Oracle 5.0 Reference Manual page 1237

*************************** 5. row ***************************
Engine: BLACKHOLE
Support: YES
Comment: /dev/null storage engine (anything you write to it disappears)
...
This chapter describes each of the MySQL storage engines except for NDBCLUSTER, which is covered
in Chapter 17, MySQL
For information about storage engine support offered in commercial MySQL Server binaries, see
MySQL Enterprise Server
on which edition of Enterprise Server you are using.
For answers to some commonly asked questions about MySQL storage engines, see
"MySQL 5.0 FAQ: Storage
When you create a new table, you can specify which storage engine to use by adding an
table option to the
TYPE
CREATE TABLE t (i INT) ENGINE = INNODB;
CREATE TABLE t (i INT) TYPE = MEMORY;
The older term is supported as a synonym for
TYPE
the preferred term and
If you omit the
ENGINE
but you can change it by using the
[406] server startup option, or by setting the
type
option in the
type my.cnf
You can set the default storage engine to be used during the current session by setting the
[497]
storage_engine
SET storage_engine=MYISAM;
SET table_type=BDB;
When MySQL is installed on Windows using the MySQL Configuration Wizard, the
storage engine can be selected as the default. See
To convert a table from one storage engine to another, use an
the new engine:
ALTER TABLE t ENGINE = MYISAM;
ALTER TABLE t TYPE = BDB;
See Section 13.1.10, "CREATE TABLE
If you try to use a storage engine that is not compiled in or that is compiled in but deactivated, MySQL
instead creates a table using the default storage engine. This behavior is convenient when you want
to copy tables between MySQL servers that support different storage engines. (For example, in a
replication setup, perhaps your master server supports transactional storage engines for increased
safety, but the slave servers use only nontransactional storage engines for greater speed.)
This automatic substitution of the default storage engine for unavailable engines can be confusing for
new MySQL users. A warning is generated whenever a storage engine is automatically changed.
For new tables, MySQL always creates an
table's index and data may be stored in one or more other files, depending on the storage engine. The
server creates the
.frm
additional files required for the tables that they manage.
A database may contain tables of different types. That is, tables need not all be created with the same
storage engine.
Transaction-safe tables (TSTs) have several advantages over nontransaction-safe tables (NTSTs):
Cluster.
5.1, on the MySQL Web site. The storage engines available might depend
Engines".
statement:
CREATE TABLE
is deprecated.
TYPE
or option, the default storage engine is used. Normally, this is MyISAM,
TYPE
--default-storage-engine
configuration file.
or [499]
table_type
Syntax", and
.frm
file above the storage engine level. Individual storage engines create any
1217
for backward compatibility, but
ENGINE
[405]
default-storage-engine
variable:
Section 2.10.3.5, "The Database Usage
ALTER TABLE
Section 13.1.4, "ALTER TABLE
file to hold the table and column definitions. The
Section B.2,
ENGINE
ENGINE
or
--default-table-
or
default-table-
or
InnoDB MyISAM
Dialog".
statement that indicates
Syntax".
or
is