mysql_ping checks whether a MariaDB server connection is still active and attempts an automatic reconnect if the connection has dropped and reconnect is enabled.
Checks whether the connection to the server is working. If it has gone down, and global option reconnect is enabled an automatic reconnection is attempted.
This function can be used by clients that remain idle for a long while, to check whether the server has closed the connection and reconnect if necessary.
Return Value
Returns zero on success, nonzero if an error occurred.
If a reconnect occurred the thread_id will change. Also resources bundled to the connection (prepared statements, locks, temporary tables, ...) will be released.