MySQL Bugs: #36066: Document explicitely that mysql_upgrade does NOT change version for all tables

Bug #36066	Document explicitely that mysql_upgrade does NOT change version for all tables
Submitted:	14 Apr 2008 17:12	Modified:	30 May 2008 14:54
Reporter:	Valeriy Kravchuk	Email Updates:
Status:	No Feedback	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server: Documentation	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	5.0	OS:	Any
Assigned to:	Assigned Account	CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	upgrade

Description:
Manual (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/mysql-upgrade.html):

"mysql_upgrade should be executed each time you upgrade MySQL. It checks all tables in all databases for incompatibilities with the current version of MySQL Server. If a table is found to have a possible incompatibility, it is checked."

But if table is considered "OK" (has no blob, varchar or decimal columns), it is NOT checked, and, thus, table version remains the same. It may lead to corruption later (see Bug #36055, for example).

Moreover, mysql_upgrade does NOT inform user that table version was NOT changed for particular table, it just works "OK" silently. 

So, that manual page should have explicit warning that version may NOT be changed after running mysql_upgrade.

How to repeat:
See Bug #36055 and try to predict possible problems based on mysql_upgrade manual or output.

Suggested fix:
Add explicit prominent warning that version may NOT be changed after running mysql_upgrade to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/mysql-upgrade.html.

If this behavior may lead to corruption later, why is it not considered a bug in mysql_upgrade, rather than something to be "fixed" by documenting it? That is not a fix because it leads to a gotcha that users must know about.

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=36055 is a bug/feature request about mysql_upgrade. Before that bug is fixed (it may happen in a year or two), we need current mysql_upgrade behaviour clearly documented.

Valeriy,

Is this issue something that stems from the behavior of CHECK TABLE ... FOR UPGRADE, and not something specific to mysql_upgrade itself?

No feedback was provided for this bug for over a month, so it is
being suspended automatically. If you are able to provide the
information that was originally requested, please do so and change
the status of the bug back to "Open".