"ping" not reconnecting in Python MySQLdb client interface

[John Nagle]

JJohn Nagle wrote:
 >    I have some long-running Python programs that can be idle
 > for hours, and, of course, the MySQL connection times out.
 > So I call
 >
 >     db.ping()
 >
 > at the beginning of a new request cycle.  This should
 > reestablish the connection, but it doesn't.
...
 > I suspect that MySQL has auto-reconnect turned off, but doesn't document
 > this.

    That seems to be the case.  MySQLdb.connect turns off auto-reconnect, and
doesn't document "ping".

    I'm currently trying this:

	if db :	# if previously attached
		try :
			db.ping()	# test connection
		except MySQLdb.OperationalError, message: # loss of connection
			db = None	# we lost database connection
	if db is None :			# if no valid database handle
		db = MySQLdb.connect(...)	# connect to database

which is a bit ugly.

					John Nagle