MySQL AB is distributing the first release candidate of what it calls “certainly the most important release in MySQL's history.” MySQL 5.0 features many new ANSI SQL-compliant features, rewrites to bring previous functionality into ANSI SQL compliance, and several new storage engines, tools, and extensions.

MySQL is a dual-licensed relational database management system that supports Linux. MySQL AB has partnered with MontaVista on Carrier-grade databases since August of 2004, and MySQL is among the more common open source applications deployed in the embedded Linux devices covered on LinuxDevices.com.

According to a release announcement letter to the open source community from MySQL AB's VP of community relations, Kaj Arnö, new MySQL 5.0 features include:

• ANSI SQL standard features formerly unknown to MySQL
  • Views (both read-only and updatable views)
  • Stored procedures and stored functions, using the SQL:2003 syntax, which is also used by IBM's DB2
  • Triggers (row-level)
  • Server-side cursors (read-only, non-scrolling)

• ANSI SQL standard compliance of existing MySQL features, for few “gotcha's” when migrating from other databases
  • Strict Mode: strict data type checking, with errors issued for invalid dates, numbers, and strings as expected
  • INFORMATION_SCHEMA: An ANSI SQL-compliant Data Dictionary for accessing metadata, in parallel to the MySQL specific SHOW commands
  • Precision Math: A new library for fixed-point arithmetic, giving high accuracy for financial and mathematical operations
  • VARCHAR Data Type: The maximum effective length of a VARCHAR column has increased to 65,532 bytes; also, stripping of trailing whitespace no longer occurs

• New MySQL storage engines, tools and extensions
  • XA Distributed Transactions
  • ARCHIVE Storage Engine for storing large amounts of data without indexes in a very small footprint, intended for historical data that may be needed for future audit compliance (Sarbanes Oxley or otherwise)
  • FEDERATED Storage Engine for accessing data ín tables of remote databases rather than in local tables (only in MAX version)
  • Instance Manager: a tool to start and stop MySQL Server, even remotely

According to Arnö, betas leading up to the 5.0 release have been downloaded more than two million times. A complete list of claimed features can be found here.

 
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