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MYISAMPACK(1)                               MySQL Database System                              MYISAMPACK(1)



NAME
       myisampack - generate compressed, read-only MyISAM tables

SYNOPSIS
       myisampack [options] file_name ...

DESCRIPTION
       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.

       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.


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.
myisamchk(1).

myisampack supports the options in the following list. It also reads option files and supports the options
for processing them described at Section 4.2.3.2.1, "Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling".

  --help, -?

   Display a help message and exit.

  --backup, -b

   Make a backup of each table's data file using the name tbl_name.OLD.

  --character-sets-dir=path

   The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 9.2, "The Character Set Used for Data and
   Sorting".

  --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]

   Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is 'd:t:o,file_name'. The default is 'd:t:o'.

  --force, -f

   Produce 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 in
   the database directory while it compresses the table. If you kill myisampack, the .TMD file might not be
   deleted.) Normally, myisampack exits with an error if it finds that tbl_name.TMD exists. With --force,
   myisampack packs the table anyway.

  --join=big_tbl_name, -j big_tbl_name

   Join 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_name must not exist prior to the join operation. All source tables named on the command line to
   be merged into big_tbl_name must exist. The source tables are read for the join operation but not
   modified. The join operation does not create a .frm file for big_tbl_name, so after the join operation
   finishes, copy the .frm file from one of the source tables and name it big_tbl_name.frm.

  --silent, -s

   Silent mode. Write output only when errors occur.

  --test, -t

   Do not actually pack the table, just test packing it.

  --tmpdir=path, -T path

   Use the named directory as the location where myisampack creates temporary files.

  --verbose, -v

   Verbose mode. Write information about the progress of the packing operation and its result.

  --version, -V

   Display version information and exit.

  --wait, -w

   Wait 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 station
   MyISAM 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.MYI
   Compressing 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 station
   MyISAM 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:

  normal

   The number of columns for which no extra packing is used.

  empty-space

   The number of columns containing values that are only spaces. These occupy one bit.

  empty-zero

   The number of columns containing values that are only binary zeros. These occupy one bit.

  empty-fill

   The 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 BIGINT column (eight bytes) can be stored as a TINYINT column (one byte)
   if all its values are in the range from -128 to 127.

  pre-space

   The 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-space

   The 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-lookup

   The column had only a small number of different values, which were converted to an ENUM before Huffman
   compression.

  zero

   The number of columns for which all values are zero.

  Original trees

   The initial number of Huffman trees.

  After join

   The number of distinct Huffman trees left after joining trees to save some header space.


After a table has been compressed, myisamchk -dvv prints additional information about each column:

  Type

   The data type. The value may contain any of the following descriptors:

     constant

      All rows have the same value.

     no endspace

      Do not store endspace.

     no endspace, not_always

      Do not store endspace and do not do endspace compression for all values.

     no endspace, no empty

      Do not store endspace. Do not store empty values.

     table-lookup

      The column was converted to an ENUM.

     zerofill(N)

      The most significant N bytes in the value are always 0 and are not stored.

     no zeros

      Do not store zeros.

     always zero

      Zero values are stored using one bit.

  Huff tree

   The number of the Huffman tree associated with the column.

  Bits

   The 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

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.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2007-2008 MySQL AB, 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.

       This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it only under the terms of
       the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the
       License.

       This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
       without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
       General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the program; if not,
       write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
       USA or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

SEE ALSO
       For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual, which may already be installed
       locally and which is also available online at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.

AUTHOR
       Sun Microsystems, Inc. (http://www.mysql.com/).



MySQL 5.0                                        05/07/2009                                    MYISAMPACK(1)

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