One of the very useful features of the mysql command line utility is the ability to edit the query you just executed and then execute it again.
Here is a query:
mysql> select now(); +---------------------+ | now() | +---------------------+ | 2010-04-23 15:57:02 | +---------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
I can now edit this by entering the command “edit” at the mysql prompt:
mysql> edit
The query is opened in an editor (vi for me) and I can edit and save the new query. When I exit the editor, it does NOT display the query. Instead, it just says “edit” and I must now append a final semi-colon before pressing return to execute the new query:
mysql> edit
-> ;
+--------------+---------------------+
| The time is: | now() |
+--------------+---------------------+
| The time is: | 2010-04-23 16:00:14 |
+--------------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)