- Documentation Library
- Table of Contents
- MySQL 5.5 Manual
- MySQL 5.4 Manual
- MySQL 5.1 Manual
- MySQL 5.0 Manual
- MySQL 3.23/4.0/4.1 Manual
- Table of Contents
- 4.6 MySQL Administrative and Utility Programs
- 4.6.1 myisam_ftdump — Display Full-Text Index information
- 4.6.2 myisamchk — MyISAM Table-Maintenance Utility
- 4.6.3 myisamlog — Display MyISAM Log File Contents
- 4.6.4 myisampack — Generate Compressed, Read-Only MyISAM Tables
- 4.6.5 mysqlaccess — Client for Checking Access Privileges
- 4.6.6 mysqlbinlog — Utility for Processing Binary Log Files
- 4.6.7 mysqldumpslow — Summarize Slow Query Log Files
- 4.6.8 mysqlhotcopy — A Database Backup Program
- 4.6.9 mysqlmanagerc — Internal Test-Suite Program
- 4.6.10 mysqlmanager-pwgen — Internal Test-Suite Program
- 4.6.11 mysql_convert_table_format — Convert Tables to Use a Given Storage Engine
- 4.6.12 mysql_explain_log — Use EXPLAIN on Statements in Query Log
- 4.6.13 mysql_find_rows — Extract SQL Statements from Files
- 4.6.14 mysql_fix_extensions — Normalize Table File Name Extensions
- 4.6.15 mysql_setpermission — Interactively Set Permissions in Grant Tables
- 4.6.16 mysql_tableinfo — Generate Database Metadata
- 4.6.17 mysql_waitpid — Kill Process and Wait for Its Termination
- 4.6.18 mysql_zap — Kill Processes That Match a Pattern
The myisampack utility compresses
MyISAM tables. myisampack
works by compressing each column in the table separately.
Usually, myisampack packs the data file
40%–70%.
When the table is used later, the server reads into memory the information needed to decompress columns. This results in much better performance when accessing individual rows, because you only have to uncompress exactly one row.
MySQL uses mmap() when possible to perform
memory mapping on compressed tables. If
mmap() does not work, MySQL falls back to
normal read/write file operations.
A similar utility, pack_isam, compresses
ISAM tables. Because ISAM
tables are deprecated, this section discusses only
myisampack, but the general procedures for
using myisampack are also true for
pack_isam unless otherwise specified.
References to myisamchk should be read as
references to isamchk if you are using
pack_isam.
Please note the following:
If the mysqld server was invoked with external locking disabled, it is not a good idea to invoke myisampack if the table might be updated by the server during the packing process. It is safest to compress tables with the server stopped.
After packing a table, it becomes read only. This is generally intended (such as when accessing packed tables on a CD). Allowing writes to a packed table is on our TODO list, but with low priority.
myisampack can pack
BLOBorTEXTcolumns. (The older pack_isam program forISAMtables does not have this capability.)
Invoke myisampack like this:
shell> myisampack [options] file_name ...
Each file name argument should be the name of an index
(.MYI) file. If you are not in the database
directory, you should specify the path name to the file. It is
permissible to omit the .MYI extension.
After you compress a table with myisampack, you should use myisamchk -rq to rebuild its indexes. Section 4.6.2, “myisamchk — MyISAM Table-Maintenance Utility”.
myisampack supports the following options. It also reads option files and supports the options for processing them described at Section 4.2.3.3.1, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.
-
--help,-?Display a help message and exit.
-
--backup,-bMake a backup of each table's data file using the name
tbl_name.OLD -
The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 9.6, “Character Set Configuration”.
