Improvements to Ian Barwick patch.

Author: bmomjian

doc/FAQ

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
                 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL
 
-   Last updated: Sun Oct 13 22:49:56 EDT 2002
+   Last updated: Sun Oct 13 23:15:09 EDT 2002
 
    Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (pgman@candle.pha.pa.us)
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
    3.6) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
    3.7) What debugging features are available?
    3.8) Why do I get "Sorry, too many clients" when trying to connect?
-   3.9) What are the pg_sorttempNNN.NN files in my database directory?
+   3.9) What is in the pgsql_tmp directory?
    3.10) Why do I need to do a dump and restore to upgrade PostgreSQL
    releases?
 
@@ -197,8 +197,7 @@
    distribution or the MS Windows FAQ at
    http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faq-mswin.html.
 
-   A native port to some Microsoft platforms is currently being worked
-   upon.
+   A native port to MS Win NT/2000/XP is currently being worked on.
 
     1.5) Where can I get PostgreSQL?
 
@@ -368,7 +367,7 @@
     1.15) How can I financially assist PostgreSQL?
 
    PostgreSQL has had a first-class infrastructure since we started in
-   1994. This is all thanks to Marc Fournier, who has created and managed
+   1996. This is all thanks to Marc Fournier, who has created and managed
    this infrastructure over the years.
 
    Quality infrastructure is very important to an open-source project. It
@@ -419,9 +418,9 @@
     2.3) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user interface? A report generator?
     An embedded query language interface?
 
-   We have a nice graphical user interface called PgAccess, which is
-   shipped as part of the distribution. PgAccess also has a report
-   generator. The Web page is http://www.pgaccess.org/.
+   We have a nice graphical user interface called PgAccess which can also
+   be used as a report generator. The Web page is
+   http://www.pgaccess.org/.
 
    We also include ecpg, which is an embedded SQL query language
    interface for C.
@@ -433,15 +432,16 @@
      * C++ (libpq++)
      * Embedded C (ecpg)
      * Java (jdbc)
-     * Perl (DBD::Pg)
+     * Perl (DBD::Pg and perl5)
      * ODBC (odbc)
      * Python (PyGreSQL)
      * TCL (libpgtcl)
      * C Easy API (libpgeasy)
      * PHP ('pg_' functions, Pear::DB)
 
    Additional interfaces are available at
-   http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html.
+   http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html and
+   http://gborg.PostgreSQL.org.
      _________________________________________________________________
 
                           Administrative Questions
@@ -596,16 +596,16 @@
    was 64, and changing it required a rebuild after altering the
    MaxBackendId constant in include/storage/sinvaladt.h.
 
-    3.9) What are the pg_tempNNN.NN files in my database directory?
+    3.9) What are the pgsql_tmp directory?
 
    They are temporary files generated by the query executor. For example,
    if a sort needs to be done to satisfy an ORDER BY, and the sort
    requires more space than the backend's -S parameter allows, then
    temporary files are created to hold the extra data.
 
-   The temporary files should be deleted automatically, but might not if
-   a backend crashes during a sort. If you have no backends running at
-   the time, it is safe to delete the pg_tempNNN.NN files.
+   The temporary files are usually deleted automatically, but might
+   remain if a backend crashes during a sort. A stop and restart of the
+   postmaster will remove files from those directories.
 
     3.10) Why do I need to do a dump and restore to upgrade between major
     PostgreSQL releases?
@@ -649,8 +649,8 @@
 
     4.4) How do you remove a column from a table?
 
-   Prior to version 7.3, ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN is not supported. You
-   can do this instead:
+   This functionality was added in release 7.3 with ALTER TABLE DROP
+   COLUMN. In earlier versions, you can do this:
     BEGIN;
     LOCK TABLE old_table;
     SELECT ...  -- select all columns but the one you want to remove
@@ -815,11 +815,11 @@
    Case-insensitive equality comparisons are normally expressed as:
     SELECT *
     FROM tab
-    WHERE LOWER(col) = 'abc';
+    WHERE lower(col) = 'abc';
 
    This will not use an standard index. However, if you create a
    functional index, it will be used:
-    CREATE INDEX tabindex ON tab (LOWER(col));
+    CREATE INDEX tabindex ON tab (lower(col));
 
