CREATE DATABASE

Complete reference for CREATE DATABASE in MariaDB. Complete syntax guide with all options, clauses, and practical examples with comprehensive examples and.

Syntax

CREATE [OR REPLACE] {DATABASE | SCHEMA} [IF NOT EXISTS] db_name
    [create_specification] ...

create_specification:
    [DEFAULT] CHARACTER SET [=] charset_name
  | [DEFAULT] COLLATE [=] collation_name
  | COMMENT [=] 'comment'

Description

CREATE DATABASE creates a database with the given name. To use this statement, you need the CREATE privilege for the database. CREATE SCHEMA is a synonym for CREATE DATABASE.

For valid identifiers to use as database names, see Identifier Names.

OR REPLACE

If the optional OR REPLACE clause is used, it acts as a shortcut for:

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS db_name;
CREATE DATABASE db_name ...;

IF NOT EXISTS

When the IF NOT EXISTS clause is used, MariaDB will return a warning instead of an error if the specified database already exists.

COMMENT

The maximum length of a comment is 1024 bytes. If the comment length exceeds this length, an error/warning code 4144 is thrown. The database comment is also added to the db.opt file, as well as to the information_schema.schemata table.

Examples

CREATE DATABASE db1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.18 sec)

CREATE DATABASE db1;
ERROR 1007 (HY000): Can't create database 'db1'; database exists

CREATE OR REPLACE DATABASE db1;
Query OK, 2 rows affected (0.00 sec)

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS db1;
Query OK, 1 row affected, 1 warning (0.01 sec)

SHOW WARNINGS;
+-------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Level | Code | Message                                      |
+-------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Note  | 1007 | Can't create database 'db1'; database exists |
+-------+------+----------------------------------------------+

Setting the character sets and collation. See Setting Character Sets and Collations for more details.

CREATE DATABASE czech_slovak_names 
  CHARACTER SET = 'keybcs2'
  COLLATE = 'keybcs2_bin';

CREATE DATABASE presentations COMMENT 'Presentations for conferences';