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MYSQLBINLOG(1) MySQL Database System MYSQLBINLOG(1)

NAME
mysqlbinlog - utility for processing binary log files

SYNOPSIS
mysqlbinlog [options] log_file ...

DESCRIPTION
The server´s binary log consists of files containing “events” that describe modifications to database
contents. The server writes these files in binary format. To display their contents in text format, use the
mysqlbinlog utility. You can also use mysqlbinlog to display the contents of relay log files written by a
slave server in a replication setup because relay logs have the same format as binary logs. The binary log and
relay log are discussed further in Section 5.2.4, “The Binary Log”, and Section 16.2.2, “Replication Relay and
Status Files”.

Invoke mysqlbinlog like this:

shell> mysqlbinlog [options] log_file ...

For example, to display the contents of the binary log file named binlog.000003, use this command:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.0000003

The output includes events contained in binlog.000003. For statement-based logging, event information includes
the SQL statement, the ID of the server on which it was executed, the timestamp when the statement was
executed, how much time it took, and so forth. For row-based logging, the event indicates a row change rather
than an SQL statement. See Section 16.1.2, “Replication Formats”, for information about logging modes.

Events are preceded by header comments that provide additional information. For example:

# at 141
#100309 9:28:36 server id 123 end_log_pos 245
Query thread_id=3350 exec_time=11 error_code=0

In the first line, the number following at indicates the starting position of the event in the binary log
file.

The second line starts with a date and time indicating when the statement started on the server where the
event originated. For replication, this timestamp is propagated to slave servers. server id is the server_id
value of the server where the event originated. end_log_pos indicates where the next event starts (that is,
it is the end position of the current event + 1). thread_id indicates which thread executed the event.
exec_time is the time spent executing the event, on a master server. On a slave, it is the difference of the
end execution time on the slave minus the beginning execution time on the master. The difference serves as an
indicator of how much replication lags behind the master. error_code indicates the result from executing the
event. Zero means that no error occurred.

The output from mysqlbinlog can be re-executed (for example, by using it as input to mysql) to redo the
statements in the log. This is useful for recovery operations after a server crash. For other usage examples,
see the discussion later in this section and Section 6.5, “Point-in-Time (Incremental) Recovery Using the
Binary Log”.

Normally, you use mysqlbinlog to read binary log files directly and apply them to the local MySQL server. It
is also possible to read binary logs from a remote server by using the --read-from-remote-server option. To
read remote binary logs, the connection parameter options can be given to indicate how to connect to the
server. These options are --host, --password, --port, --protocol, --socket, and --user; they are ignored
except when you also use the --read-from-remote-server option.

· AUTO ("automatic") or UNSPEC ("unspecified") displays BINLOG statements automatically when necessary
(that is, for format description events and row events). This is the default if no --base64-output
option is given.

Note
Automatic BINLOG display is the only safe behavior if you intend to use the output of mysqlbinlog
to re-execute binary log file contents. The other option values are intended only for debugging or
testing purposes because they may produce output that does not include all events in executable
form.

· ALWAYS displays BINLOG statements whenever possible. This is the implied value if the option is given
as --base64-output without a value.

· NEVER causes BINLOG statements not to be displayed. mysqlbinlog exits with an error if a row event is
found that must be displayed using BINLOG.

· DECODE-ROWS specifies to mysqlbinlog that you intend for row events to be decoded and displayed as
commented SQL statements by also specifying the --verbose option. Like NEVER, DECODE-ROWS suppresses
display of BINLOG statements, but unlike NEVER, it does not exit with an error if a row event is
found.
The --base64-output option was introduced in MySQL 5.1.5, to be given as --base64-output or
--skip-base64-output (with the sense of AUTO or NEVER). The option values described in the preceding
list may be used as of MySQL 5.1.24, with the exception of UNSPEC and DECODE-ROWS, which are available
as of MySQL 5.1.28.

For examples that show the effect of --base64-output and --verbose on row event output, see the
section called “MYSQLBINLOG ROW EVENT DISPLAY”.

· --character-sets-dir=path

The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 9.5, “Character Set Configuration”.

· --database=db_name, -d db_name

This option causes mysqlbinlog to output entries from the binary log (local log only) that occur while
db_name is been selected as the default database by USE.

The --database option for mysqlbinlog is similar to the --binlog-do-db option for mysqld, but can be
used to specify only one database. If --database is given multiple times, only the last instance is
used.

The effects of this option depend on whether the statement-based or row-based logging format is in
use, in the same way that the effects of --binlog-do-db depend on whether statement-based or row-based
logging is in use.