-
--debug[=,debug_options]-# [debug_options]Write a debugging log. A typical
debug_optionsstring is'd:t:o,. The default isfile_name''d:t:o'. -
--force,-fProduce a packed table even if it becomes larger than the original or if the intermediate file from an earlier invocation of myisampack exists. (myisampack creates an intermediate file named
tbl_name.TMD.TMDfile might not be deleted.) Normally, myisampack exits with an error if it finds thattbl_name.TMD--force, myisampack packs the table anyway. -
--join=,big_tbl_name-jbig_tbl_nameJoin all tables named on the command line into a single packed table
big_tbl_name. All tables that are to be combined must have identical structure (same column names and types, same indexes, and so forth).big_tbl_namemust not exist prior to the join operation. All source tables named on the command line to be merged intobig_tbl_namemust exist. The source tables are read for the join operation but not modified. The join operation does not create a.frmfile forbig_tbl_name, so after the join operation finishes, copy the.frmfile from one of the source tables and name itbig_tbl_name.frm -
--packlength=,len-plen(pack_isam only) Specify the row length storage size, in bytes. The value should be 1, 2, or 3. pack_isam stores all rows with length pointers of 1, 2, or 3 bytes. In most normal cases, pack_isam can determine the correct length value before it begins packing the file, but it may notice during the packing process that it could have used a shorter length. In this case, pack_isam prints a note that you could use a shorter row length the next time you pack the same file.
-
--silent,-sSilent mode. Write output only when errors occur.
-
--test,-tDo not actually pack the table, just test packing it.
-
--tmpdir=,path-TpathUse the named directory as the location where myisampack creates temporary files.
-
--verbose,-vVerbose mode. Write information about the progress of the packing operation and its result.
-
--version,-VDisplay version information and exit.
-
--wait,-wWait and retry if the table is in use. If the mysqld server was invoked with external locking disabled, it is not a good idea to invoke myisampack if the table might be updated by the server during the packing process.
The following sequence of commands illustrates a typical table compression session:
shell>ls -l station.*-rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 994128 Apr 17 19:00 station.MYD -rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 53248 Apr 17 19:00 station.MYI -rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 5767 Apr 17 19:00 station.frm shell>myisamchk -dvv stationMyISAM file: station Isam-version: 2 Creation time: 1996-03-13 10:08:58 Recover time: 1997-02-02 3:06:43 Data records: 1192 Deleted blocks: 0 Datafile parts: 1192 Deleted data: 0 Datafile pointer (bytes): 2 Keyfile pointer (bytes): 2 Max datafile length: 54657023 Max keyfile length: 33554431 Recordlength: 834 Record format: Fixed length table description: Key Start Len Index Type Root Blocksize Rec/key 1 2 4 unique unsigned long 1024 1024 1 2 32 30 multip. text 10240 1024 1 Field Start Length Type 1 1 1 2 2 4 3 6 4 4 10 1 5 11 20 6 31 1 7 32 30 8 62 35 9 97 35 10 132 35 11 167 4 12 171 16 13 187 35 14 222 4 15 226 16 16 242 20 17 262 20 18 282 20 19 302 30 20 332 4 21 336 4 22 340 1 23 341 8 24 349 8 25 357 8 26 365 2 27 367 2 28 369 4 29 373 4 30 377 1 31 378 2 32 380 8 33 388 4 34 392 4 35 396 4 36 400 4 37 404 1 38 405 4 39 409 4 40 413 4 41 417 4 42 421 4 43 425 4 44 429 20 45 449 30 46 479 1 47 480 1 48 481 79 49 560 79 50 639 79 51 718 79 52 797 8 53 805 1 54 806 1 55 807 20 56 827 4 57 831 4 shell>myisampack station.MYICompressing station.MYI: (1192 records) - Calculating statistics normal: 20 empty-space: 16 empty-zero: 12 empty-fill: 11 pre-space: 0 end-space: 12 table-lookups: 5 zero: 7 Original trees: 57 After join: 17 - Compressing file 87.14% Remember to run myisamchk -rq on compressed tables shell>ls -l station.