Reading mysql data stream into array

[Dirk]

 Hi folks,

I am going nuts trying to read the output of a mysql select statement 
into an array. I have consulted bashfaq and other sources and tried 
various approaches, but every jump was somewhat short, it seems.

This is what I tried (bash is 3.2.xx, I tried on MacOS X and Debian Lenny):

    while read -r; do messag[i++]=$REPLY; done < <(mysql select 
statement)        # this is from BashFAQ Nr. 5 - is this possible with 
bash 3.2.x at all?
this got me complains about unexpected "<" and such

    $(mysql select command) | while read line; do messag+=($line); 
done        # this basically works, but counting up the array index does not
I also tried
    ... do messag[i++]=($line)                                        
                                    # -bash: messag[i++]: cannot assign 
list to array member (????)
    ... do messag[i]=$line && i=$(($i+1))
    ... do messag[$i]=$line && i=$(($i+1))

It never results in every line of the mysql output becoming an array 
element.

I really tried finding out myself, but I am stuck, so please can someone 
point me to what I do wrong?

Thanks in advance,

Dirk