> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Using MySQL views

> Discover how to create and use MySQL views on your Hosting.com account with detailed instructions, code snippets, and related links.

This article describes how to create and use MySQL views on your hosting.com account. Views do not actually store any data. Instead, they store predefined queries that return a result set. Because MySQL views look and function like regular tables, they are sometimes called *virtual tables*.

Views offer a number of advantages. You can use views to hide table columns from users by granting them access to the view and not to the table itself. This helps enhance database security and integrity. Views can also help you construct simplified, abstracted interfaces to complex databases.

## Creating and using views

You can create and use views on any hosting.com server that uses MySQL.

### Setting up a test database

To demonstrate a basic example using views, let's start by creating a database for testing purposes. In the following SQL statement, replace *username* with your account username:

```
CREATE DATABASE username_test;
```

<Note>
  You can run the previous SQL command (and the following SQL commands) from the command line [using the mysql program](/docs/connect-to-mysql-from-the-command-line) or in your web browser [using phpMyAdmin](/docs/phpmyadmin-and-phppgadmin).
</Note>

If you are using phpMyAdmin, click the name **username\_test** to select the database. Otherwise, if you are using the *mysql* command-line program, type the following SQL statement:

```
USE username_test;
```

Next, create a table in the **username\_test** database named **products**. To do this, run the following SQL statement:

```
CREATE TABLE products (prod_id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, prod_name VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL, prod_cost FLOAT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0.0, prod_price FLOAT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0.0, PRIMARY KEY(prod_id));
```

The following SQL statement adds some sample data to the **products** table:

```
INSERT INTO products (prod_name, prod_cost, prod_price) VALUES ('Basic Widget',5.95,8.35),('Micro Widget',0.95,1.35),('Mega Widget',99.95,140.00);
```

### Creating the view

Now that we have a database and a table to work with, we are ready to create a simple view. Let's create a view named **minimumPriceView**. This view returns a data set of all products whose cost is greater than 1.00 (in dollars, Euros, or whatever currency unit we're working with).

To create this view, run the following MySQL statement:

```
CREATE VIEW minimumPriceView AS SELECT prod_name FROM products WHERE prod_cost > 1.00;
```

As you can see, the basic syntax to create a view is **CREATE VIEW name AS query**. Replace *name* with the name of the view, and replace *query* with the SQL query that you want to use.

<Note>
  If you look at a list of the tables in the database, you will see the **minimumPriceView** view listed alongside the other tables. Remember, however, that views are virtual tables containing queries. They do not contain any actual data.
</Note>

### Using the view

You can now use the **minimumPriceView** view in a query:

```
SELECT * FROM minimumPriceView;
```

This SQL statement returns the following results:

```
+--------------+
| prod_name    |
+--------------+
| Basic Widget |
| Mega Widget  |
+--------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

The **minimumPriceView** view has done all of the work behind the scenes, pulling out the products whose cost exceeds the value 1.00. Although this is a very simple example of a view, you can use the same techniques in your own databases to build more complex views.

* For more information about MySQL views, please visit [http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/views.html](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/views.html).

* For more information about the **CREATE VIEW** statement, please visit [http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/create-view.html](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/create-view.html).

## Related articles

* [Creating and executing MySQL stored functions and procedures](/docs/mysql-stored-functions-and-procedures)

* [MySQL triggers](/docs/mysql-triggers)

* [Connecting to MySQL from the command line](/docs/connect-to-mysql-from-the-command-line)

* [Connecting to MySQL using PHP](/docs/connect-to-mysql-using-php)

* [Managing MySQL databases, users, and tables from the command line](/docs/managing-mysql-databases-and-users-from-the-command-line)