mysql_connect

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

mysql_connect打开一个到 MySQL 服务器的连接

Warning

本扩展自 PHP 5.5.0 起已废弃,并在自 PHP 7.0.0 开始被移除。应使用 MySQLiPDO_MySQL 扩展来替换之。参见 MySQL:选择 API 指南以及相关 FAQ 来获取更多信息。用以替代本函数的有:

说明

mysql_connect ([ string $server [, string $username [, string $password [, bool $new_link [, int $client_flags ]]]]] ) : resource

打开或重复使用一个到 MySQL 服务器的连接。

参数

server

MySQL 服务器。可以包括端口号,例如 "hostname:port",或者到本地套接字的路径,例如对于 localhost 的 ":/path/to/socket"。

如果 PHP 指令 mysql.default_host 未定义(默认情况),则默认值是 'localhost:3306'。 在 SQL 安全模式 时,参数被忽略,总是使用 'localhost:3306'。

username

用户名。默认值由 mysql.default_user 定义。 在 SQL 安全模式 时,参数被忽略,总是使用服务器进程所有者的用户名。

password

密码。默认值由mysql.default_password定义。在 SQL 安全模式 时,参数被忽略,总是使用空密码。

new_link

如果用同样的参数第二次调用 mysql_connect(),将不会建立新连接,而将返回已经打开的连接标识。参数 new_link 改变此行为并使 mysql_connect() 总是打开新的连接,甚至当 mysql_connect() 曾在前面被用同样的参数调用过。

client_flags

client_flags 参数可以是以下常量的组合:MYSQL_CLIENT_SSLMYSQL_CLIENT_COMPRESSMYSQL_CLIENT_IGNORE_SPACEMYSQL_CLIENT_INTERACTIVE。进一步信息见MySQL 客户端常量

返回值

如果成功则返回一个 MySQL 连接标识, 或者在失败时返回 FALSE

更新日志

版本 说明
4.3.0 添加 client_flags 参数。
4.2.0 添加 new_link 参数。
3.0.10 server 添加 ":/path/to/socket" 支持。
3.0.0 server 添加 ":port" 支持。

范例

Example #1 mysql_connect() 例子

<?php
$link 
mysql_connect('localhost''mysql_user''mysql_password');
if (!
$link) {
    die(
'Could not connect: ' mysql_error());
}
echo 
'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>

Example #2 mysql_connect() 例子:使用 hostname:port 语法

<?php
// we connect to example.com and port 3307
$link mysql_connect('example.com:3307''mysql_user''mysql_password');
if (!
$link) {
    die(
'Could not connect: ' mysql_error());
}
echo 
'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);

// we connect to localhost at port 3307
$link mysql_connect('127.0.0.1:3307''mysql_user''mysql_password');
if (!
$link) {
    die(
'Could not connect: ' mysql_error());
}
echo 
'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>

Example #3 mysql_connect() 例子:使用 ":/path/to/socket" 语法

<?php
// we connect to localhost and socket e.g. /tmp/mysql.sock

//variant 1: ommit localhost
$link mysql_connect('/tmp/mysql''mysql_user''mysql_password');
if (!
$link) {
    die(
'Could not connect: ' mysql_error());
}
echo 
'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);


// variant 2: with localhost
$link mysql_connect('localhost:/tmp/mysql.sock''mysql_user''mysql_password');
if (!
$link) {
    die(
'Could not connect: ' mysql_error());
}
echo 
'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>

注释

Note:

本扩展自 PHP 5.5.0 起已废弃,并在自 PHP 7.0.0 开始被移除。应使用 MySQLiPDO_MySQL 扩展来替换之。参见 MySQL:选择 API 指南以及相关 FAQ 来获取更多信息。用以替代本函数的有:

Note:

