~/.my.cnf

.bash_profile

function mydb() { /usr/bin/mysql --defaults-group-suffix=$@ ;}

.my.cnf

[client]
default-character-set=utf8

host=
user=
password=
database=

[clientstage]
host=
user=
password=
database=

[clientdev]
host=localhost
user=
password=
database=

[clientmkt]
host=localhost
user=
password=
database=

[mysql]
no-auto-rehash
connect_timeout=2

README.txt

Usage:

mydb [client]

i.e. mydb (uses default params from the top of .my.cnf)

mydb stage (uses the params from the [clientstage] block)