Changing Databases:
mysql> use dbname;

Getting database Information
Listing all databases:
C :\mysql\bin> mysqlshow -u user -p
or
mysql> show databases;

Listing all tables for a database:
C :\mysql\bin> mysqlshow -u user -p dbname
or
mysql> use dbname;
mysql> show tables;

Getting table information:
C :\mysql\bin> mysqlshow -u user -p dbname tablename
or
mysql> use dbname;
mysql> explain tablename; or mysql> describe tablename; or mysql> show columns from tablename;

Display MySQL version:
C :\mysql\bin> mysqladmin -u user -p version status proc
or
mysql> SELECT VERSION();