只要将 server 指定为 "localhost" 或 "localhost:port",MySQL 客户端库会越过此值并尝试连接到本地套接字(Windows 中的名字管道)。如果想用 TCP/IP,应该用 "127.0.0.1" 代替 "localhost"。如果 MySQL 客户端库试图连接到一个错误的本地套接字,则应该在 PHP 配置中设定 的正确路径并把 server 留空。

Note:

脚本一结束,到服务器的连接就被关闭,除非之前已经明确调用 mysql_close() 关闭了。

Note:

可以在函数名前加上一个 @ 来抑制出错时的错误信息。

参见

User Contributed Notes

VTool 27-Oct-2016 07:11
fcgid_module modules/mod_fcgid.so
FcgidMaxRequestLen 209715200
FcgidConnectTimeout 240
FcgidIOTimeout 240
FcgidBusyScanInterval 240
FcgidBusyTimeout 240
# Esta línea instruye al servidor web para que reconozca un tipo nuevo (php)
AddHandler fcgid-script .php
# Esta línea indica al servidor web donde está instalado PHP.
FcgidInitialEnv PHPRC "c:/php"
# Esta línea indica al servidor web que debe ejecutar la aplicación
# php-cgi.exe cuando un cliente (navegador) solicite una página con
# extensión .php
FcgidWrapper "c:/php/php-cgi.exe" .php
# Con esta línea damos los permisos necesarios para que los clientes puedan
# acceder/ejecutar a los archivos .php
<Directory "c:/Apache/htdocs">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI
AllowOverride None
Allow from all
</Directory>
pepik at gmail dot cz 19-Jun-2013 11:50
<?php
 $server
= 'y.com';
 
$login='x';
 
$pass='x';
 
$db='x';
 
 
$spojeni=mysql_connect($server,$login,$pass) or die ('nelze se pripojit');
 
mysql_select_db($db,$spojeni);
 
mysql_query("Set names 'utf8'");
?>
yangqingrong at wudimei dot com 18-May-2013 02:17
hello,every one.
  do use "127.0.0.1" instead of "localhost" for php5.4-win7 if you feel the speed is slow.because win7 use ipv6 default.
   "localhost" is for ipv4.

  <?php
   $conn
=mysql_connect( "127.0.0.1",
                                      
"root",
                                      
"pass");
 
?>
trev at dedicate dot co dot uk 07-Aug-2012 04:42
A little note if your scripts sleep a lot, you want to run exactly the same SQL statement 2+ times and you have the "MySQL has gone away" error a lot.

Try setting the 4th parameter to TRUE as it seems sometimes PHP doesn't spot that resource ID x which it used for the last identical lookup is now dud and so tries to use it, thus bypassing tests such as is_resource() and causing a failure.

This is for when mysql_ping() doesn't work for your situation of course.
nicodenboer at yahoo dot com 20-May-2012 01:50
Be carefull here if you use utf8.

The file db.opt of your database should contain the following lines:
default-character-set=utf8
default-collation=utf8_general_ci

It means that your database is created to use the utf8 characterset.
One way to accomplish this is:
CREATE DATABASE my_database DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;

Then, after connecting to it from PHP you should use:
mysql_set_charset("UTF8", $connection);

If you don't do this, you will get ugly problems in case other software is reading and writing to the same database!!!!!!
php at lanar dot com dot au 15-Apr-2012 01:11
After upgrading mysql sever to 5.5.21 from 5.0.9 on centos, my WinXP stopped being able to connect with host with the error message
'Bad Handshake'.

Eventual solution to problem was to remove MYSQL_CLIENT_SSL from the call to mysql_connect().

I will also report this as a bug.
bimal at sanjaal dot com 05-Jun-2011 12:15
Portable connections: If you migrate your source code from one to different servers and you would like to avoid re-configuration on a new serve, user the $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] flag as:

<?php
switch($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'])
{
case
'server1.example.com':
 
mysqlconnect('host1', 'user1', 'password1');
 
mysql_select_db('db1');
  break;
case
'server2.example.com':
 
mysqlconnect('host2', 'user2', 'password2');
 
mysql_select_db('db2');
  break;
}
?>

This makes a conditional connection to mysql database. It automatically chooses the correct server according to the server name from where your script runs.