     4.13) In a query, how do I detect if a field is NULL?
 

doc/src/FAQ/FAQ.html

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   alink="#0000ff">
     <H1>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL</H1>
 
-    <P>Last updated: Sun Oct 13 22:49:56 EDT 2002</P>
+    <P>Last updated: Sun Oct 13 23:15:09 EDT 2002</P>
 
     <P>Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (<A href=
     "mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us">pgman@candle.pha.pa.us</A>)<BR>
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ <H2 align="center">Administrative Questions</H2>
      <A href="#3.7">3.7</A>) What debugging features are available?<BR>
      <A href="#3.8">3.8</A>) Why do I get <I>"Sorry, too many
     clients"</I> when trying to connect?<BR>
-     <A href="#3.9">3.9</A>) What are the <I>pg_sorttempNNN.NN</I>
-    files in my database directory?<BR>
+     <A href="#3.9">3.9</A>) What is in the  <I>pgsql_tmp</I>
+    directory?<BR>
      <A href="#3.10">3.10</A>) Why do I need to do a dump and restore 
     to upgrade PostgreSQL releases?<BR>
 
@@ -250,10 +250,11 @@ <H4><A name="1.4">1.4</A>) What non-Unix ports are available?</H4>
     <P>The database server can run on Windows NT and Win2k using
     Cygwin, the Cygnus Unix/NT porting library. See
     <I>pgsql/doc/FAQ_MSWIN</I> in the distribution or the MS Windows FAQ
-    at <A href="http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faq-mswin.html">http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faq-mswin.html</A>.</P>
+    at <A href="http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faq-mswin.html">
+    http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faq-mswin.html</A>.</P>
 
-    <p>A native port to some Microsoft platforms is currently being worked
-    upon.</p>
+    <p>A native port to MS Win NT/2000/XP is currently being worked
+    on.</p>
 
     <H4><A name="1.5">1.5</A>) Where can I get PostgreSQL?</H4>
 
@@ -484,7 +485,7 @@ <H4><A name="1.15">1.15</A>) How can I financially assist
     PostgreSQL?</H4>
 
     <P>PostgreSQL has had a first-class infrastructure since we started
-    in 1994. This is all thanks to Marc Fournier, who has created
+    in 1996. This is all thanks to Marc Fournier, who has created
     and managed this infrastructure over the years.</P>
 
     <P>Quality infrastructure is very important to an open-source
@@ -545,9 +546,9 @@ <H4><A name="2.3">2.3</A>) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user
     interface? A report generator? An embedded query language
     interface?</H4>
 
-    <P>We have a nice graphical user interface called PgAccess, which is
-    shipped as part of the distribution. PgAccess also has a report
-    generator. The Web page is <A href="http://www.pgaccess.org/">http://www.pgaccess.org/</A>.</P>
+    <P>We have a nice graphical user interface called PgAccess which can
+    also be used as a report generator. The Web page is
+    <A href="http://www.pgaccess.org/">http://www.pgaccess.org/</A>.</P>
 
     <P>We also include <I>ecpg</I>, which is an embedded SQL query
     language interface for C.</P>
@@ -565,7 +566,7 @@ <H4><A name="2.4">2.4</A>) What languages are able to communicate with PostgreSQ
 
       <LI>Java (jdbc)</LI>
 
-      <LI>Perl (DBD::Pg)</LI>
+      <LI>Perl (DBD::Pg and perl5)</LI>
 
       <LI>ODBC (odbc)</LI>
 
@@ -578,7 +579,9 @@ <H4><A name="2.4">2.4</A>) What languages are able to communicate with PostgreSQ
       <LI>PHP ('pg_' functions, Pear::DB)</LI>
     </UL>
     <P>Additional interfaces are available at 
-    <a href="http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html">http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html</A>.
+    <a href="http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html">http://www.PostgreSQL.org/interfaces.html</A>
+    and
+    <a href="http://gborg.PostgreSQL.org">http://gborg.PostgreSQL.org</A>.
     </P>
     <HR>
 
