I wish to work with my MYSQL database via MYSQL monitor as I find my initial impressions of PHPMyAdmin to be a bit unwieldy.

However, I am on a shared hosting package which seems to have no shell access in CPANEL.

Would this still be possible?

You mean this MYSQL monitor (http://www.quicomm.com/mysql_monitor_descript.htm)? If so, yes - it's just a perl CGI script. Follow the installation instructions and it should work.

Edit: You'd probably also want to password-protect the directory where you install it.

If you want to work with the actual databases through a web gui, then phpmyadmin is really one of the best. If you don't like it, check out the alternatives to it like phpminiadmin or navicat.

Appreciate the responses.

What I'm referring to is the command line interface which is commonly referred to as MYSQL Monitor.

I've learned that my shared hosting package does not allow this; which is a pity given that I'm not very familiar with PHPMyADMIN.

Also, they have some odd restrictions such as table names being pre-fixed with my account name upon creation via the CPANEL interface. This will definitely screw up importing my own MYSQL database.

It seems I can't specify user privileges down to the column level, either.

Is it normal for shared hosting providers to apply such limitations?

What I'm referring to is the command line interface which is commonly referred to as MYSQL Monitor.Is it? :confused: Ok, well if your host allows remote database access (most do) and you enable it in your control panel, then you'll be able to access the database on your host's server from any machine where you have an internet connection, a shell prompt and the mysql binary. Just use
mysql -u cpuser_dbuser -p -h yourdomain.com cpuser_dbname

Also, they have some odd restrictions such as table names being pre-fixed with my account name upon creation via the CPANEL interface. This will definitely screw up importing my own MYSQL database.

It seems I can't specify user privileges down to the column level, either.

Is it normal for shared hosting providers to apply such limitations?
Are you sure table names are restricted? That's very unusual if so. Restrictions on usernames, database names and setting permissions are normal - a natural consequence of operating in a shared environment.