Reading data using HandlerSocket and Ruby

In some ways, using the Ruby HandlerSocket client library is very similar to using the Python HandlerSocket client library described earlier in this chapter. This is mainly true in the commands we send to HandlerSocket, but there are differences that can trip us up if we're not careful.

Getting ready

Install the HandlerSocket Ruby client libraries as described in the Installing the HandlerSocket Ruby client libraries recipe earlier in this chapter. Launch the mysql command-line client and run the SQL commands from the Getting ready section of the Reading data using HandlerSocket and PERL recipe earlier in this chapter to give us some sample data to read (and if we've already gone through the PERL or Python recipes, running the SQL commands again will reset the sample data to its default state).

How to do it...

1. Launch the interactive Ruby interpreter in a terminal window as follows:

   irb
   

2. Open a connection to our database in the irb interpreter as follows...