Misunderstood question closed and locked

Question

The question was about "why use the index for a SELECT *" and it turns out that the primary key is a clustered index, so reading from a covering index is faster.

You lot locked onto "there's no order by", and yes of course any order is allowed in this case, but no one explained why MySQL would choose not to use primary key order with a SELECT * FROM

I think that this is a perfectly valid question, also it isn't a duplicate! I wasn't asking about the 'default' search order, I was confused as to why MySQL would choose a different order to primary key.

Answer 1

The issues here are:

1. Should the question have been closed as a duplicate?
2. Should it have been locked?
3. Can it be unlocked and reopened now to allow clarification?
4. Can the question be deleted because the author regards it as looking silly?

Having read every edit and every comment (deleted or otherwise) here, in chat, on the question itself, and a later question, here are my views:

1. Yes. A question can be a duplicate, without being an exact duplicate. As currently written, the question is addressed by the linked answers. In addition, the title of the question is useful for people searching for answers to the this broad class of question. Note: closed questions cannot receive new answers.

2. Yes. There are 22 deleted comments, which easily justify locking to prevent further extended discussion. Note: Locked questions cannot be voted on, commented on, or deleted

3. On balance, I feel this is not the right course of action. The edit would almost certainly change the question fundamentally. Asking a new, more specific question seems more appropriate, perhaps with a self-answer to explain the specific results.

4. The thing preventing this question being deleted by the owner is the locked status (an unanswered question can be self-deleted). As noted above, I regard the lock as appropriate.

   That said, my reading of all this is that while we desire good, searchable Q & A, we surely do not want people to feel embarrassed (even though there was probably ample opportunity to clarify the question before it was closed and locked).

---

I therefore propose a compromise solution, which will ensure the question title and body is still searchable, while removing any embarrassment felt by the original author:

• I will re-ask the question as Community Wiki, and immediately close as a duplicate and lock. The original question can then be deleted without loss to the site. If the original author wishes, he can then re-ask, and perhaps answer, the question he actually intended to ask*.

Please indicate your support or otherwise for this proposal by voting.

EDIT: The other option you have is to request deletion of your Database Administrators account.

_{* Though it may be a duplicate of this question as ypercube noted in a comment to the question above.}

Answer 2

I think you should go with the recommendation provided with the close reason.

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

Ask a new question and don't mention order by in the output in the new question. Just refer to the EXPLAIN and ask a question why the secondary index was used and not the primary index.

Answer 3

In addition to the points that others mentioned there are two points I would like to add.

Firstly, since this question is being asked, and handled on Meta there is a strong chance that this will set policy. What do we want our policy to be on this matter? Is it appropriate that everyone with a grievance of this nature be allowed to require that a moderator/community member take credit for their question? Alternatively should moderators have the power to assign so called "embarrassing questions" to the Community User at the OP's request?

Secondly, it is normal to wish to undo something you did/said in the past. I'm absolutely confident that every single person in this community has said something that in retrospect wasn't how they would like to be judged eternally. I know I've said lots of dumb things in my life, and I'm sure even some members of this community could point out a few of them if they so desired ^{(If you can I'm not asking you to here)}.

My general stance:

1. It should not be the policy of this site to routinely require/expect community members to take credit for "embarrassing" questions/answers.
2. It should be understood that people who come to this, or any other public forum, asking for help shouldn't feel demeaned or be demeaned, because they don't know how to solve their problem. We're here to help and get help, not judge or be judged. As such there is no need to feel embarrassed. This incidentally is the heart of the "Be nice" policy.
3. There are lots of avenues to rectify this situation if you feel embarrassed including (notice you don't have to only do one):
   • Write a blog post explaining your initial incorrect line of reasoning and your new knowledge. This demonstrates growth, will allow you to completely control your message, and gives you strong position if someone desires to embarrass you in the future. It will also be helpful for others who are caught in a similar line of reasoning.
   • Ask another more targeted question and provide your own answer. This gives you less control, but you can link your new question/response to your old question. That would make your updated views easier to find. As above this will also be helpful for others who are caught in a similar line of reasoning.
   • Delete your account. No real positive benefit for anyone.
   • Recognize you are a human. As a human you sometimes will make errors, and some of those errors will inevitably be embarrassing. If people insist on focusing on your errors more than the lessons you have learned from those errors they aren't the kind of people you want to be around.
4. The moderators should do what they feel is best with this and other individual grievances. They were elected because we feel they have good judgment and trust them to make the right decisions regardless of if the decision is hard or easy to make.
5. This meta post isn't the best way to handle the situation in my opinion. I feel meta is for problematic trends, questions of policy, and issues of interest to the community as a whole. I for one don't want meta to become a complaint forum for everyone who feels the community was unjust with an individual question/answer/etc.

Finally since I'm human. I recognize that I might be completely wrong.

Answer 4

You lot locked onto "there's no order by", and yes of course any order is allowed in this case, but no one explained why MySQL would choose not to use primary key order with a SELECT * FROM

Isn't the the whole point of the closure and the duplicate? It's just re-casting the same question, and the answer is still "use ORDER BY if you care about ordering".

This is the message that we want any users to the site getting. If you ask another question about ordering without ORDER BY it will be closed again because it is a duplicate by our standards (it is the community that decides this, not the person asking the question).