DROP TABLE IF EXISTS t1; CREATE TABLE t1 (a , (a)) ENGINE= ; INSERT INTO t1 (a) VALUES (10); INSERT INTO t1 (a) VALUES (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9), (21),(22),(23),(24),(25),(26),(27),(28),(29); EXPLAIN SELECT a FROM t1 ORDER BY a; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 index NULL a 5 NULL # Using index SHOW INDEX IN t1; Table Non_unique Key_name Seq_in_index Column_name Collation Cardinality Sub_part Packed Null Index_type Comment Index_comment t1 1 a 1 a # # NULL NULL YES BTREE ALTER TABLE t1 DISABLE KEYS; SHOW INDEX IN t1; Table Non_unique Key_name Seq_in_index Column_name Collation Cardinality Sub_part Packed Null Index_type Comment Index_comment t1 1 a 1 a # # NULL NULL YES BTREE disabled EXPLAIN SELECT a FROM t1 ORDER BY a; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 ALL NULL NULL NULL NULL 19 Using filesort INSERT INTO t1 (a) VALUES (11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20); ALTER TABLE t1 ENABLE KEYS; SHOW INDEX IN t1; Table Non_unique Key_name Seq_in_index Column_name Collation Cardinality Sub_part Packed Null Index_type Comment Index_comment t1 1 a 1 a # # NULL NULL YES BTREE EXPLAIN SELECT a FROM t1 ORDER BY a; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 index NULL a 5 NULL # Using index DROP TABLE t1; CREATE TABLE t1 (a , UNIQUE INDEX(a)) ENGINE= ; INSERT INTO t1 (a) VALUES (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9), (21),(22),(23),(24),(25),(26),(27),(28),(29); ALTER TABLE t1 DISABLE KEYS; INSERT INTO t1 (a) VALUES (29); ERROR 23000: Duplicate entry '29' for key 'a' # Statement ended with one of expected results (ER_DUP_ENTRY,ER_DUP_KEY). # If you got a difference in error message, just add it to rdiff file SHOW INDEX IN t1; Table Non_unique Key_name Seq_in_index Column_name Collation Cardinality Sub_part Packed Null Index_type Comment Index_comment t1 0 a 1 a # # NULL NULL YES BTREE EXPLAIN SELECT a FROM t1 ORDER BY a; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 index NULL a 5 NULL # Using index DROP TABLE t1;