how to find out the mysql version from php?

several people seem the have the "case sensitivity problem" regarding different mysql versions - see this extract from the mysql manual: " Prior to MySQL Version 3.23.4, REGEXP is case sensitive, and the previous query will return no rows. To match either lowercase or uppercase `b', use this query instead: mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name REGEXP "^[bB]"; From MySQL 3.23.4 on, to force a REGEXP comparison to be case sensitive, use the BINARY keyword to make one of the strings a binary string. This query will match only lowercase `b' at the beginning of a name: mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name REGEXP BINARY "^b"; " is there a way to find out _programmatically_ which version of mysql is running (phpinfo() gives some information, but i don't know how this can be accessed) on the server. thanks in advance, Jakob. PS: please cc me, i am on the very long digest list.