmbedded? And is it
different from libmysqld?
• Programming with libmysqld
> API, Samples etc.
• Limitations of libmysqld
• Questions? Answers?
 About Anders Karlsson
• Sales Engineer with Sun / MySQL for 5+ years
• I have been in the RDBMS business for 20+
years
• I have worked for many of the major vendors
and with most of the vendor products
• I’ve been in roles as
> Sales Engineer
> Consultant
> Porting engineer
> Support engineer
> Etc.

• Outside MySQL I build websites

(www.papablues.com), develop Open
Source software (MyQuery, ndbtop etc),
am a keen photographer and drives sub-
Why libmysqld?
• Libmysqld is compact and fast
• Libmysqld is easily integrated into an
application
• Application installation is MUCH easier
> No separate server to install or run
> No need to run as service or daemon
• Low hardware requirements
• Zero maintenance
• MySQL hidden from end user
And why NOT libmysqld?
• Only ONE application can connect at
the time!
• No server means less flexibility
• Application itself has larger footprint
> Includes both the server and the
application
• Certain limitations exist
• No Replication
• No Client / Server connection
• No authentication / security
• More functions must be implemented
in the application
> Any mysql Client operations such as dump,
restore, check etc.
What is libmysqld and why is it different?
• “Normal” MySQL is a classic
client/server based RDBMS
> The database server is a separate
process from the client application
> The client and the sever communicates
using standard networking (typically
sockets or TCP/IP)
> The Server may, and again may not, run
in a separate hardware environment
from the client
> The client talks to the server using a
MySQL defined protocol, typically
implemented in a client interface or
What is libmysqld and why is it different?
• MySQL in Client /
Clients using
Server configuration
MySQL Protocol
> MySQL Server runs on
machine on the
network
> Clients communicate
with Server using the
MySQL Protocol
> Many clients talk to
the same server

Server Disk
What is libmysqld and why is it different?
• Libmysqld is a SQL database layer
tightly integrated with the application
or “client”
> The database and the application runs in
the same process space
> No special means of communication is
needed as both the application and the
database are in the same process,
calling MySQL is similar to calling any
other library function
> The interface between the Application or
client is different, but the exposed
component, the API, is the same as with
Client / Server MySQL
> Although the API looks the same, the
What is libmysqld and why is it different?
• Libmysqld
configuration
> The Application IS the
server!
> There is just 1 process
> Data is stored on the
local disk
> NOTE: The API for the
application is the same, libmysqld
but the implementation
is different! There is Applicati
on
just one process
implementation: In C Client system
So where do I find libmysqld?
• Libmysqld is part of the usual MySQL
distribution
• Just download the MySQL Server and
you find
> On Windows: libmysqld is in the
Embedded subdirectory, both debug and
release versions are available, and in
DLL and static builds
> On Linux: libmysqld.a is in the lib
subdirectory where MySQL is installed
• Includefiles:
> Use the normal MySQL C API includefiles
Building libmysqld applications
• Develop applications in C
> Add calls to mysql_library_init() etc.
• Compile as usual
• Link with libmysqld
> Can be linked dynamically or statically
> A dynamic link is easier, just as a
dynamic link with the MySQL C Client
library is easier
• Set up an option file
• Ship application, possibly the
libmysqld shared library and option
The libmysqld API
• VERY similar to the MySQL C API
> Does NOT implement the MySQL
Protocol!
> Only looks the same, implementation is
different!
• Key functions that are different
> mysql_library_init() – Starts the internal
“MySQL Server”
> mysql_library_end() – Shuts down the
internal “MySQL Server” gracefully
> mysql_thread_init() / mysql_thread_end()
> mysql_options() – Set
The mysql_library_init() function
• Initializes the MySQL internal server
• Passes parameters to the server in
that process
• Must be passed information on
initialization files and sections in those
> No server is already running!
> This means all necessary server
parameters needs to be specified!
• This means that this call is mostly
different from when NOT using
libmysqld!
The mysql_library_init() parameters
• Argument count (argc)
• Arguments (argv) – Like the
parameters to mysqld, the first
argument (as in argv[0] beging name
of the program) being ignored.
• A list of option file sections to read
> If a --defaults-file or any other argument
with an option file is passed, the config
files section specifies whicg sections in
this file to read
> The last section name is NULL
> If no option file is passed, this argument
Initializing a libmysqld application
static char *server_options[] = {
"mysql_test",
"--datadir=C:/mydata", NULL};
static char *server_groups[] =
{ "libmysqld_server", NULL};

int main(argc, argv)

