Bug #34574 perror: Obsolete help text
Submitted: 15 Feb 2008 0:40 Modified: 18 Jun 2009 15:07
Reporter: Paul DuBois Email Updates:
Status: Closed Impact on me:
None 
Category:MySQL Server: Command-line Clients Severity:S3 (Non-critical)
Version:all OS:Any
Assigned to: Jim Winstead CPU Architecture:Any

[15 Feb 2008 0:40] Paul DuBois
Description:
perror.c contains this statement that is printed as part of the help text:

  printf("Print a description for a system error code or an error code from\na MyISAM/ISAM/BDB table handler.\n");

That's problematic for a few reasons:

The message is the same even in MySQL 6.0, whereas ISAM was obsolete as of MySQL 5.0, and BDB was removed in 5.1.

"table handler" as a term has been deprecated in favor of "storage engine" since 4.1.

perror can print information about MySQL errors that don't have anything to do with table handlers.

How to repeat:
N/A

Suggested fix:
I suggest replacing the text with something more generic and less version/feature-specific. Perhaps something like this:

Print a description for a system error code or a MySQL error code.
[15 Feb 2008 1:21] MySQL Verification Team
Thank you for the bug report.
[27 Feb 2008 14:51] Konstantin Osipov
Jim, I think it's yours now?
[28 Apr 2009 18:17] Bugs System
A patch for this bug has been committed. After review, it may
be pushed to the relevant source trees for release in the next
version. You can access the patch from:

  http://lists.mysql.com/commits/72935

2877 Jim Winstead	2009-04-28
      Make help text for perror more accurate. (Bug #34574)
      modified:
        extra/perror.c
[5 May 2009 18:04] Jim Winstead
Queued to 5.1-bugteam and 6.0-bugteam.
[28 May 2009 8:20] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.1.36 (revid:joro@sun.com-20090528073639-yohsb4q1jzg7ycws) (version source revid:mats@sun.com-20090511132802-nnkiyb2huih1tklz) (merge vers: 5.1.35) (pib:6)
[29 May 2009 1:23] Paul DuBois
Cosmetic change. No changelog entry needed.

Setting report to NDI pending push into 6.0.x.
[17 Jun 2009 19:26] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.4.4-alpha (revid:alik@sun.com-20090616183122-chjzbaa30qopdra9) (version source revid:jimw@mysql.com-20090505173706-9ze3q4qzngw8kt2b) (merge vers: 6.0.12-alpha) (pib:11)
[18 Jun 2009 15:07] Paul DuBois
Cosmetic change. No changelog entry needed.
[26 Aug 2009 13:46] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8) (pib:11)
[26 Aug 2009 13:46] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-6.3.27 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826105955-bkj027t47gfbamnc) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826105955-bkj027t47gfbamnc) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-6.3.27) (pib:11)
[26 Aug 2009 13:48] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-6.2.19 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090825194404-37rtosk049t9koc4) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090825194404-37rtosk049t9koc4) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-6.2.19) (pib:11)
[27 Aug 2009 16:33] Bugs System
Pushed into 5.1.35-ndb-7.1.0 (revid:magnus.blaudd@sun.com-20090827163030-6o3kk6r2oua159hr) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8) (pib:11)