The mysqldump command in MySQL is used to create logical backups of MySQL databases. One of the options available is -i, --comments, which allows including comments in the output generated by mysqldump.
This option is particularly useful when you want to include descriptive comments within the SQL dump file to provide additional context or instructions for the database schema or data. Comments can be added at various levels such as at the beginning of the dump file, before each table’s structure, or even before each SQL statement.
Here are a few examples demonstrating how to use the --comments option with mysqldump:
Example 1: Adding a comment at the beginning of the dump file.
mysqldump -i"Dump with comments" dbname > dump_with_comments.sql
Example 2: Adding comments before each table’s structure.
mysqldump --comments=tables dbname > dump_with_table_comments.sql
Example 3: Adding comments before each SQL statement.
mysqldump --comments=statements dbname > dump_with_statement_comments.sql
Example 4: Adding detailed comments at all levels.
mysqldump --comments=all dbname > dump_with_all_comments.sql
After executing any of these commands, you can verify that the comments have been included in the output file by opening the generated SQL dump file using a text editor or by using command-line tools to inspect the contents. Look for comments prefixed with “–” in the dump file to confirm their presence.
Read Also
Adding ANALYZE TABLE Statements in mysqldump Output
Setting Character Sets Directory for mysqldump
Binding IP Address for mysqldump
Applying Slave Statements in mysqldump (Deprecated)
Apply Replica Statements in mysqldump Output
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