{
MYSQL mysql;

mysql_library_init(sizeof(server_options)/
sizeof(char *) – 1, server_options, (char
**) server_gropus);
mysql = mysql_init(NULL);
mysql_options(mysql,
MYSQL_OPT_USE_EMBEDDED_CONNECTION, NULL);
mysql_real_connect(mysql, NULL, NULL, NULL,
"test", 0, NULL, 0);
Configuring a libmysqld application
• Use a my.cnf file
> Set server_options as per the previous
slide, to include
--defaults-file=my.cnf
> Note that you must be careful with the
path here!
> Set up the my.cnf file
• Or set all options in the application
itself
> Set all options in the server_options
variable
Dynamic linking of a libmysqld application

Applicatio
• As a shared object / n
Libmysqld
DLL Import
Library
> An import library is
provided to be linked Libmysqld
shared
with your application library
> Your application will
need to be distributed
with the libmysqld
shared object / DLL
> Not available on all
Static linking of a libmysqld application

• As a static library
Applicatio
> The libmysqld library n
is linked directly into Libmysqld
Library
the application
> No additional files
needs to be
distributed with the
application
> The only option on
some platforms
> Has a slight
Linking a libmysqld application
• Note that dynamic linking does NOT
necessarily allow you to update
libmysqld by just changing the DLL /
Shared object
> Typically, an application linked with
MySQL version X needs libmysqld
version X, even with dynamic linking
• For Windows, I recommed dynamic
linking
> Windows static linking is complex, as the
static library depends on a particular
version of Visual C++ is used
• For Linux, I recommend static linking
> Not the least because that is the only
Managing libmysqld data
• Data format are the same for
libmysqld as it is for the MySQL
Server mysqld
> Hence: Data that can be freely copied
with mysqld can be freely copied with
libmysqld
> This relates to most storage engines, but
in some cases with limitations
• MyISAM may use compression (which
is common) and other MyISAM
variations
• Starting a libmysqld application with
Managing libmysqld data
• Offline tools for mysqld data may be
used on libmysqld data
> myisampack
> myisamchk
> etc
• Online tools need to be implemented
as part of the application
> mysqldump
> mysqlshow
> etc.
Libmysqld demo!
• The following demo application is
available
> On sourceforge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libmysqld
demo/
> On MySQL Forge:
http://forge.mysql.com/projects/project.p
hp?id=323
• The application is Windows dialog-
based and written in C using the
Win32 API
• Should be self contained, except for
Limitations of libmysqld

• No replication
• No events
• InnoDB is single threaded
• No authentication /
authorization
• Single application access
> But that is the whole point
of libmysqld
• Only C / C++
 Libmysqld performance
100.000 operations each, time in average after several runs

libmysqld mysqld

INSERT 6.82 s 20.91 s

UPDATE 6.54 s 21.59 s
SELECT 6.92 s 21.73 s

Note: This is very far from a scientific

benchmark! The operations executed are
simple single-row operations, searching on the
PRIMARY KEY
Libmysqld performance
• So does this mean that libmysqld is
faster than mysqld?
> No, it means that libmysqld has less
overhead, that performance is better is a
side-effect of that
• So why is this useful data then
> As it means that I need less OS and
Hardware
resources to achieve the same level
of performance!
Resources and contacts
• Email me at:
anders@mysql.com
• Read my blog at:
http://karlssonondatabases.blogspot.
com/
• MySQL Forum for Embedded
systems:
http://forums.mysql.com/list.php?58
• Contribute to the community with
samples and ideas, we need more of
those for libmysqld
http://forge.mysql.com
Questions?

anders@mysql.com