PlanetMysql.ru — информация о СУБД MySQL

First an apology. I have not been blogging much lately, but I do have a reason, and I think a valid one for once (i.e. not along the lines of "I was out drinking last night" or "I was busy boiling potatoes" or something), I have been moving house. And my new office is now as tidy as ever (and if you believe that, let me tell you about a bridge in New York that I have for sale at a really good price). No, the place is a mess, but my beautiful wife keeps up with me, and I am slowly getting things together.

That said, let's get to the point, MySQL Installer! If you read this blog, you know I have copmplained about this puppy several times before (First attempts with MySQL Installer and MySQL Installer part 2), and I have been in touch with the good developers at MySQL / Sun / Oracle / Google (no wait, that last one wasn't right. At least not yet) and for all intents and purposes, they are doing their best (I already knew that) and are listening to us.

So now MySQL Installer is GA. Is it any better than when I complained last time? It sure is!

Now it does what it was set out to do, it does install most of what you need as a MySQL Developer on Windows, it installs the MySQL Server, the Workbench and the drivers. This time around, I removed all Windows products first and then did a clean install, but some old settings still seemed to be around. This could be annoying potentiually, but the machine I was testing really has had a lot of testing on it, so it might be that this is in a weird state. Also, this might be what you want to do. Before doing a clean install, I tried an Upgrade. I had MySQL 5.5.14 on my box, and the installer came with MySQL 5.5.15, so I figured it would offer mne to upgrade if I choose Add/Modify Products and Features. On the other hand, after a clean install, if I choose Add/Modify Products and Features again, the installer insist that there are "changes pending" to the MySQL .NET Connector. If I execute that it executes OK, but the Installer still insist that there are "changes pending" to Connector/.NET.

This may sound like a lot of complaints, but it really is not that bad. If I was a Windows developer coming new to MySQL, this is not a bad starting point at all. But if I was Oracle (which I am not), I'd add a few things:

• Links - I'd offer in the installer too add a few links to useful places on the net for MySQL stuff. This includes Planet MySQL, MySQL Forge, dev.mysql.com, www.mysql.com, the Bug database (how active that is these days I don't know either).
• Third party software - There is some third party software that could be interesting to include, such as drivers (PHP etc), tools, plugins etc. There is a whole bunch of these available, and if I was new to MySQL, I would have a hard time selecting which to include and what to do with them. I understand the licensing issues here, but as this is the Community edition of MySQL, that shouldn't be too difficult.
• Tips and tricks - How do you do this or that? What questions might a Windows developer have when approaching MySQL for the first time.
• Integration - I would really like to see more integration here, with Visual Studio and with many other Windows developer tools. I admit that this might be there, but that the integration is hidden from me as I don't have those tools.

These are just some ideas moving forward with MySQL Installer. The current product is a bit limited I think, but still useful and is now pretty stable. Why the MySQL Installer is not available on a swedish mirrow is beyond me, but that is a minor issue I think, unless you live in Sweden (like I do).

For reference, I used 1.0.17 of MySQL Installer, something which is not that easy to find out, as the download page states that this is version 5.5.15 (which is the MySQL Server version). The installer itself doesn't say what version it is, at least not as far as I can find out. It does say in the VERSION resource of the MySQLInstaller.exe file though, so looking at properties with Windows Explorer reveals the version.

/Karlsson
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OK, I was having too much fun in my last post on this subject, so I try again. Just to be safe i Uninstall MySQL Installer, reboot my machine, and download the Installer again. Installing it this time didn't make anything happen it seemed? No dialogs, no nothing? But it is back there in the Start menu at least... OK, Let's try that one...
Think think think.. Whammo:
Yes, I am aware this is running on Swedish Windows, but let's try it on a US Windows 7 installation....

Downloaded and tried it on this machine, and now the installer runs at least. The "configuration" step doesn't actually do much. The Connector/.NET installation still insists on not finding a download location at first, but suddenly it works. The Installer also finds old versions of MySQL, which is nice, but it doesn't seem to know how to handle that. I still get into a state which the Installer doesn't know how to get out of, and just hangs (on "Validating installation").

As there is no nice cnfiguration screen, and the VS integration plugin is not included, I don't really find this installer such an "easy to use" thingy. To being with, it will not let me choose WHERE to install things (no, I do not want MySQL on C:, even thogh may other programs are there. In particular, I do not want C: to be my drive where the database is kept! As C: is an SSD which is there to speed up booting, not to have MySQL fuzz around with it).

No, this wasn't really easy to use at all. No, it didn't help much. Yes, the interface is very nice. No, I do not think this is RC quality software.

/Karlsson
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This was a sad day for me. I once, when I was at MySQL, was a big fan of a better installer for MySQL on Windows. Something that would install all you wanted on just Windows, in a way applicable for Windows and integrating with the appropriate Windows products. So installing MySQL would not just install MySQL, it would also install the Visual Studio plugin for MySQL, for example, if you so requested (and the installer might even be so smart so it could check if VS was installed, and then ask you politely if you wanted the plugin). The same goes for ODBC drivers, .NET drivers and what have you not.

Fact is, I had this idea a long time ago and was promoting it inside MySQL with my usual frenzy when I think I have a good idea, although I wasn't the first to have this idea.

So, now, after all these years, and I have even left MySQL since, this Installer is soon ready for prime time, MySQL Installer is at it's last RC before GA! So I decided to download it and see what they have done with this smart idea. And boy was I disappointed.

To begin with, it is announced as "RC" but the download page calls it "Beta" still. Hmmm whatever. Also, it is 32-bit only, there is no 64-bit download. But thinking about it, I realize this might be for the installer itself (32-bit that is), it might well install 64-bit software. And it does, thank you, but this should be made more clear, and why we even bother with 32-bit builds anymore i beyond me? Why not go for 16-bit while we are at it?

And without further ado, here is my verdict: It would be quite OK, assuming it was a Pre-alpha release! No, this is very far from RC quality! I am sorry MySQL and all developers who have put in lots of effort into this thingy, but is not good enough. far from it actually! Maybe it wasn't tested enough, maybe it wasn't tested at all? But frankly, from an RC product I don't expect "Unhandled exception" after just a few minutes or perfectly normal use.

One thing it does is that it downloads the suff on an as needed basis. In my case, it failed to find a download location for Connector/.NET (I am in the middle of nowhere, I know that, I mean Sweden, what kind of weird place is THAT? and Stockholm?). After that failure, nothing worked. retrying it to no avail. Not finding a download location for Connector/.NET (I have heard that .NET is pretty popular on Windows, but what do I know) and this stopping the whole installation process with an Unhandled exception. No, that is not RC, that is what we in the rest of world call Pre-Alpha.

For your own good, and for the sake of MySQL Credibility on Windows (which I am a fan of, and I am sure we can get this installer going): Do not release MySQL INstaller in this shape!

Calling it quits for the day, thinking Good idea, bad execution and feeling a bit sad
/Karlsson
And if you ask: Yes, I did report a few bugs on MySQL Installer today
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As previously mentioned, Darren Cassar has been working on a new automated installer for the DBbenchmark program. It’s now available for download: click here. All you need to do is save it to the directory that you want to install to and then make sure it’s executable: “chmod 700 installer.sh”, then run it “./installer.sh”.

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