Hopefully, you like this portable configuration.
avinc@live,hk 18-Apr-2011 05:47
My situation: "I could connect to MySQL from the PHP via Apache and MySQL via the MySQL console, and could not connect via the PHP"

But, PHP only can connect to MySQL using mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "password");

"Its selinux not allowing apache to make remote connections"

Solution:
setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect=1
Harouk 28-Jan-2011 06:11
If you encounter speed problems using this command to a distant server, you can add the line "skip-name-resolve" in your my.cnf to fix it.
i dot linker at gmail dot com 13-Nov-2010 10:55
MySQL connection string regexp:
~mysql://([^:@/]*):?([^@/]*)@?([^/]*)/?([^/]*)~
tpl99 at yandex dot ru 30-Apr-2010 01:56
Whenever you open two connections to a single database,
you are likely not to get any error when selecting not existing db.

<?php
$db1
= mysql_connect( ... );
mysql_select_db('existing_db',$db1);

$db2 = mysql_connect( ... );
mysql_select_db('not_existing_db', $db2);

mysql_query(... , $db2);
//will return no errors and the query wouldn't be executed.
?>

Pay attention and you may save few hours of debugging.
abelcheung at gmail dot com 17-Mar-2010 10:37
Note that named pipe on Windows is unusable since PHP 5.3, and TCP connection shall be used even in localhost.
sholland at napervillegi dot com 02-Dec-2009 09:18
If you are getting an error "Can't assign requested address" you may have a problem with the mysql port.  I had just moved my server to Mac OS X 10.6 and mysql_connect was giving this error.  Going into the /etc/php.ini file and setting the default port number to 3306 fixed the problem. 

mysql.default_port = 3306

The php.ini file suggests that PHP will select the port by using the $MYSQL_TCP_PORT or the mysql-tcp entry in /etc/services, but in this case it is not so.  /etc/services on my machine has 3306 listed, but it didn't get picked up.

This is sort of a bug report, in that the documented feature isn't working.  Please don't delete this until the community decides how to address the problem.  This is one of those hair pulling exercises to get fixed.
david dot schueler at wapkamera dot de 11-Sep-2009 08:51
If you are getting MySQL Errors like #2006: MySQL server has gone away, and you are using mysql_connect() and pcntl_fork() then make shure that you are reconnecting to the mysql server with each created child which you fork()ed.

I pulled my hair out for many days because i was using the same mysql connection for each child and was getting that "MySQL server has gone away" errors.

Here is a simple example:
<?php
$link
= mysql_connect($db_server, $db_user, $db_pass);
mysql_select_db($db_database,$link));

$pid = pcntl_fork();
if (
$pid == -1)
 
// Error forking child
elseif ($pid) {
 
// Parent will be here
} else {
 
// The child has to esablish a *new* mysql connection.
  // if you use mysql_connect without the 4th parameter
  // then it will use the connection from the parent. But
  // if the child dies, the connection will be unaviable in
  // the parent too.
  // So, note the "true" as 4th parameter.
 
$newlink = mysql_connect($db_server, $db_user, $db_pass,true);
 
mysql_select_db($db_database,$newlink));
 
// ...
}
?>
cory dot mawhorter gmail.com 02-Jul-2009 04:38
Hopefully this saves someone some grief.

My dev computer is windows and runs wampserver.  I have frequent problems with PHP being unable to connect to MySQL after periods of extreme DB activity.

Long story short, it was because I was not running mysql via named-pipes and Windows was running out of available ports to serve PHP.  Apparently, on windows, you have 5000 ports to work with and once they are opened, they remain so for 120 seconds before being released.  This causes problems with mysql/networking because a new port is requested for each connection.