*-rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 127874 Apr 17 19:00 station.MYD -rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 55296 Apr 17 19:04 station.MYI -rw-rw-r-- 1 monty my 5767 Apr 17 19:00 station.frm shell>myisamchk -dvv stationMyISAM file: station Isam-version: 2 Creation time: 1996-03-13 10:08:58 Recover time: 1997-04-17 19:04:26 Data records: 1192 Deleted blocks: 0 Datafile parts: 1192 Deleted data: 0 Datafile pointer (bytes): 3 Keyfile pointer (bytes): 1 Max datafile length: 16777215 Max keyfile length: 131071 Recordlength: 834 Record format: Compressed table description: Key Start Len Index Type Root Blocksize Rec/key 1 2 4 unique unsigned long 10240 1024 1 2 32 30 multip. text 54272 1024 1 Field Start Length Type Huff tree Bits 1 1 1 constant 1 0 2 2 4 zerofill(1) 2 9 3 6 4 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9 4 10 1 3 9 5 11 20 table-lookup 4 0 6 31 1 3 9 7 32 30 no endspace, not_always 5 9 8 62 35 no endspace, not_always, no empty 6 9 9 97 35 no empty 7 9 10 132 35 no endspace, not_always, no empty 6 9 11 167 4 zerofill(1) 2 9 12 171 16 no endspace, not_always, no empty 5 9 13 187 35 no endspace, not_always, no empty 6 9 14 222 4 zerofill(1) 2 9 15 226 16 no endspace, not_always, no empty 5 9 16 242 20 no endspace, not_always 8 9 17 262 20 no endspace, no empty 8 9 18 282 20 no endspace, no empty 5 9 19 302 30 no endspace, no empty 6 9 20 332 4 always zero 2 9 21 336 4 always zero 2 9 22 340 1 3 9 23 341 8 table-lookup 9 0 24 349 8 table-lookup 10 0 25 357 8 always zero 2 9 26 365 2 2 9 27 367 2 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9 28 369 4 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9 29 373 4 table-lookup 11 0 30 377 1 3 9 31 378 2 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9 32 380 8 no zeros 2 9 33 388 4 always zero 2 9 34 392 4 table-lookup 12 0 35 396 4 no zeros, zerofill(1) 13 9 36 400 4 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9 37 404 1 2 9 38 405 4 no zeros 2 9 39 409 4 always zero 2 9 40 413 4 no zeros 2 9 41 417 4 always zero 2 9 42 421 4 no zeros 2 9 43 425 4 always zero 2 9 44 429 20 no empty 3 9 45 449 30 no empty 3 9 46 479 1 14 4 47 480 1 14 4 48 481 79 no endspace, no empty 15 9 49 560 79 no empty 2 9 50 639 79 no empty 2 9 51 718 79 no endspace 16 9 52 797 8 no empty 2 9 53 805 1 17 1 54 806 1 3 9 55 807 20 no empty 3 9 56 827 4 no zeros, zerofill(2) 2 9 57 831 4 no zeros, zerofill(1) 2 9
myisampack displays the following kinds of information:
-
normalThe number of columns for which no extra packing is used.
-
empty-spaceThe number of columns containing values that are only spaces. These occupy one bit.
-
empty-zeroThe number of columns containing values that are only binary zeros. These occupy one bit.
-
empty-fillThe number of integer columns that do not occupy the full byte range of their type. These are changed to a smaller type. For example, a
BIGINTcolumn (eight bytes) can be stored as aTINYINTcolumn (one byte) if all its values are in the range from-128to127. -
pre-spaceThe number of decimal columns that are stored with leading spaces. In this case, each value contains a count for the number of leading spaces.
-
end-spaceThe number of columns that have a lot of trailing spaces. In this case, each value contains a count for the number of trailing spaces.
-
table-lookupThe column had only a small number of different values, which were converted to an
ENUMbefore Huffman compression. -
zeroThe number of columns for which all values are zero.
-
Original treesThe initial number of Huffman trees.
-
After joinThe number of distinct Huffman trees left after joining trees to save some header space.
After a table has been compressed, the Field
lines displayed by myisamchk -dvv include
additional information about each column:
-
TypeThe data type. The value may contain any of the following descriptors:
-
constantAll rows have the same value.
-
no endspaceDo not store endspace.
-
no endspace, not_alwaysDo not store endspace and do not do endspace compression for all values.
-
no endspace, no emptyDo not store endspace. Do not store empty values.
-
table-lookupThe column was converted to an
ENUM. -
zerofill(N)The most significant
Nbytes in the value are always 0 and are not stored. -
no zerosDo not store zeros.
-
always zeroZero values are stored using one bit.
