This section describes how to rebuild a table. This can be necessitated by changes to MySQL such as how data types are handled or changes to character set handling. For example, an error in a collation might have been corrected, necessitating a table rebuild to rebuild the indexes for character columns that use the collation. It might also be that a table repair or upgrade should be done as indicated by a table check operation such as that performed by CHECK TABLE, mysqlcheck, or mysql_upgrade.

Methods for rebuilding a table include dumping and reloading it, or using ALTER TABLE or REPAIR TABLE.

To re-create a table by dumping and reloading it, use mysqldump to create a dump file and mysql to reload the file:

shell> mysqldump db_name t1 > dump.sql
shell> mysql db_name < dump.sql

To recreate all the tables in a single database, specify the database name without any following table name:

shell> mysqldump db_name > dump.sql
shell> mysql db_name < dump.sql

To recreate all tables in all databases, use the --all-databases option:

shell> mysqldump --all-databases > dump.sql
shell> mysql < dump.sql

To rebuild a table with ALTER TABLE, use a statement that “changes” the table to use the storage engine that it already has. For example, if t1 is a MyISAM table, use this statement:

mysql> ALTER TABLE t1 ENGINE = MyISAM;

If you are not sure which storage engine to specify in the ALTER TABLE statement, use SHOW CREATE TABLE to display the table definition.

If you must rebuild a table because a table checking operation indicates that the table is corrupt or needs an upgrade, you can use REPAIR TABLE if that statement supports the table's storage engine. For example, to repair a MyISAM table, use this statement:

mysql> REPAIR TABLE t1;

For storage engines such as InnoDB that REPAIR TABLE does not support, use mysqldump to create a dump file and mysql to reload the file, as described earlier.

For specifics about which storage engines REPAIR TABLE supports, see Section 12.5.2.6, “REPAIR TABLE Syntax”.