You can read more about the problem at:
(Link too long and had to be broken up)
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en
/can-not-connect-to-server.html#can-not-connect-to-server-on-windows
?>

Since mysql is on localhost, I can just enable named-pipes (which is how you should have mysql setup if you don't need networking) to get around the problem instead of the workaround listed on that page.

For details, see:
http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources
/articles/securing_mysql_windows.html
Contact at LinuxIntro dot com 27-Oct-2008 09:34
When you connect and expect to use a stored procedure,you must pass a special flag to MySQL via the connect command, otherwise you will not get the results returned, and it will result in this error:
PROCEDURE AlexGrim.GetStats_ForumCategories can't return a result set in the given context

To fix this, change you connection string, adding ",false,65536" as the last 2 fields:
$this->con = mysql_connect($this->h,$this->u,$this->p,false,65536);
bmagilavy at avalon-internet dot com 04-Sep-2008 01:00
If you trying to connect to a remote server, here are a few things that can go wrong. Perhaps this list will save someone some time:

1. You may need to get in touch with the remote server's tech support:

 a. to ensure that you can get through its firewall. It is not necessarily enough to have your server number listed in the recipient site's cpanel remote access host list. It depends on how the server company has things set up;

 b. to find out what port number they are using for database connections, which may not be the default used by mysql_connect;

 c. If you are using ODBC, the host to which you are trying to connect may or may not have any ODBC drivers installed; and

 d. If you are working from a dynamic IP, they may be set up to accommodate it, or you may have to use a proxy. See http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/MySQL_Proxy .

2. If you are working from a shared server yourself, the server number you were sent in the sign-up letter is probably NOT the server number you should be using to connect to a remote database. You need the server number of the machine on which your site is sitting, not your virtual account server number on that machine. You can get this from your own tech support.

I am grateful to Jonathan Jones at Bluehost for this analysis.
pascalxusNOSPAM at yahoo dot com 22-Aug-2008 12:08
I just wanted to share a common wrapper that I use for executing one line SQL statements.  Its an easy wrapper to use that takes care of the connection open/close.  Optionally, the mysql_connect can be replaced with mysql_pconnect for persistent connections.

  function executeQuery( $query, $db, $nocon )
  {
      if( $nocon != "nocon" )
        if( $db != "" ) connect( $db );
        else connect( "pascal_crm" );

      $result= mysql_query( $query );
      $err   = mysql_error();
      if( $err != "" ) echo "error=$err  ";

      if( $nocon != "nocon" )
        mysql_close();
      return $result;
  }

Here's a related mysql_pconnect trivia question:
http://www.codesplunk.com/nr/questions/php17.html
arithmetric at gmail dot com 25-Mar-2008 10:59
If you are trying to open multiple, separate MySQL connections with the same MySQL user, password, and hostname, you must set $new_link = TRUE to prevent mysql_connect from using an existing connection.

For example, you are opening two separate connections to two different databases (but on the same host, and with the same user and password):

$db1 = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);
$rv = mysql_select_db($dbname1, $db1);
$db2 = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);
$rv = mysql_select_db($dbname2, $db2);

At this point, both $db1 and $db2 will have selected the database named by $dbname2.

The workaround is to require that the second MySQL connection is new:

$db1 = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);
$rv = mysql_select_db($dbname1, $db1);
$db2 = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass, TRUE);
$rv = mysql_select_db($dbname2, $db2);

Now, $db1 should have selected $dbname1, and $db2 should have selected $dbname2.

This has been documented on the mysql_select_db page as well.

Note: This occurs only when the server, username, and password parameters are identical for each mysql_connect statement.
aeolianmeson at blitzeclipse dot com 03-Mar-2008 12:15
Recently, I saw an obscure problem where I could connect to MySQL from the PHP via Apache and MySQL via the MySQL console, and could not connect via the PHP-CLI. This was in Windows (XP). I usually use MySQLi extension, but also tried MySQL, and both refused to work.

I restarted the service multiple times, and the PHP-CLI still would not connect.

This eventually cleared up.

