Mastering phpMyAdmin: A Review

November 26, 2008 admin Database, MySQL, Review, Web Development 4

Some time ago, I was approached by the publisher of the book to write a review of their book ‘Mastering phpMyAdmin 2.11 for Effective MySQL Management by Marc Delisle[Affiliate link]’. This got a bit delayed because of the plugin week. But I managed to finish the book today – so here is the review. Bottom line – most people are using phpMyAdmin for only the most basic operations(editing data, import, export, etc.). If you are one of them, you don’t need the book – you already know all you need to know about phpMyAdmin. But other(like me) use it for advanced purposes – to manage MySQL, create database/tables, run queries, etc. I would recommend you get this book. It covers everything from basic usage(which is a bit boring and should be skipped over) to advanced stuff(like designer view, configuration options, triggers, innoDB relation options etc.)

Its an interesting book – I found it easily readable if you skip over the basic stuff. If you think you already know what a section is talking about, skip over to the next section – that way, you will not be bored. Because it covers the basics in a fairly comprehensive way(think two screenshots per page(!), most of the things in the book you might already know. But there will be some interesting new tips as well. Some tips I found out by reading the book….

  • In the phpMyAdmin forms(like say, table creation form or row editing form), you can use the Ctrl+Arrow key combination to move the focus around.
  • If you create a Query bookmark with the same name as a table, that query will be used when you hit the ‘Browse’ tab.
  • If you are using a blob to store images within the database, there is a way to show the image(Browser Transformations, Chapter 16) in the browse view.
  • And more…

These are the chapters you should definitely read – some great tips can be found there…

  • Chapter 11: Relational System
  • Chapter 14: Bookmarks
  • Chapter 16: MIME-Based Transformations
  • Chapter 18: MySQL 5 Features

Table of Contents

This should give you an idea of what to expect…

  • Preface
  • Chapter 1: Introducing phpMyAdmin
    • PHP and MySQL: The Leading Open-Source Duo
    • What is phpMyAdmin?
    • History
    • Awards
    • phpMyAdmin Features Summary
    • Summary
  • Chapter 2: Installing phpMyAdmin
    • System Requirements
    • Downloading the Files
    • Installation
    • First Connection Configuration
    • Multi-Server Configuration
    • Advanced Authentication
    • Security
    • Upgrading phpMyAdmin
    • Summary
  • Chapter 3: Interface Overview
    • Panels and Windows
    • Language Selection
    • Themes
    • Left Panel
    • Right Panel
    • Query Window
    • Site-Specific Header and Footer
    • MySQL Documentation Links
    • Summary
  • Chapter 4: First Steps
    • Database Creation
    • Creating Our First Table
    • Manual Data Insertion
    • Browse Mode
    • Creating an Additional Table
    • Summary
  • Chapter 5: Changing Data
    • Edit Mode
    • Multi-Row Editing
    • Editing the Next Row
    • Deleting Data
    • Deleting Tables
    • Deleting Databases
    • Summary
  • Chapter 6: Changing Table Structures
    • Adding a Field
    • Editing Field Attributes
    • TEXT
    • BLOB (Binary Large Object) Fields
    • ENUM and SET
    • DATE, DATETIME, and TIMESTAMP
    • Bit
    • Index Management
    • Summary
  • Chapter 7: Exporting Structure and Data
    • Dumps, Backups, and Exports
    • Database Exports
    • Table Exports
    • Selective Exports
    • Multi-Database Exports
    • Saving the Export File on the Server
    • Memory Limits
    • Summary
  • Chapter 8: Importing Structure and Data
    • Limits for the Transfer
    • Importing SQL Files
    • Importing CSV Files
    • Web Server Upload Directories
    • Summary
  • Chapter 9: Searching Data
    • Single-Table Searches
    • Complete Database Search
    • Summary
  • Chapter 10: Table and Database Operations
    • Table Maintenance
    • Changing Table Attributes
    • Renaming, Moving, and Copying Tables
    • Multi-Table Operations
    • Database Operations
    • Summary
  • Chapter 11: The Relational System
    • Relational MySQL?
    • Linked-Tables Infrastructure
    • Defining Relations with the Relation View
    • Defining Relations with the Designer
    • Benefits of the Defined Relations
    • Column-Commenting
    • Summary
  • Chapter 12: Entering SQL Commands
    • The SQL Query Box
    • The Query Window
    • Multi-Statement Queries
    • Pretty Printing (Syntax-Highlighting)
    • The SQL Validator
    • Summary
  • Chapter 13: The Multi-Table Query Generator
    • Choosing Tables
    • Column Criteria
    • Automatic Joins
    • Executing the Query
    • Summary
  • Chapter 14: Bookmarks
    • Creating a Bookmark after a Successful Query
    • Storing a Bookmark before Sending a Query
    • Multi-Query Bookmarks
    • Recalling from the Bookmarks List
    • Public Bookmarks
    • The Default Initial Query for a Table
    • Bookmark Parameters
    • Executing Bookmarks by Browsing the pma_bookmark Table
    • Summary
  • Chapter 15: System Documentation
    • The Database Print View
    • The Selective Database Print View
    • The Table Print View
    • The Data Dictionary
    • Relational Schema in PDF
    • Summary
  • Chapter 16: MIME-Based Transformations
    • The MIME Column’s Settings
    • Requirements for Image Generation
    • Examples of Transformations
    • Summary
  • Chapter 17: Character Sets and Collations
    • Language Files and UTF-8
    • Versions of MySQL Prior to 4.1.x
    • MySQL 4.1.x and Later
    • Kanji Support
    • Summary
  • Chapter 18: MySQL 5.0 Features
    • Observations on the History of MySQL 5.
    • Views
    • Routines: Stored Procedures and Functions
    • Triggers
    • Information_schema
    • Profiling
    • Summary
  • Chapter 19: MySQL Server Administration
    • Entering the Server View
    • Database Information
    • Server Operations
    • Summary
  • Chapter 20: Troubleshooting and Support
    • System Requirements
    • Base Configuration
    • Solving Common Errors
    • Seeking Support
    • Contributing to the Project
    • Future phpMyAdmin Versions
    • Summary
    • Index

    A final advice before leaving – buy the dead tree edition if possible. The ebook(PDF) has DRM which makes it very hard to read. You have to enter the password every single time you open the file. Its really annoying after a while.

    My Other phpMyAdmin Posts

    Related Links

4 Comments

  1. sqlyog runs fairly well with all Windows version from 98SE to Vista. I found this while on my search to best db management tool and tried this. No doubt in flexibility just try.

  3. Packtpub ebooks are easily opened with KPDF on Linux, and if you use kwallet to store the password, you really only need to enter it once and allow KPDF to access it. After that, you just click to open it and no more password.

Comments are closed.