Python: MySQL: Handling timeouts

Question

I am using Python and mySQL, and there is a long lag between queries. As a result, I get an \'MySQL connection has gone away\' error, that is wait_timeout is exceeded.

Answer 1

I was running into mystifying "MySQL server has gone away" errors, and here is my solution.

This solution will let you retry through MySQL errors, handle pretty much any type of query, include query variables in the query str or in a separate tuple, and collect and return all of the success and error messages you encounter along the way:

def execute_query(query_str, values=None):
  # defaults
  num_affected_rows = 0
  result_rows = None
  success = False
  message = "Error executing query: {}".format(query_str)
  # run the query
  try:
    mysql_conn = get_existing_mysql_connection()
    cur = mysql_conn.cursor()
    if values == None or len(values) < 1:
      num_affected_rows = cur.execute(query_str)
    else:
      num_affected_rows = cur.execute(query_str, values)
    result_rows = cur.fetchall() # only relevant to select, but safe to run with others
    cur.close()
    mysql_conn.commit()
    success = True
    message = "Mysql success for query: {}".format(query_str)
  except BaseException as e:
    message = "Mysql error: {}; for query: {}".format(repr(e), query_str)
  return (success, num_affected_rows, result_rows, message)


def execute_query_with_retry(query_str, values=None, num_tries=3, message=""):
  # defaults
  success = False
  num_affected_rows = 0
  result_rows = None
  this_message = "Error executing query: {}".format(query_str)
  # should we still try?
  if num_tries < 1:
    this_message = "Ran out of tries for query: {}".format(query_str)
    return (False, 0, None, message + '; ' + this_message)
  num_tries_after_this = num_tries - 1
  # try to execute query
  try:
    (success, num_affected_rows, result_rows, this_message) = execute_query(query_str, values)
  except BaseException as e:
    success = False
  # handle success or failure
  if success == True:
    return (True, num_affected_rows, result_rows, message + '; ' + this_message)
  else:
    open_new_mysql_connection() # reconnect using password etc.
    return(execute_query_with_retry(query_str, values=values, num_tries=num_tries_after_this, message=(message + '; ' + this_message)))