group concat - MySQL and GROUP_CONCAT() maximum length

Question

I'm using GROUP_CONCAT() in a MySQL query to convert multiple rows into a single string. However, the maximum length of the result of this function is 1024 characters.

I'm very well aware that I can change the param group_concat_max_len to increase this limit:

SET SESSION group_concat_max_len = 1000000;

However, on the server I'm using, I can't change any param. Not by using the preceding query and not by editing any configuration file.

So my question is: Is there any other way to get the output of a multiple row query into a single string?

Answer 1

SET SESSION group_concat_max_len = 1000000;

is a temporary, session-scope, setting. It only applies to the current session You should use it like this.

SET SESSION group_concat_max_len = 1000000;
select group_concat(column) from table group by column

You can do this even in sharing hosting, but when you use an other session, you need to repeat the SET SESSION command.