The SESSION_USER() function in MySQL is used to retrieve the current user and host name for the MySQL session. It returns a string in the format ‘user_name’@’host_name’, indicating the user and host associated with the current session.

Syntax

Here is the syntax for the SESSION_USER() function:

SESSION_USER()

Example

Now, let’s look at an example to better understand how to use this function:

-- Create a sample database
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS exampleDB;
USE exampleDB;

-- Create a sample table
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS employees (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(255),
    department VARCHAR(255),
    salary INT
);

-- Insert some sample data
INSERT INTO employees (name, department, salary) VALUES
    ('John Doe', 'IT', 60000),
    ('Jane Smith', 'HR', 55000),
    ('Bob Johnson', 'Finance', 70000);

-- Display the current user and host using SESSION_USER()
SELECT SESSION_USER() AS current_user;

-- Query the employee table
SELECT * FROM employees;

In this example, we first create a sample database named exampleDB and a table named employees. After inserting some sample data into the employees table, we use the SELECT SESSION_USER() AS current_user; statement to retrieve and display the current user and host for the MySQL session.

Keep in mind that the SESSION_USER() function is a part of the session-related functions in MySQL, and its result depends on the user who is currently connected to the database. The output will be in the form ‘user_name’@’host_name’, indicating the user and host for the current session.