I made sure to stop the service. Then, I downloaded a zipped binary-package from dev.mysql.com and started the server a few times from the commandline (mysqld/mysqld-nt, where mysqld-nt is tuned specifically for Windows) and stopped it ("mysqladmin shutdown"). I was then able to successfully connect from the PHP-CLI ("php -r "mysql_connect('localhost', 'root', ''); ").

Making sure it was stopped, I started the regular server from the commandline, and that was then successful. I then stopped it and started it via the Services panel, and everything still worked.

I'm assuming that when the service was restarted initially, there was a component that had died and refused to be shutdown even though the service appeared to be stopped, but shutting it down via mysqladmin killed everything entirely.
dan at novapulsar dot com 11-Feb-2008 11:24
[EDIT by danbrown AT php DOT net: The issue this user is illustrating is a common problem when dealing with multiple databases from PHP.  Note his comments at the end of the code for an explanation.]


Looks like I learned this the hard way:

<?php

//establish connection to master db server
mysql_connect (DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD);
mysql_select_db (DB_NAME);

//establish connection to read-only slave cluster
$objMySQL_Read = mysql_connect (SLAVE_DB_HOST, SLAVE_DB_USER, SLAVE_DB_PASSWORD);
mysql_select_db (DB_NAME, $objMySQL_Read);

$strSQL = "SELECT col1,col2 FROM "  . DB_NAME . "." . "tbl1 WHERE 1=1";

$objRS = mysql_query ($strSQL, $objMySQL_Read); //returns data from slaves

$strSQL = "INSERT INTO " . DB_NAME . "." . "tbl1 (col1,col2) VALUES (val1,val2)";

mysql_query ($strSQL);

//expected behavior, to insert the last statement into the master db, since it doesn't reference the read-only resource explicitly. instead, it inserts the record into the last connection, even though it shouldn't, since the last connection is not a global/anonymous connection like the first one, it's $objMySQL_Read.

//you'll get out of sync db's across your cluster unless you explicitly define all connection resources

?>
Steve 24-Dec-2007 03:32
The too many connections issue can be due to several problems.

1. you are using pconnect. This can tie up many connections and is not really needed for MySQL as new connections are really fast.

2. Apache children are hanging around for too long - combine this with pconnect and you have recipe for disaster.

Suggestions: reduce the amount of time apache child processes stay connected to the client and how many connections before they are killed off. And don't use pconnect.
Ignacio Casinelli Esviza 20-Oct-2007 10:51
Sometimes, I want that MySQL service start automatically when my app need it. This is specially true if you work in a development PC and/or in an small intranet environment.

You can do something like this: if the mysql_connect() function returns FALSE, try to force the initialization of the MySQL service!

For example, under Windows:

<?php

$link
= @mysql_connect($server,$user,$pass);
if (empty(
$link)){
    @
exec("%SystemRoot%\\system32\\net.exe start mysql");
   
sleep(5);
   
$link = @mysql_connect($servidor,$usuario,$clave);
}

?>

In Linux of course you can try "/etc/init.d/mysqld start" but you will need special permissions.

Regards.
Peter Robinett 02-Oct-2007 06:20
The use of mysql connections can become tricky with objects. I am using mysql_connect() in a database class I wrote and the class destructor calls mysql_close. Because I have several of these database objects, mysql_connect reuses existing connections. This is fine except when the script reaches the end of execution and PHP's garabage collection calls all the objects' __destruct() functions. mysql_close() throws a warning that the connection is invalid, in my case for one object. This is happening with objects which use an existing connection, as the connection has already been closed. I solved the problem by forcing mysql_connect() to create a new connection each time. This is not efficient but is sufficient for my purposes for now.

