How to check if mysql database exists

Question

Is it possible to check if a (MySQL) database exists after having made a connection.

I know how to check if a table exists in a DB, but I need to check if the DB exists. If not I have to call another piece of code to create it and populate it.

I know this all sounds somewhat inelegant - this is a quick and dirty app.

Answer 1

SELECT SCHEMA_NAME   FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA  WHERE SCHEMA_NAME = 'DBName' 

If you just need to know if a db exists so you won't get an error when you try to create it, simply use (From here):

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS DBName; 

Answer 2

A simple way to check if a database exists is:

SHOW DATABASES LIKE 'dbname'; 

If database with the name 'dbname' doesn't exist, you get an empty set. If it does exist, you get one row.