Why isn't MySQL using any of these possible keys? - mysql

Question

I have the following query:
SELECT t.id
FROM account_transaction t
JOIN transaction_code tc ON t.transaction_code_id = tc.id
JOIN account a ON t.account_number = a.account_number
GROUP BY tc.id
When I do an EXPLAIN the first row shows, among other things, this:
table: t
type: ALL
possible_keys: account_id,transaction_code_id,account_transaction_transaction_code_id,account_transaction_account_number
key: NULL
rows: 465663
Why is key NULL?

Answer 1

Another issue you may be encountering is a data type mis-match. For example, if your column is a string data type (CHAR, for ex), and your query is not quoting a number, then MySQL won't use the index.
SELECT * FROM tbl WHERE col = 12345; # No index
SELECT * FROM tbl WHERE col = '12345'; # Index
Source: Just fought this same issue today, and learned the hard way on MySQL 5.1. :)
Edit: Additional information to verify this:
mysql> desc das_table \G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Field: das_column
Type: varchar(32)
Null: NO
Key: PRI
Default:
Extra:
*************************** 2. row ***************************
[SNIP!]
mysql> explain select * from das_table where das_column = 189017 \G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
id: 1
select_type: SIMPLE
table: das_column
type: ALL
possible_keys: PRIMARY
key: NULL
key_len: NULL
ref: NULL
rows: 874282
Extra: Using where
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> explain select * from das_table where das_column = '189017' \G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
id: 1
select_type: SIMPLE
table: das_column
type: const
possible_keys: PRIMARY
key: PRIMARY
key_len: 34
ref: const
rows: 1
Extra:
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Answer 2

It might be because the statistics is broken, or because it knows that you always have a 1:1 ratio between the two tables.
You can force an index to be used in the query, and see if that would speed up things. If it does, try to run ANALYZE TABLE to make sure statistics are up to date.
By specifying USE INDEX (index_list), you can tell MySQL to use only one of the named indexes to find rows in the table. The alternative syntax IGNORE INDEX (index_list) can be used to tell MySQL to not use some particular index or indexes. These hints are useful if EXPLAIN shows that MySQL is using the wrong index from the list of possible indexes.
You can also use FORCE INDEX, which acts like USE INDEX (index_list) but with the addition that a table scan is assumed to be very expensive. In other words, a table scan is used only if there is no way to use one of the given indexes to find rows in the table.
Each hint requires the names of indexes, not the names of columns. The name of a PRIMARY KEY is PRIMARY. To see the index names for a table, use SHOW INDEX.
From http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/index-hints.html

Answer 3

Index for the group by (=implicit order by)
...
GROUP BY tc.id
The group by does an implicit sort on tc.id.
tc.id is not listed a a possible key.
but t.transaction_id is.
Change the code to
SELECT t.id
FROM account_transaction t
JOIN transaction_code tc ON t.transaction_code_id = tc.id
JOIN account a ON t.account_number = a.account_number
GROUP BY t.transaction_code_id
This will put the potential index transaction_code_id into view.
Indexes for the joins
If the joins (nearly) fully join the three tables, there's no need to use the index, so MySQL doesn't.
Other reasons for not using an index
If a large % of the rows under consideration (40% IIRC) are filled with the same value. MySQL does not use an index. (because not using the index is faster)