Database row change from Compact to Dynamic

[Deborah Engelmajer]

Hello - 

 

We received the following notification and checked with Cloudways if it is okay to change the format to "Dynamic". They recommended asking Invision Community if it's safe as they said that there might be issues in losing data.

Has anyone here experienced changing the database format? What was your experience and what do you recommend?

We are looking to create a backup of the database before CW will update it and in case something goes wrong, we will add it back (this way we will lose only a few records).
 

Thank you,

Denise

 

 

[teraßyte]

There aren't any issues usually. I always switch Compact tables to Dynamic ones, especially when I upgrade old forums.

A backup before messing with the database is always a good idea though so be sure to do it. 👍

And if you don't want to lose any data you can simply switch offline the site temporarily until all the tables are updated and you confirm everything is okay. That way you won't lose anything if you have to restore the backup.

[Deborah Engelmajer]

Thank you! I'm not a db admin so need to understand a little more before giving the ok to our tech guys to proceed. Any pros/cons of switching to Dynamic? Do we have to do it?

[teraßyte]

Yes, I've seen some sites hit upgrade errors about the index being too large or similar errors.

 

This is a quote from the MySQL site:

Quote

The DYNAMIC row format offers the same storage characteristics as the COMPACT row format but adds enhanced storage capabilities for long variable-length columns and supports large index key prefixes.

Tu sum it up the DYNAMIC format is basically a better version of the COMPACT format. There are no cons, only pros. 🙂

[Deborah Engelmajer]

Thank you!