erman@mafalda:~$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 10
Server version: 5.0.51-3 (Debian)

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> help contents
You asked for help about help category: "Contents"
For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of the
following categories:
   Account Management
   Administration
   Data Definition
   Data Manipulation
   Data Types
   Functions
   Functions and Modifiers for Use with GROUP BY
   Geographic Features
   Language Structure
   Storage Engines
   Stored Routines
   Table Maintenance
   Transactions
   Triggers

If the search string matches multiple items, mysql shows a list of
matching topics:

mysql> help logs
Many help items for your request exist.
To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',
where <item> is one of the following topics:
   SHOW
   SHOW BINARY LOGS
   SHOW ENGINE
   SHOW LOGS

Use a topic as the search string to see the help entry for that topic:

mysql> help show binary logs
Name: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'
Description:
Syntax:
SHOW BINARY LOGS
SHOW MASTER LOGS

Lists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used as
part of the procedure described in [purge-master-logs], that shows how
to determine which logs can be purged.

mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;
+---------------+-----------+
| Log_name      | File_size |
+---------------+-----------+
| binlog.000015 |    724935 |
| binlog.000016 |    733481 |
+---------------+-----------+

URL: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/mysql-server-side-help.html


mysql>