MySQL Bugs: #2086: Misleading error message from SELECT var

Bug #2086	Misleading error message from SELECT var_name
Submitted:	10 Dec 2003 15:56	Modified:	18 Dec 2003 6:18
Reporter:	Paul DuBois	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server	Severity:	S3 (Non-critical)
Version:	4.1.1	OS:	Any (Any)
Assigned to:	Bugs System	CPU Architecture:	Any

Description:
The server produces a misleading error message
when attempting to select the value of a variable.

This works properly:

mysql> SELECT @@global.default.key_buffer_size;
+----------------------------------+
| @@global.default.key_buffer_size |
+----------------------------------+
|                          8388600 |
+----------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.36 sec)

This does not:

mysql> SELECT @@session.default.key_buffer_size;
ERROR 1229 (HY000): Variable 'key_buffer_size' is a GLOBAL variable and should be set with SET 
GLOBAL

Okay, well, it's true that this variable doesn't
have a session form, but the error message is
incorrect -- I'm attempting to *retrieve* the
value, not *set* it.

How to repeat:
See above.

There are new error messages:

mysql> SELECT @@session.key_buffer_size;
ERROR 1238: Variable 'key_buffer_size' is a GLOBAL variable
mysql> SET @@session.key_buffer_size=1;
ERROR 1229: Variable 'key_buffer_size' is a GLOBAL variable and should be set with SET GLOBAL
mysql> select @@global.timestamp;
ERROR 1238: Variable 'timestamp' is a LOCAL variable
mysql> set @@global.timestamp=1;
ERROR 1228: Variable 'timestamp' is a LOCAL variable and can't be used with SET GLOBAL

Thank you for your bug report. This issue has been committed to our
source repository of that product and will be incorporated into the
next release.

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available version, including the bugfix, yourself. More information 
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