[mysql] What does "Table does not support optimize, doing recreate + analyze instead" mean?

I am working on MySQL 5.5 and trying to do index rebuild using an OPTIMIZE TABLE query. I am getting the error below:

Table does not support optimize, doing recreate + analyze instead

What does this mean? Is MySQL engine not allowing Index Rebuild? What is being done behind this message, at MySQL 5.5 Engine level?

The better option is create a new table copy the rows to the destination table, drop the actual table and rename the newly created table . This method is good for small tables,

Best option is create new table with same properties

CREATE TABLE <NEW.NAME.TABLE> LIKE <TABLE.CRASHED>;
INSERT INTO <NEW.NAME.TABLE> SELECT * FROM <TABLE.CRASHED>;

Rename NEW.NAME.TABLE and TABLE.CRASH

RENAME TABLE <TABLE.CRASHED> TO <TABLE.CRASHED.BACKUP>;
RENAME TABLE <NEW.NAME.TABLE> TO <TABLE.CRASHED>;

After work well, delete

DROP TABLE <TABLE.CRASHED.BACKUP>;

OPTIMIZE TABLE works fine with InnoDB engine according to the official support article : http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/optimize-table.html

You'll notice that optimize InnoDB tables will rebuild table structure and update index statistics (something like ALTER TABLE).

Keep in mind that this message could be an informational mention only and the very important information is the status of your query : just OK !

mysql> OPTIMIZE TABLE foo;
+----------+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table    | Op       | Msg_type | Msg_text                                                          |
+----------+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| test.foo | optimize | note     | Table does not support optimize, doing recreate + analyze instead |
| test.foo | optimize | status   | OK                                                                |
+----------+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+