MySQL Bugs: #20415: Output of mysqld --help --verbose is incomplete

Bug #20415	Output of mysqld --help --verbose is incomplete
Submitted:	13 Jun 2006 6:37	Modified:	7 Mar 2010 0:42
Reporter:	Oli Sennhauser	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server: Options	Severity:	S3 (Non-critical)
Version:	5.0.23-BK, 5.0.22, 5.1.40	OS:	Any (any)
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any

Description:
Output of mysqld --help --verbose is incomplete.

* Inconsistent use of '-' and '_'. Replace all variables with '-' to '_'. Makes finding easier.

* Variables are NOT in alphabetical order. this makes it difficult to find.

* The following variables and theire values are not shown with mysqld --verbose --help:
character_set_client,
character_set_connection
character_set_database
character_set_results
character_set_system
collation_connection
collation_database
delay_key_write
flush
ft_boolean_syntax
innodb_data_file_path
innodb_log_archive
innodb_safe_binlog
large_files_support
large_page_size
large_pages
license
locked_in_memory
lower_case_file_system
max_insert_delayed_threads
myisam_recover_options
multi_read_range
named_pipe
ndb_index_stat_cache_entries
ndb_index_stat_enable
ndb_index_stat_update_freq
ndb_report_thresh_binlog_epoch_slip
ndb_report_thresh_binlog_mem_usage
ndb_cache_check_time
one_shot
prepared_stmt_count
protocol_version
shared_memory
shared_memory_base_name
skip_external_locking
skip_networking
skip_show_database
slave_skip_errors
sql_notes
sql_warnings
storage_engine
system_time_zone
table_type
time_zone
tx_isolation
version
version_bdb
version_comment
version_compile_machine
version_compile_os

* If some values are not applicable (e.g. Windows only) they should be listed e.g. as 'n.a.' or something like that?

How to repeat:
Compare mysqld --verbose --help with docu and show variables.

Are you talking about bugs in the software or bugs in the documentation? Your bug report seems to indicate the former. If my assumption is right, please change the category to "MySQL Server". If my assumption is wrong, please provide URLs of the manual so that it's clear which pages you believe contain the bugs.

Verified just as described. The following test demonstrates inconsistency of '_' vs '-' and one of the missed variables:

openxs@suse:~/dbs/5.0> libexec/mysqld --verbose --help | grep myisam
                      this option enabled you can run myisamchk to test (not
  --myisam-recover[=name]
                      Syntax: myisam-recover[=option[,option...]], where option
  --myisam_block_size=#
  --myisam_data_pointer_size=#
  --myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size=#
  --myisam_max_sort_file_size=#
  --myisam_repair_threads=#
  --myisam_sort_buffer_size=#
  --myisam_stats_method=name
log-isam                          myisam.log
myisam-recover                    OFF
myisam_block_size                 1024
myisam_data_pointer_size          6
myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size   2147483648
myisam_max_sort_file_size         2147483647
myisam_repair_threads             1
myisam_sort_buffer_size           8388608
myisam_stats_method               nulls_unequal

Will also fix the problem as reported by mysql-test-run.pl below, at least one space should always be added between variable name and it's value.

mysql-test-run: WARNING: Could not parse variable list line : ndb-report-thresh-binlog-epoch-slip3

mysql-test-run: WARNING: Could not parse variable list line : ndb-report-thresh-binlog-mem-usage10

Valeriy, could you please re-verify, we have been cleaning up server variables quite a bit, what's the status of this bug today?
Thank you.

Test with latest 5.1.40, similar to those in my comment dated:

[13 Jun 2006 11:08]

clearly shows that nothing changed to better:

valeriy-kravchuks-macbook-pro:5.1 openxs$ libexec/mysqld --verbose --help | grep myisam
090917 18:20:36 [Warning] Setting lower_case_table_names=2 because file system for /Users/openxs/dbs/5.1/var/ is case insensitive
090917 18:20:36 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
090917 18:20:36 [Note] Plugin 'ndbcluster' is disabled.
                      With this option enabled you can run myisamchk to test
  --myisam-recover[=name] 
                      Syntax: myisam-recover[=option[,option...]], where option
  --myisam_block_size=# 
  --myisam_data_pointer_size=# 
  --myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size=# 
  --myisam_max_sort_file_size=# 
  --myisam_repair_threads=# 
  --myisam_sort_buffer_size=# 
  --myisam_stats_method=name 
  --myisam_use_mmap   Use memory mapping for reading and writing MyISAM tables
090917 18:20:36 [Warning] Forcing shutdown of 2 plugins
log-isam                          myisam.log
myisam-recover                    OFF
myisam_block_size                 1024
myisam_data_pointer_size          6
myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size   2147483648
myisam_max_sort_file_size         2146435072
myisam_repair_threads             1
myisam_sort_buffer_size           8388608
myisam_stats_method               nulls_unequal
myisam_use_mmap                   FALSE

Still "-" is used in myisam-recover and log-isam, myisam_recover_options is still missing. So, there is still something to fix here.

Not going to check ALL the list Oli presented, sorry.

after my fixes for WL#4738, all variables will be sorted in alphabetical order, and '-' and '_' won't be used inconsistently anymore.

But those variables that are not shown in --verbose --help won't be, it's a separate issue, change in behavior, that needs to be discussed on a case by case basis.

Pushed into 5.5.3-m3 (revid:alik@sun.com-20100306103849-hha31z2enhh7jwt3) (version source revid:vvaintroub@fedora12-20091225154921-x25a5pyw1pxiwobv) (merge vers: 5.5.99) (pib:16)

Cosmetic change. No changelog entry needed.