MySQL SESSION_USER() Function

 The SESSION_USER() function in MySQL returns the current MySQL session user, which is a combination of the username and host from which the user is connected. The format of the returned value is 'user_name@host_name'.

Syntax:

SESSION_USER();

Example:

SELECT SESSION_USER();

This query might return something like:

'root@localhost'

In this case, root is the username and localhost is the host from which the connection was made.

Difference between USER() and SESSION_USER():

• USER() returns the current authenticated user (the user who authenticated to the MySQL server, which may differ if the connection user has changed).
• SESSION_USER() always returns the session's user at the time of the connection (the user who initiated the connection), which may not reflect changes made using SET SESSION commands.

Both functions are often used for debugging and auditing purposes to identify the user making a connection.