Is there a way to watch a mysql database for changes using perl?

Question

I\'m looking for a solution similar to the inotify method of watching files for changes. I\'m aware that I could watch the binlog file of the mysql database and run queries

Answer 1

If you add a TRIGGER to the table(s) you're interested in, you can use that to alert the watching application. You could do that in a number of ways:

1. Create an audit table in the database, and have the trigger write the relevant info there; and have your watching application poll the audit table for new entries. You're still polling, but in a controlled way which won't hit the server too hard.
2. Have the trigger call an external app through a UDF.