#### 17.5.1.27 Replication and Row Searches

 When a replica using row-based replication format applies an [`UPDATE`](update.html) or [`DELETE`](delete.html) operation, it must search the relevant table for the matching rows. The algorithm used to carry out this process uses one of the table's indexes to carry out the search as the first choice, and a hash table if there are no suitable indexes.

 The algorithm first assesses the available indexes in the table definition to see if there is any suitable index to use, and if there are multiple possibilities, which index is the best fit for the operation. The algorithm ignores the following types of index:

* Fulltext indexes.

* Hidden indexes.

* Generated indexes.

* Multi-valued indexes.

* Any index where the before-image of the row event does not contain all the columns of the index.

 If there are no suitable indexes after ruling out these index types, the algorithm does not use an index for the search. If there are suitable indexes, one index is selected from the candidates, in the following priority order:

1. A primary key.

2. A unique index where every column in the index has a NOT NULL attribute. If more than one such index is available, the algorithm chooses the leftmost of these indexes.

3. Any other index. If more than one such index is available, the algorithm chooses the leftmost of these indexes.

 If the algorithm is able to select a primary key or a unique index where every column in the index has a `NOT NULL` attribute, it uses this index to iterate over the rows in the [`UPDATE`](update.html) or [`DELETE`](delete.html) operation. For each row in the row event, the algorithm looks up the row in the index to locate the table record to update. If no matching record is found, it returns the error ER\_KEY\_NOT\_FOUND and stops the replication applier thread.

 If the algorithm was not able to find a suitable index, or was only able to find an index that was non-unique or contained nulls, a hash table is used to assist in identifying the table records. The algorithm creates a hash table containing the rows in the [`UPDATE`](update.html) or [`DELETE`](delete.html) operation, with the key as the full before-image of the row. The algorithm then iterates over all the records in the target table, using the selected index if it found one, or else performing a full table scan. For each record in the target table, it determines whether that row exists in the hash table. If the row is found in the hash table, the record in the target table is updated, and the row is deleted from the hash table. When all the records in the target table have been checked, the algorithm verifies whether the hash table is now empty. If there are any unmatched rows remaining in the hash table, the algorithm returns the error ER\_KEY\_NOT\_FOUND and stops the replication applier thread.

 The [`slave_rows_search_algorithms`](replication-options-replica.html#sysvar_slave_rows_search_algorithms) system variable was previously used to control how rows are searched for matches. The use of this system variable is now deprecated, because the default setting, which uses an index scan followed by a hash scan as described above, is optimal for performance and works correctly in all scenarios.