Statement-based logging. The --database option works as follows:

· While db_name is the default database, statements are output whether they modify tables in db_name
or a different database.

· Unless db_name is selected as the default database, statements are not output, even if they modify
tables in db_name.

USE db2;
INSERT INTO test.t1 (i) VALUES(103);
INSERT INTO db2.t2 (j) VALUES(202);
INSERT INTO t2 (j) VALUES(203);

mysqlbinlog --database=test does not output the first two INSERT statements because there is no
default database. It outputs the three INSERT statements following USE test, but not the three
INSERT statements following USE db2.

mysqlbinlog --database=db2 does not output the first two INSERT statements because there is no
default database. It does not output the three INSERT statements following USE test, but does
output the three INSERT statements following USE db2.

Row-based logging. mysqlbinlog outputs only entries that change tables belonging to db_name. The
default database has no effect on this. Suppose that the binary log just described was created
using row-based logging rather than statement-based logging. mysqlbinlog --database=test outputs
only those entries that modify t1 in the test database, regardless of whether USE was issued or
what the default database is. If a server is running with binlog_format set to MIXED and you want
it to be possible to use mysqlbinlog with the --database option, you must ensure that tables that
are modified are in the database selected by USE. (In particular, no cross-database updates should
be used.)

Note
This option did not work correctly for mysqlbinlog with row-based logging prior to MySQL
5.1.37. (Bug#42941[1])

· --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]

Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is ´d:t:o,file_name´. The default is
´d:t:o,/tmp/mysqlbinlog.trace´.

· --debug-check

Print some debugging information when the program exits. This option was added in MySQL 5.1.21.

· --debug-info

Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits. This
option was added in MySQL 5.1.21.

· --disable-log-bin, -D

Disable binary logging. This is useful for avoiding an endless loop if you use the --to-last-log
option and are sending the output to the same MySQL server. This option also is useful when
restoring after a crash to avoid duplication of the statements you have logged.

This option requires that you have the SUPER privilege. It causes mysqlbinlog to include a SET
sql_log_bin = 0 statement in its output to disable binary logging of the remaining output. The SET
statement is ineffective unless you have the SUPER privilege.

· --force-read, -f

With this option, if mysqlbinlog reads a binary log event that it does not recognize, it prints a
warning, ignores the event, and continues. Without this option, mysqlbinlog stops if it reads such

· --local-load=path, -l path

Prepare local temporary files for LOAD DATA INFILE in the specified directory.

· --offset=N, -o N

Skip the first N entries in the log.

· --password[=password], -p[password]

The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (-p), you
cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following
the --password or -p option on the command line, mysqlbinlog prompts for one.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. See Section 5.3.2.2,
“End-User Guidelines for Password Security”. You can use an option file to avoid giving the
password on the command line.

· --port=port_num, -P port_num

The TCP/IP port number to use for connecting to a remote server.

· --position=N

Deprecated. Use --start-position instead. --position is removed in MySQL 5.5.

· --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other
connection parameters normally would cause a protocol to be used other than the one you want. For
details on the allowable values, see Section 4.2.2, “Connecting to the MySQL Server”.

· --open-files-limit=NUM

Sets the open_files_limit variable, which is used to reserve file descriptors for mysqlbinlog.

· --read-from-remote-server, -R

Read the binary log from a MySQL server rather than reading a local log file. Any connection
parameter options are ignored unless this option is given as well. These options are --host,
--password, --port, --protocol, --socket, and --user.

This option requires that the remote server be running. It works only for binary log files on the
remote server, not relay log files.

· --result-file=name, -r name

Direct output to the given file.

· --server-id=id

Display only those events created by the server having the given server ID. This option is
available as of MySQL 5.1.4.

pipe to use.

· --start-datetime=datetime

Start reading the binary log at the first event having a timestamp equal to or later than the
datetime argument. The datetime value is relative to the local time zone on the machine where you
run mysqlbinlog. The value should be in a format accepted for the DATETIME or TIMESTAMP data
types. For example:

shell> mysqlbinlog --start-datetime="2005-12-25 11:25:56" binlog.000003

This option is useful for point-in-time recovery. See Section 6.3, “Example Backup and Recovery
Strategy”.

· --start-position=N, -j N

Start reading the binary log at the first event having a position equal to or greater than N. This
option applies to the first log file named on the command line.

This option is useful for point-in-time recovery. See Section 6.3, “Example Backup and Recovery
Strategy”.

· --stop-datetime=datetime

Stop reading the binary log at the first event having a timestamp equal to or later than the
datetime argument. This option is useful for point-in-time recovery. See the description of the
--start-datetime option for information about the datetime value.

