should i disable strict mode?

uk01

• June 02, 2021 11:16

Hi we've had a request from a customer to disable mysql strict mode on their account. It seems this is not possible through php.ini? The only way we can disable is for everyone via my.cnf... is this a safe thing to do and would it affect other databases or cause corruption? Is it recommended? We use mariadb

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  ffeingol

  • June 02, 2021 16:53

  You are correct that it can only be done via my.cnf (as it's a MySQL setting not a PHP setting). It won't cause corruption, but turning it off is more of a band-aid than anything else. As an example: Let's say you have a table that has a char(10) column (that is a column that holds up to 10 characters). With strict mode off if they try to put 11 characters in the column MySQL will simply truncate the 11th character and move on. With strict mode on they will get a SQL error, since it can't store the data. There are other scenarios, but it all basically boils down to poor/sloppy coding. All modern open source software has no issues with strict. What we've come across is one-off / hand coded sites. Hopefully that helps a bit.

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  uk01

  • June 02, 2021 17:01

  Thank you that helps alot and I appreciate your reply. We will refuse the request on the cpanel platform. They also have a vps so I will advise them to install mysql there and connect remotely to that database.

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  cPRex Jurassic Moderator

  • June 02, 2021 17:17

  Thanks @ffeingol !!! Great explanation!

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