Added --xml option to
            mysql for producing XML output.
          
            Added full-text variables
            ft_min_word_len,
            ft_max_word_len, and
            ft_max_word_len_for_sort.
          
            Added documentation for libmysqld, the
            embedded MySQL server library. Also added example programs
            (a mysql client and
            mysqltest test program) which use
            libmysqld.
          
Removed all Gemini hooks from MySQL server.
            Removed my_thread_init() and
            my_thread_end() from
            mysql_com.h, and added
            mysql_thread_init() and
            mysql_thread_end() to
            mysql.h.
          
            Support for communication packets > 16M. In 4.0.1 we will
            extend MyISAM to be able to handle these.
          
Secure connections (with SSL).
            Unsigned BIGINT constants now work.
            MIN() and MAX() now
            handle signed and unsigned BIGINT numbers
            correctly.
          
            New character set latin1_de which
            provides correct German sorting.
          
            STRCMP() now uses the current character
            set when doing comparisons, which means that the default
            comparison behavior now is case-insensitive.
          
            TRUNCATE TABLE and DELETE FROM
            tbl_name are now separate functions. One bonus is
            that DELETE FROM tbl_name now returns the
            number of deleted rows, rather than zero.
          
            DROP DATABASE now executes a
            DROP TABLE on all tables in the database,
            which fixes a problem with InnoDB tables.
          
            Added support for UNION.
          
            Added support for multiple-table DELETE
            operations.
          
            A new HANDLER interface to
            MyISAM tables.
          
            Added support for INSERT on
            MERGE tables. Patch from Benjamin
            Pflugmann.
          
            Changed WEEK(date,0) to match the
            calendar in the USA.
          
            COUNT(DISTINCT) is about 30% faster.
          
Speed up all internal list handling.
            Speed up IS NULL,
            ISNULL() and some other internal
            primitives.
          
Full-text index creation now is much faster.
            Tree-like cache to speed up bulk inserts and
            myisam_bulk_insert_tree_size variable.
          
            Searching on packed
            (CHAR/VARCHAR) keys is
            now much faster.
          
            Optimized queries of type: SELECT DISTINCT * from
            tbl_name ORDER by key_part1 LIMIT row_count.
          
            SHOW CREATE TABLE now shows all table
            attributes.
          
            ORDER BY ... DESC can now use keys.
          
            LOAD DATA FROM MASTER ``automatically''
            sets up a slave.
          
            Renamed safe_mysqld to
            mysqld_safe to make this name more in
            line with other MySQL scripts/commands.
          
            Added support for symbolic links to
            MyISAM tables. Symlink handling is now
            enabled by default for Windows.
          
            Added SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS and
            FOUND_ROWS(). This makes it possible to
            know how many rows a query would have returned without a
            LIMIT clause.
          
            Changed output format of SHOW OPEN
            TABLES.
          
            Allow SELECT expression LIMIT ....
          
            Added ORDER BY syntax to
            UPDATE and DELETE.
          
            SHOW INDEXES is now a synonym for
            SHOW INDEX.
          
            Added ALTER TABLE tbl_name DISABLE KEYS
            and ALTER TABLE tbl_name ENABLE KEYS
            commands.
          
            Allow use of IN as a synonym for
            FROM in SHOW commands.
          
            Implemented ``repair by sort'' for
            FULLTEXT indexes. REPAIR
            TABLE, ALTER TABLE, and
            OPTIMIZE TABLE for tables with
            FULLTEXT indexes are now up to 100 times
            faster.
          
            Allow SQL-99 syntax
            X'hexadecimal-number'.
          
            Cleaned up global lock handling for FLUSH TABLES
            WITH READ LOCK.
          
            Fixed problem with DATETIME = constant in
            WHERE optimization.
          
            Added --master-data and
            --no-autocommit options to
            mysqldump. (Thanks to Brian Aker for
            this.)
          
            Added script mysql_explain_log.sh to
            distribution. (Thanks to mobile.de).
          
This is a translation of the MySQL Reference Manual that can be found at dev.mysql.com. The original Reference Manual is in English, and this translation is not necessarily as up to date as the English version.

