By default MySQL command-line client wraps lines in a SELECT query result and has no paging. You can solve both these problems by using the less command available in Unix/Linux systems.

Entering the following command in MySQL command-line client will do the trick:

pager less -S -X

The pager command lets you select a program to use as a pager. In this case we are using less. The -S argument instructs less to disable line wraps, and -X instructs it disable clearing of the screen when less exits.

Now when you view a SELECT query result you can scroll vertically and horizontally using the arrow keys as well as the spacebar, page up and page down keys. You can also search the query results by pressing the slash key '/' and enter the term to search for. For example to search for codehill enter /codehill. And to quit press the 'q' key.

If you would like to use this as your default pager setting when you run MySQL command-line client; edit the file .my.cnf in your home directory or create it if it does not exist and enter the following:

pager=less -S -X

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