I wouldn't say this is a bug per-se, but it's something to look out for. I imagine using mysqli is the ultimate solution...
martin 09-Aug-2007 07:35
MYSQL_CLIENT_SSL is not working, use MySQLi and mysqli->ssl_set()
jslakva at gmail dot com 08-Apr-2007 06:05
if between first and second call with same arguments there was another call with another argument, initial connection link is not reused, but new connection is created instead, regardless of new_link argument.

for example, here only one single link will be opened and then reused:
<?php
$link1
= mysql_connect("localhost");
$link2 = mysql_connect("localhost");
?>

and here _three_ separate links will be opened:
<?php
$link1
= mysql_connect("localhost");
$link3 = mysql_connect("127.0.0.1");
$link2 = mysql_connect("localhost");
?>

so if you wanted to switch between connections just by call to mysql_connect, and rely on its internal link caching, you can be wasting your database connections.
angelo [at] mandato <dot> com 19-Mar-2007 01:07
The post from 'Graham_Rule at ed dot ac dot uk' should include the following WARNING:

WARING: THE VALUES OF THESE DIRECTIVES WILL BE EXPOSED IF ANY OF THE CODE INCLUDES THE phpinfo() FUNCTION.

The phpinfo() function will print these values clear as day.  I highly suggest against this method of storing MySQL authentication information.

I recommend creating connect and cleanup functions in a separate include file.  If security is a concern, locate the include file outside of your web root folder.

<?php
    $g_link
= false;
   
    function
GetMyConnection()
    {
        global
$g_link;
        if(
$g_link )
            return
$g_link;
       
$g_link = mysql_connect( 'host.name', 'user', 'password') or die('Could not connect to server.' );
       
mysql_select_db('database_name', $g_link) or die('Could not select database.');
        return
$g_link;
    }
   
    function
CleanUpDB()
    {
        global
$g_link;
        if(
$g_link != false )
           
mysql_close($g_link);
       
$g_link = false;
    }
   
?>

Simply include your connnection.php file in your script and anywhere you use the mysql_query() function include a call to the GetMyConnection() function.

<?php
    $res
= mysql_query("SELECT ...", GetMyConnection() );
?>
sky dot sama dot remove dot dots at Gmail dot com 12-Dec-2006 08:42
In case anyone else is getting "Client does not support authentication protocol requested by server; consider upgrading MySQL client" error. The problem is the new password hashing method used by MySQL >= 4.1 mentioned below.

Either update your PHP to v5 where the new password hashing is supported or use old_password() in MySQL 4.1.

FROM: http://www.digitalpeer.com/id/mysql

UPDATE mysql.user SET password=old_password("youroldhashpassword") WHERE user ='youruserid' and host ='yourhost'

then do

FLUSH PRIVILEGES
Graham_Rule at ed dot ac dot uk 10-Nov-2006 01:43
The addition of entries to httpd.conf to stop .inc files being served by Apache is certainly useful and to be recommended.

But it doesn't change the fact that these files have to be readable by Apache so that the PHP processor can get at them.

As long as your don't have multiple, possibly untrusted, users on your machine then that's OK.  But when you are running a large multi-user service with thousands of users its always possible that one of them will look at your .inc files and take a note of the passwords you have in them.  They could even copy them into their own scripts and modify your databases!

Even if local users are trusted, there is always the possibility of a rogue script (PHP or some nastier language) being installed by an ignorant user.  That script might then read your .inc files (whether or not they are in the web publishing tree) and expose your password.
brinca at substancia dot com 09-Nov-2006 07:43
If you prefer to use a hostname instead of an ip on your connection string in a script (to be able to change the ip at will), but don't want the overhead of dns lookups, just add it to your /etc/hosts file (in windows: %WINDIR%/system32/drivers/etc/hosts).

For example, add the following to your hosts file (changing the bogus ip to your server's real ip):

123.123.123.123   mysqlserver1

Note: On linux, make sure you have "order: hosts,bind" on your /etc/host.conf file.