This option is useful for point-in-time recovery. See Section 6.3, “Example Backup and Recovery
Strategy”.

· --stop-position=N

Stop reading the binary log at the first event having a position equal to or greater than N. This
option applies to the last log file named on the command line.

This option is useful for point-in-time recovery. See Section 6.3, “Example Backup and Recovery
Strategy”.

· --to-last-log, -t

Do not stop at the end of the requested binary log from a MySQL server, but rather continue
printing until the end of the last binary log. If you send the output to the same MySQL server,
this may lead to an endless loop. This option requires --read-from-remote-server.

· --user=user_name, -u user_name

The MySQL user name to use when connecting to a remote server.

· --verbose, -v

Reconstruct row events and display them as commented SQL statements. If this option is given
twice, the output includes comments to indicate column data types and some metadata. This option
was added in MySQL 5.1.28.
Specify the number of open file descriptors to reserve.

You can pipe the output of mysqlbinlog into the mysql client to execute the events contained in the
binary log. This technique is used to recover from a crash when you have an old backup (see
Section 6.5, “Point-in-Time (Incremental) Recovery Using the Binary Log”). For example:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 | mysql -u root -p

Or:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.[0-9]* | mysql -u root -p

You can also redirect the output of mysqlbinlog to a text file instead, if you need to modify the
statement log first (for example, to remove statements that you do not want to execute for some
reason). After editing the file, execute the statements that it contains by using it as input to the
mysql program:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 > tmpfile
shell> ... edit tmpfile ...
shell> mysql -u root -p < tmpfile

When mysqlbinlog is invoked with the --start-position option, it displays only those events with an
offset in the binary log greater than or equal to a given position (the given position must match the
start of one event). It also has options to stop and start when it sees an event with a given date and
time. This enables you to perform point-in-time recovery using the --stop-datetime option (to be able
to say, for example, “roll forward my databases to how they were today at 10:30 a.m.”).

If you have more than one binary log to execute on the MySQL server, the safe method is to process
them all using a single connection to the server. Here is an example that demonstrates what may be
unsafe:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 | mysql -u root -p # DANGER!!
shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000002 | mysql -u root -p # DANGER!!

Processing binary logs this way using different connections to the server causes problems if the first
log file contains a CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE statement and the second log contains a statement that uses
the temporary table. When the first mysql process terminates, the server drops the temporary table.
When the second mysql process attempts to use the table, the server reports “unknown table.”

To avoid problems like this, use a single mysql process to execute the contents of all binary logs
that you want to process. Here is one way to do so:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 binlog.000002 | mysql -u root -p

Another approach is to write all the logs to a single file and then process the file:

shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 > /tmp/statements.sql
shell> mysqlbinlog binlog.000002 >> /tmp/statements.sql
shell> mysql -u root -p -e "source /tmp/statements.sql"

mysqlbinlog can produce output that reproduces a LOAD DATA INFILE operation without the original data
file. mysqlbinlog copies the data to a temporary file and writes a LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE statement
that refers to the file. The default location of the directory where these files are written is
system-specific. To specify a directory explicitly, use the --local-load option.

MYSQLBINLOG HEX DUMP FORMAT
The --hexdump option causes mysqlbinlog to produce a hex dump of the binary log contents:

shell> mysqlbinlog --hexdump master-bin.000001

The hex output consists of comment lines beginning with #, so the output might look like this for the
preceding command:

/*!40019 SET @@session.max_insert_delayed_threads=0*/;
/*!50003 SET @OLD_COMPLETION_TYPE=@@COMPLETION_TYPE,COMPLETION_TYPE=0*/;
# at 4
#051024 17:24:13 server id 1 end_log_pos 98
# Position Timestamp Type Master ID Size Master Pos Flags
# 00000004 9d fc 5c 43 0f 01 00 00 00 5e 00 00 00 62 00 00 00 00 00
# 00000017 04 00 35 2e 30 2e 31 35 2d 64 65 62 75 67 2d 6c |..5.0.15.debug.l|
# 00000027 6f 67 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |og..............|
# 00000037 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
# 00000047 00 00 00 00 9d fc 5c 43 13 38 0d 00 08 00 12 00 |.......C.8......|
# 00000057 04 04 04 04 12 00 00 4b 00 04 1a |.......K...|
# Start: binlog v 4, server v 5.0.15-debug-log created 051024 17:24:13
# at startup
ROLLBACK;

Hex dump output currently contains the elements in the following list. This format is subject to change. (For
more information about binary log format, see http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/MySQL_Internals_Binary_Log.)