@@ -765,19 +768,18 @@ <H4><A name="3.8">3.8</A>) Why do I get <I>"Sorry, too many
     the MaxBackendId constant in
     <I>include/storage/sinvaladt.h</I>.</P>
 
-    <H4><A name="3.9">3.9</A>) What are the <I>pg_tempNNN.NN</I>
-    files in my database directory?</H4>
+    <H4><A name="3.9">3.9</A>) What are the <I>pgsql_tmp</I>
+    directory?</H4>
 
     <P>They are temporary files generated by the query executor. For
     example, if a sort needs to be done to satisfy an <SMALL>ORDER
     BY,</SMALL> and the sort requires more space than the backend's
     <I>-S</I> parameter allows, then temporary files are created to
     hold the extra data.</P>
 
-    <P>The temporary files should be deleted automatically, but might
-    not if a backend crashes during a sort. If you have no backends
-    running at the time, it is safe to delete the pg_tempNNN.NN
-    files.</P>
+    <P>The temporary files are usually deleted automatically, but might
+    remain if a backend crashes during a sort. A stop and restart of the
+    <I>postmaster</I> will remove files from those directories.</P>
 
     <H4><A name="3.10">3.10</A>) Why do I need to do a dump and restore
     to upgrade between major PostgreSQL releases?</H4>
@@ -790,10 +792,10 @@ <H4><A name="3.10">3.10</A>) Why do I need to do a dump and restore
     data in a generic format that can then be loaded in using the new internal
     format.</P>
 
-    <p>In releases where the on-disk format does not change, the
-    <i>pg_upgrade</i> script can be used to upgrade without a dump/restore.
-    The release notes mention whether <i>pg_upgrade</i> is available for the
-    release.</p>
+    <P>In releases where the on-disk format does not change, the
+    <I>pg_upgrade</I> script can be used to upgrade without a dump/restore.
+    The release notes mention whether <I>pg_upgrade</I> is available for the
+    release.</P>
 
     <HR>
 
@@ -831,8 +833,9 @@ <H4><A name="4.3">4.3</A>) How do I get a list of tables or other
     <H4><A name="4.4">4.4</A>) How do you remove a column from a
     table?</H4>
 
-    <P>Prior to version 7.3, <SMALL>ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN</SMALL> is not supported.
-    You can do this instead:</P>
+    <P>This functionality was added in release 7.3 with
+    <SMALL>ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN</SMALL>.  In earlier versions,
+    you can do this:</P>
 <PRE>
     BEGIN;
     LOCK TABLE old_table;
@@ -1023,13 +1026,13 @@ <H4><A name="4.12">4.12</A>) How do I perform regular expression
 <PRE>
     SELECT *
     FROM tab
-    WHERE LOWER(col) = 'abc';
+    WHERE lower(col) = 'abc';
 </PRE>
 
     This will not use an standard index. However, if you create a
     functional index, it will be used: 
 <PRE>
-    CREATE INDEX tabindex ON tab (LOWER(col));
+    CREATE INDEX tabindex ON tab (lower(col));
 </PRE>
 
     <H4><A name="4.13">4.13</A>) In a query, how do I detect if a field
@@ -1118,7 +1121,7 @@ <H4><A name="4.15.2">4.15.2</A>) How do I get the value of a
     and your <SMALL>SERIAL</SMALL> column, respectively.
 
     <P>Alternatively, you could retrieve the assigned
-    <SMALL>SERIAL</SMALL> value with the <I>currval</I>() function
+    <SMALL>SERIAL</SMALL> value with the <I>currval()</I> function
     <I>after</I> it was inserted by default, e.g.,</P>
 <PRE>
     execute("INSERT INTO person (name) VALUES ('Blaise Pascal')");
@@ -1135,7 +1138,7 @@ <H4><A name="4.15.2">4.15.2</A>) How do I get the value of a
     <H4><A name="4.15.3">4.15.3</A>) Don't <I>currval()</I> and
     <I>nextval()</I> lead to a race condition with other users?</H4>
 
-    <P>No. <i>currval</i>() returns the current value assigned by your
+    <P>No. <I>currval()</I> returns the current value assigned by your
     backend, not by all users.</P>
 
     <H4><A name="4.15.4">4.15.4</A>) Why aren't my sequence numbers