How to select only the number from "show global status like 'Com_insert';"
If you are using MySQL 5.1+, you can get the number alone in MySQL client

mysql&gt; select VARIABLE_VALUE from information_schema.global_status
    -&gt; where VARIABLE_NAME = 'Com_insert';
+----------------+
| VARIABLE_VALUE |
+----------------+
| 479512448      |
+----------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql&gt;


No matter what version of MySQL 5.x, you can also get the number in the OS:

[root@*** ~]# mysql -root -p -ANe"show global status like 'Com_insert'" | awk '{print $2}'
479512506