· Position: The byte position within the log file.

· Timestamp: The event timestamp. In the example shown, ´9d fc 5c 43´ is the representation of ´051024
17:24:13´ in hexadecimal.

· Type: The event type code. In the example shown, ´0f´ indicates a FORMAT_DESCRIPTION_EVENT. The following
table lists the possible type codes.

┌─────┬──────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Type │ Name │ Meaning │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│00 │ UNKNOWN_EVENT │ This event should never be present in the log. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│01 │ START_EVENT_V3 │ This indicates the start of a log file written by MySQL 4 or earlier. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│02 │ QUERY_EVENT │ The most common type of events. These contain statements executed on │
│ │ │ the master. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│03 │ STOP_EVENT │ Indicates that master has stopped. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│04 │ ROTATE_EVENT │ Written when the master switches to a new log file. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│05 │ INTVAR_EVENT │ Used for AUTO_INCREMENT values or when the LAST_INSERT_ID() function │
│ │ │ is used in the statement. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│06 │ LOAD_EVENT │ Used for LOAD DATA INFILE in MySQL 3.23. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│07 │ SLAVE_EVENT │ Reserved for future use. │
│ │ │ deleted on the slave. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│0c │ NEW_LOAD_EVENT │ Used for LOAD DATA INFILE in MySQL 4 and earlier. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│0d │ RAND_EVENT │ Used to send information about random values if the RAND() function is │
│ │ │ used in the statement. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│0e │ USER_VAR_EVENT │ Used to replicate user variables. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│0f │ FORMAT_DESCRIPTION_EVENT │ This indicates the start of a log file written by MySQL 5 or later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│10 │ XID_EVENT │ Event indicating commit of an XA transaction. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│11 │ BEGIN_LOAD_QUERY_EVENT │ Used for LOAD DATA INFILE statements in MySQL 5 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│12 │ EXECUTE_LOAD_QUERY_EVENT │ Used for LOAD DATA INFILE statements in MySQL 5 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│13 │ TABLE_MAP_EVENT │ Information about a table definition. Used in MySQL 5.1.5 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│14 │ PRE_GA_WRITE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that should be created. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.5 to 5.1.17. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│15 │ PRE_GA_UPDATE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that needs to be updated. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.5 to 5.1.17. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│16 │ PRE_GA_DELETE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that should be deleted. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.5 to 5.1.17. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│17 │ WRITE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that should be created. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.18 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│18 │ UPDATE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that needs to be updated. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.18 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│19 │ DELETE_ROWS_EVENT │ Row data for a single table that should be deleted. Used in MySQL │
│ │ │ 5.1.18 and later. │
├─────┼──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│1a │ INCIDENT_EVENT │ Something out of the ordinary happened. Added in MySQL 5.1.18. │
└─────┴──────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

· Master ID: The server ID of the master that created the event.

· Size: The size in bytes of the event.

· Master Pos: The position of the next event in the original master log file.

· Flags: 16 flags. Currently, the following flags are used. The others are reserved for future use.

┌─────┬─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Flag │ Name │ Meaning │
├─────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│01 │ LOG_EVENT_BINLOG_IN_USE_F │ Log file correctly closed. (Used only in FORMAT_DESCRIPTION_EVENT.) │
│ │ │ If this flag is set (if the flags are, for example, ´01 00´) in a │
│ │ │ FORMAT_DESCRIPTION_EVENT, the log file has not been properly │

MYSQLBINLOG ROW EVENT DISPLAY
The following examples illustrate how mysqlbinlog displays row events that specify data modifications. These
correspond to events with the WRITE_ROWS_EVENT, UPDATE_ROWS_EVENT, and DELETE_ROWS_EVENT type codes. The
--base64-output=DECODE-ROWS and --verbose options may be used to affect row event output. These options are
available as of MySQL 5.1.28.

Suppose that the server is using row-based binary logging and that you execute the following sequence of
statements:

CREATE TABLE t
(
id INT NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
date DATE NULL
) ENGINE = InnoDB;
START TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO t VALUES(1, ´apple´, NULL);
UPDATE t SET name = ´pear´, date = ´2009-01-01´ WHERE id = 1;
DELETE FROM t WHERE id = 1;
COMMIT;

By default, mysqlbinlog displays row events encoded as base-64 strings using BINLOG statements. Omitting
extraneous lines, the output for the row events produced by the preceding statement sequence looks like this:

shell> mysqlbinlog log_file
...
# at 218
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 258 Write_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAANoAAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBcBAAAAKAAAAAIBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA//8AQAAAAVhcHBsZQ==
´/*!*/;
...
# at 302
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 356 Update_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAAC4BAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBgBAAAANgAAAGQBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA////AEAAAAFYXBwbGX4AQAAAARwZWFyIbIP
´/*!*/;
...
# at 400
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 442 Delete_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAAJABAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBkBAAAAKgAAALoBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA//4AQAAAARwZWFyIbIP
´/*!*/;

