How Can I Implement Partial Full-Text Search on InnoDB Tables Using LIKE Statements and External Indices?

Fulltext-Like Search Optimization for InnoDB Tables

InnoDB tables offer excellent performance and reliability, but they natively lack full-text search functionality. However, it is possible to achieve partial full-text search capabilities by leveraging a combination of LIKE statements and external indices.

Solution

To mimic full-text search using LIKE, one approach is to utilize a secondary MyISAM table as an indexing layer for the primary InnoDB table. This secondary table, referred to as a "full-text search table," stores an indexed copy of the desired column(s) from the InnoDB table.

Steps:

1. Create an InnoDB table: Define the primary table that needs to be searched. Use InnoDB for its data integrity and transaction support.
2. Create a MyISAM full-text search table: Create a secondary table in MyISAM, which allows full-text indexing. This table should have the same schema as the target InnoDB columns, including a primary key to match the InnoDB table.
3. Maintain index synchronization: Update the MyISAM search table to mirror changes in the InnoDB table. This can be achieved through triggers or batch processes.
4. Search via stored procedure: Craft a stored procedure that executes LIKE searches against the MyISAM search table. The procedure should filter results based on the desired search phrase and return relevant metadata from the InnoDB table.

Example:

Consider a "threads" table in InnoDB containing a "subject" column that we want to make searchable. We create a MyISAM full-text search table "threads_ft" with a similar schema. To facilitate synchronization, we employ triggers or batch updates to reflect changes from the InnoDB "threads" table to "threads_ft".

The search stored procedure "ft_search_threads" accepts a search parameter and returns relevant threads. It joins the search table with the InnoDB table to fetch additional metadata and ranks results based on the LIKE match against the "subject" column.

Advantages:

• Provides partial full-text search functionality for InnoDB tables without compromising performance.
• Allows the application to use LIKE syntax for search queries, easing the implementation process.
• Offers better performance compared to multi-LIKE searches on the InnoDB table.

Considerations:

• Maintaining the synchronization between InnoDB and MyISAM tables requires additional effort.
• MyISAM tables have limitations compared to InnoDB, such as row locking and limited scalability.

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