[ http://db003.zabco.net/phpMyAdmin/Documentation.html#faqexport - 6.12 ] I want to understand some Export options.

Structure:

• "Add DROP TABLE" will add a line telling MySQL to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/drop-table.html - drop the table , if it already exists during the import. It does NOT drop the table after your export, it only affects the import file.
• "If Not Exists" will only create the table if it doesn't exist. Otherwise, you may get an error if the table name exists but has a different structure.
• "Add AUTO_INCREMENT value" ensures that AUTO_INCREMENT value (if any) will be included in backup.
• "Enclose table and field names with backquotes" ensures that field and table names formed with special characters are protected.
• "Add into comments" includes column comments, relations, and MIME types set in the pmadb in the dump as SQL comments (/* xxx */).

Data:

• "Complete inserts" adds the column names on every INSERT command, for better documentation (but resulting file is bigger).
• "Extended inserts" provides a shorter dump file by using only once the INSERT verb and the table name.
• "Delayed inserts" are best explained in the http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/insert-delayed.html - MySQL manual .
• "Ignore inserts" treats errors as a warning instead. Again, more info is provided in the http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/insert.html - MySQL manual , but basically with this selected, invalid values are adjusted and inserted rather than causing the entire statement to fail.