On a script, make the mysql connection like so:

<?
  $sid = mysql_connect ("mysqlserver1", "user", "pass");
?>

Note: this sample is in php, but it can be any other programming language (just type "ping mysqlserver1" on a prompt, on your server)

And there you have it! If your server ever gets assigned a different ip, just update the hosts file with the new one (every script will work as-is, even if under different hostnames).
rui dot batista at netcabo dot pt 31-May-2006 08:42
Ever wonder what "default username" is?
<?php
$link
= mysql_connect() or die(mysql_error());
$result = mysql_query("SELECT SESSION_USER(), CURRENT_USER();");
$row = mysql_fetch_row($result);
echo
"SESSION USER: ", $row[0], "<br>\n";
echo
"CURRENT USER: ", $row[1], "<br>\n";
?>
Both are ODBC@localhost in my win2k install, so my advice for windows is:
- create a MySQL user named ODBC with no password
- add localhost to ODBC user [right-click ODBC]
- set schema previleges to ODBC@localhost
- use mysql_connect() with no parms, or do not use ;)
This turns to work also with odbc_connect:
odbc_connect("myDSN", "", "")
25-Jun-2005 03:18
connect to mysql via named pipe under windows :

in my.ini, add this:

[mysqld]
enable-named-pipe

then connect to the server, then connect to mysql using

mysql_connect('.')
chaoscontrol_hq at yahoo dot com 23-Aug-2004 02:10
In MySQL4.1 and later, the default password hashing format has changed making it incompatible with 3.x clients.
I found out mysql_connect() works on server versions >= 4.1 when your MySQL user password is blank because password authentication isn't done in that case, otherwise you need to use another connection method (e.g. mysqli).
Also if you are using old MySQL tables on a new server (i.e. the passwords are stored in the old format), then the server will use the old auth method automatically and this function should work in all cases.
Hopefully this will help someone, it had me confused for a while because some of the users on my 4.1 server could connect and some couldn't.
martinnitram at excite dot com 31-Oct-2003 02:22
to use load data local infile function from mysql (at mysql 4.0.16, php 4.3.3), set fifth parameter of mysql_connect() to CLIENT_LOCAL_FILES(128), which based on MYSQL C API ( also mysql server support load file, check by "show variables like 'local_infile' ")

Thank  'phpweb at eden2 dot com' to point this out
Graham_Rule at ed dot ac dot uk 14-May-2003 08:43
Another solution to the security problems of putting usernames and passwords into scripts. I haven't found this documented anywhere else so thought I'd suggest it for the online documentation. ........

Don't put passwords for mysql into scripts which may be read by any user on the machine.  Instead put them into an Apache configuration file and make sure that it is not world-readable. (Apache reads its main config files as root.)

For example, add this to your httpd.conf (and chmod it to 600 or 660) then tell your apache to reload itself (apachectl graceful).

<Directory /var/www/html/mydatabase>
    php_value mysql.default_user fred
    php_value mysql.default_password secret
    php_value mysql.default_host server.example.com
</Directory>

Then all you need in your PHP code is

$handle = mysql_connect() or die(mysql_error());

The passwords etc will only be picked up by scripts running in the named directory (or a sub-directory).  The same may be done for virtualhosts etc.

If you don't want to keep reloading your Apache server then you ay test things putting the php_value directives into a (world readable) .htaccess file. (Clearly not for production use.)

If you need to debug the values that are being supplied (or not) then use this snippet:

@syslog(LOG_DEBUG, "Using user=".ini_get("mysql.default_user").
            " pass=".ini_get("mysql.default_password").
            " host=".ini_get("mysql.default_host"));

(This assumes that you are not running in 'safe_mode' and that you are on a unix of some sort.)
amn -at- frognet.net 11-Mar-2003 10:40
Just in case you didn't know. You can use mysql_connect in a function to connect to a database and the connection is a super-global... meaning you can use mysql_query in other functions or in no function at all and PHP will use the connection that you opened. This is a handy bit of knowledge that helps if you have a large site with lots of scripts. If you create one function to connect to a db, and call that function in all your scripts, it makes for easier code maintenance since you only have to update one line of code to change your mysql connection instead of updating all your scripts individually.