Alert user of database table permission errors during search-replace

[Copilot]

When a database UPDATE fails (e.g. read-only table, insufficient permissions), search-replace silently reported 0 replacements with no indication of why — even after a dry-run showing expected changes.

Changes

• SQL path (sql_handle_col): Check $wpdb->last_error after $wpdb->query() UPDATE calls; emit WP_CLI::warning() with the table name, column name, and the raw database error.
• PHP path (php_handle_col): Same check after each $wpdb->update() call.

Example output when a table is not writable:

Warning: Error updating column 'post_content' in table 'wp_posts': UPDATE command denied to user 'wpuser'@'localhost' for table 'wp_posts'

• Behat test: Covers the SQL path by creating a table with a BEFORE UPDATE trigger that raises a MySQL signal error, verifying that STDERR contains the expected warning with the column and table name.

Original prompt

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This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Alert the user of db table permissions errors</issue_title>
<issue_description>## Feature Request

• Yes, I reviewed the contribution guidelines.

Use Case and user story

When there are database table permissions errors, search-replace should be able to alert the user.

I was working with an older DB that I had manually imported the wp_posts table with the wrong DB permissions. (the table was read-only)

When I did a dry-run of the search-replace it worked great, showed me all the replacements to be made, etc.

Then when I did a live run, it went through the process and still reported that there were 527 changes to make, but instead of making them it returned Success: 0 Replacements made

I downloaded a more blunt tool for forcing the DB updates through, and that's when I discovered that the table in question is read-only. Once I knew that, the workaround was simple: export the DB to a fresh DB using wp db export and then import that fresh database, which resets the permissions, then search-replace worked like a charm.

I also tried with --verbose and --debug but the critical piece (when the actual SQL is running) is not outputting anything useful.

Output of the Dry Run

Output of the --debug argument on a live run

Proposed solution

It would be more helpful if table permission errors are preventing the actual changing, that this is output.

I'd propose an additional argument of --errors or adding this output to the existing --debug argument.
</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@schlessera Thanks for the report, @Benunc! I think it might make even more sense to actually forward errors or warnings, and in this case show an error that a read-only db/table cannot be changed.

• Fixes Alert the user of db table permissions errors #123

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 75.00000% with 1 line in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/Search_Replace_Command.php	75.00%	1 Missing ⚠️

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds user-facing warnings to wp search-replace when database UPDATE operations fail, so permission/read-only errors don’t result in a misleading “0 replacements” outcome with no explanation.

Changes:

• Emit WP_CLI::warning() after failed SQL UPDATE queries by checking $wpdb->last_error.
• Emit WP_CLI::warning() after failed per-row $wpdb->update() calls in the PHP replacement path.
• Add a Behat scenario that forces an UPDATE failure via a MySQL trigger and asserts a warning is printed.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
src/Search_Replace_Command.php	Adds warnings for DB update failures in both SQL and PHP execution paths.
features/search-replace.feature	Adds an end-to-end Behat scenario to verify warning output on SQL UPDATE failure.

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