-
-
Huff treeThe number of the Huffman tree associated with the column.
-
BitsThe number of bits used in the Huffman tree.
After you run myisampack, you must run myisamchk to re-create any indexes. At this time, you can also sort the index blocks and create statistics needed for the MySQL optimizer to work more efficiently:
shell> myisamchk -rq --sort-index --analyze tbl_name.MYI
A similar procedure applies for ISAM tables.
After using pack_isam, use
isamchk to re-create the indexes:
shell> isamchk -rq --sort-index --analyze tbl_name.ISM
After you have installed the packed table into the MySQL database directory, you should execute mysqladmin flush-tables to force mysqld to start using the new table.
To unpack a packed table, use the
--unpack option to
myisamchk or isamchk.
User Comments
To see if a table is, in fact, compressed and that MySQL is using the compressed table, issue the following query:
mysql> SHOW TABLE STATUS FROM dbname LIKE 'tableName'\G
The results will be similar to the following:
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Name: tableName
Engine: MyISAM
Version: 9
Row_format: Compressed
Rows: 8887
Avg_row_length: 13
Data_length: 120476
Max_data_length: 4294967295
Index_length: 329728
Data_free: 0
Auto_increment: 21657
Create_time: 2005-04-29 12:24:35
Update_time: 2005-04-29 12:24:41
Check_time: 2005-05-02 14:40:13
Collation: latin1_swedish_ci
Checksum: 2854389546
Create_options:
Comment:
1 row in set (0.72 sec)
Notice the Row_format is shown as "Compressed".
If you do not see "Compressed" as the Row_format try issuing a "FLUSH TABLE tableName;" to force MySQL to reload the table and try again.
It seems there are some particular issues regarding "show table status" with compressed tables on a working server.
After further experimentation and some help from mysql support, it seems that the best method for compressing tables on a working database (even if you know the table will not be used during the process) is to first obtain a lock via a mysql client program and then flush the table. While leaving your client program connected and holding the lock, use the myisampack and myisamchk utilities per the above documentation.
When complete, release the lock and flush the table again.
Always do issue a "show table status..." and check the "Row_format" field. The Row_format should be "Compressed". If your table still shows something other than "Compressed" as the Row_format or if you are getting erroneous data from selects try issuing a "flush tables" statement.
Hope that helps. Have fun!
Beware that packing a table while the database is running can lead to data corruption, and is unsupported by MySQL AB. However I've been able to successfully pack 100s of tables on a running database with only a minor warning in the end result. The minor warning is result from the table not being closed.
How to pack a table on a 'live' system:
step 1: LOCK TABLE x FOR WRITE;
step 2: FLUSH TABLE x;
step 3: myisamchk -cFU -- fast check for pre-existing errors. Don't pack if errors exist. Ignore the warning of table "not closed" because this check will go ahead and closed the DB files.
step 4: myisampack -f -- force overwrite of any preexisting .TMD file
step 5: myisamchk -raqS -- rebuild the index after pack
step 6: FLUSH TABLE x; -- force reload of info_schema data
step 7: UNLOCK TABLES; -- Release the table.
Ultimatly the results of table packing is to trade the bottleneck of Disk i/o for CPU cycles, by unpacking more records for the same sized block of data. We have reduced tables that take 1G down to 250M with myisampack.
Enjoy!
Details to NOT miss about packed tables:
1) Once you have Packed a MyISAM table is it **READ ONLY**.
You can only Select From or Truncate the table. No updates or Inserts are allowed.
2) The Archive Engine produces a smaller table, it won't have an Index, but new records can still be appended.
3) The DATA is not sorted by myisampack.
4) You must rebuild the index after packing: myisamchk -raqS
I've found the performance gains and disk space savings from packed tables is worth having to rebuilding the data periodically.
I'm looking forward to combine partitioning of packed and unpacked tables for an archival system.
-- JJ --
Another important note:
The mmap() behaviour described here is not optional and may cause a 32-bit server to run out of address space sooner than it otherwise would.
Therefore I strongly recommend factoring address space usage into any feasibility study of myisampack on 32-bit systems.
Add your own comment.