Step #2: "[ORDER BY ...] LIMIT n" should not prevent EXISTS-to-IN
conversion, as long as
- the LIMIT clause doesn't have OFFSET
- the LIMIT is not "LIMIT 0".
Step 1: Removal of ORDER BY [LIMIT] from the subquery should be done
earlier and for broader class of subqueries.
The rewrite was done in Item_in_subselect::select_in_like_transformer(),
but this had problems:
- It didn't cover EXISTS subqueries
- It covered IN-subqueries, but was done after the semi-join transformation
was considered inapplicable, because ORDER BY was present.
Remaining issue:
- EXISTS->IN transformation happens before
check_and_do_in_subquery_rewrites() is called, so it is still prevented
by the present ORDER BY.