I agree that the SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS is difficult to handle.

Which are the most interesting pieces of output? Some (such as "history list length") are not currently exported via any other interface. Could someone compose a full list, preferrably with suggestions of how to export, say, SHOW VARIABLES or via performance_schema. My preference would be SHOW VARIABLES except when some history is needed.

I’d prefer to phase out SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS. However, if some parts of the output are not feasible to export in more structural ways, I guess that we could keep it. In that case, we would need a formal grammar for this, both as a specification for implementation, and for testing that the revised output actually conforms to the formal grammar.

The status variables that XtraDB exported are listed in MDEV-18582.

If we create a replacement for SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS, then it may be a good idea for that replacement to be designed to do some of the things that SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS can't do, like the things described in MDEV-18429, MDEV-18698, etc.

When helping novices, the first thing I look for is the SQL statements that conflicted in a deadlock. Maybe put that pair of statements could be inserted (replaced) in a P_S entry or a "deadlock" table, thereby making a simple SELECT sufficient for my need.

rjasdfiii, MDEV-24738 in 10.6 introduced a configuration parameter innodb_deadlock_report that controls what will be included in the SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS output:

• innodb_deadlock_report=off: Do not report any details of deadlocks.
• innodb_deadlock_report=basic: Report transactions and waiting locks.
• innodb_deadlock_report=full (default): Report also the blocking locks.

If innodb_print_all_deadlocks=ON, information about deadlocks will also be written to the server error log.