I version control the create script, and I use the svn version tag within it. Then, whenever I get a version that is going to be used, I create a script in a dbpatches/ directory named as the version to roll up to. The job of that script is to modify a current database without destroying the data. dbpatches/, for example, might have files named 201, 220, and 240. If the database is currently at level 201, apply patch 220, then patch 240.
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `meta`;
CREATE TABLE `meta` (
`property` varchar(255),
`value` varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (`property`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
INSERT INTO `meta` VALUES ('version', '$Rev: 240 $');
Don't forget to test your code before considering a patch good. Caveat emptor!