To see the row events as comments in the form of “pseudo-SQL” statements, run mysqlbinlog with the --verbose
or -v option. The output will contain lines beginning with ###:

shell> mysqlbinlog -v log_file
...
# at 218
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 356 Update_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAAC4BAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBgBAAAANgAAAGQBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA////AEAAAAFYXBwbGX4AQAAAARwZWFyIbIP
´/*!*/;
### UPDATE test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1
### @2=´apple´
### @3=NULL
### SET
### @1=1
### @2=´pear´
### @3=´2009:01:01´
...
# at 400
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 442 Delete_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAAJABAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBkBAAAAKgAAALoBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA//4AQAAAARwZWFyIbIP
´/*!*/;
### DELETE FROM test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1
### @2=´pear´
### @3=´2009:01:01´

Specify --verbose or -v twice to also display data types and some metadata for each column. The output will
contain an additional comment following each column change:

shell> mysqlbinlog -vv log_file
...
# at 218
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 258 Write_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAANoAAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBcBAAAAKAAAAAIBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA//8AQAAAAVhcHBsZQ==
´/*!*/;
### INSERT INTO test.t
### SET
### @1=1 /* INT meta=0 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### @2=´apple´ /* VARSTRING(20) meta=20 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### @3=NULL /* VARSTRING(20) meta=0 nullable=1 is_null=1 */
...
# at 302
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 356 Update_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
BINLOG ´
fAS3SBMBAAAALAAAAC4BAAAAABEAAAAAAAAABHRlc3QAAXQAAwMPCgIUAAQ=
fAS3SBgBAAAANgAAAGQBAAAQABEAAAAAAAEAA////AEAAAAFYXBwbGX4AQAAAARwZWFyIbIP
´/*!*/;
### UPDATE test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1 /* INT meta=0 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### @2=´apple´ /* VARSTRING(20) meta=20 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### DELETE FROM test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1 /* INT meta=0 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### @2=´pear´ /* VARSTRING(20) meta=20 nullable=0 is_null=0 */
### @3=´2009:01:01´ /* DATE meta=0 nullable=1 is_null=0 */

You can tell mysqlbinlog to suppress the BINLOG statements for row events by using the
--base64-output=DECODE-ROWS option. This is similar to --base64-output=NEVER but does not exit with an error
if a row event is found. The combination of --base64-output=DECODE-ROWS and --verbose provides a convenient
way to see row events only as SQL statements:

shell> mysqlbinlog -v --base64-output=DECODE-ROWS log_file
...
# at 218
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 258 Write_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
### INSERT INTO test.t
### SET
### @1=1
### @2=´apple´
### @3=NULL
...
# at 302
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 356 Update_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
### UPDATE test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1
### @2=´apple´
### @3=NULL
### SET
### @1=1
### @2=´pear´
### @3=´2009:01:01´
...
# at 400
#080828 15:03:08 server id 1 end_log_pos 442 Delete_rows: table id 17 flags: STMT_END_F
### DELETE FROM test.t
### WHERE
### @1=1
### @2=´pear´
### @3=´2009:01:01´

Note
You should not suppress BINLOG statements if you intend to re-execute mysqlbinlog output.

The SQL statements produced by --verbose for row events are much more readable than the corresponding BINLOG
statements. However, they do not correspond exactly to the original SQL statements that generated the events.
The following limitations apply:

· The original column names are lost and replaced by @N, where N is a column number.

· Character set information is not available in the binary log, which affects string column display:

· There is no distinction made between corresponding binary and nonbinary string types (BINARY and CHAR,

Proper interpretation of row events requires the information from the format description event at the
beginning of the binary log. Because mysqlbinlog does not know in advance whether the rest of the log contains
row events, by default it displays the format description event using a BINLOG statement in the initial part
of the output.

If the binary log is known not to contain any events requiring a BINLOG statement (that is, no row events),
the --base64-output=NEVER option can be used to prevent this header from being written.

This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it only under the terms of the GNU
General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the program; if not, write to the
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

NOTES
1. Bug#42941
http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=42941

SEE ALSO
For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual, which may already be installed locally and
which is also available online at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.

AUTHOR
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (http://www.mysql.com/).

MySQL 5.1 04/06/2010 MYSQLBINLOG(1)