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< H1 > Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL</ H1 >
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- < P > Last updated: Mon Dec 11 17:44:33 EST 2006</ P >
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+ < P > Last updated: Mon Dec 11 17:45:54 EST 2006</ P >
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< P > Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (< A href =
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"mailto:bruce@momjian.us "> bruce@momjian.us</ A > )
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development team?< BR >
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< A href ="#item1.13 "> 1.13</ A > ) How does PostgreSQL compare to other
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< SMALL > DBMS</ SMALL > s?< BR >
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< H2 align ="center "> User Client Questions</ H2 >
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< A href ="#item2.1 "> 2.1</ A > ) What interfaces are available for
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PostgreSQL with Web pages?< BR >
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< A href ="#item2.3 "> 2.3</ A > ) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user
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interface?< BR >
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< H2 align ="center "> Administrative Questions</ H2 >
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< A href ="#item3.1 "> 3.1</ A > ) How do I install PostgreSQL somewhere other
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</ ul >
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</ li >
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</ ul >
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< H3 id ="item1.9 "> 1.9) How do I find out about known bugs or
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missing features?</ H3 >
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< li > The new feature is added to the
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< A href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.TODO.html "> TODO</ A > list</ li >
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</ ul >
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< P > PostgreSQL does not use a bug tracking system because we find
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it more efficient to respond directly to email and keep the
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< A href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.TODO.html "> TODO</ A >
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< a href ="http://www.postgresql.org/developer/sourcecode/ "> CVS</ a >
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log messages. Even the release notes do not list every change
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made to the software.</ P >
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< H3 id ="item1.10 "> 1.10) What documentation is available?</ H3 >
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< P > PostgreSQL includes extensive documentation, including a large
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"http://mysite.verizon.net/Graeme_Birchall/id1.html "> http://mysite.verizon.net/Graeme_Birchall/id1.html</ A >
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</ LI >
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</ UL >
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< H3 id ="item1.12 "> 1.12) How do I submit a patch or join the development
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team?</ H3 >
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< P > There are three major areas for potential performance
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improvement:</ P >
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< DL >
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< DT > < B > Query Changes</ B > </ DT >
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PostgreSQL minor releases are designed to fix only common bugs
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with the least risk. The community considers < i > not</ i > upgrading
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more risky that upgrading.</ P >
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< P > Major releases (e.g. from 7.3 to 7.4) often change the internal
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format of system tables and data files. These changes are often complex,
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so we don't maintain backward compatibility for data files. A dump/reload
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< P > There are also system tables beginning with < I > pg_</ I > that describe
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these too.</ P >
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< P > Use < I > psql -l</ I > will list all databases.</ P >
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< P > Also try the file < I > pgsql/src/tutorial/syscat.source</ I > . It
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</ PRE >
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< P > You might then want to do < I > VACUUM FULL tab</ I > to reclaim the
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disk space used by the expired rows.</ P >
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< H3 id ="item4.4 "> 4.4) What is the maximum size for a row, a
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table, and a database?</ H3 >
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< P > < SMALL > NULL</ SMALL > s are stored as bitmaps, so they
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use very little space.</ P >
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< H3 id ="item4.6 "> 4.6) Why are my queries slow? Why don't they
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use my indexes?</ H3 >
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However, < SMALL > LIMIT</ SMALL > combined with < SMALL > ORDER BY</ SMALL >
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often will use an index because only a small portion of the table
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is returned.</ P >
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< P > If you believe the optimizer is incorrect in choosing a
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sequential scan, use < CODE > SET enable_seqscan TO 'off'</ CODE > and
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run query again to see if an index scan is indeed faster.</ P >
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SELECT COALESCE(col1, '') || COALESCE(col2, '')
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FROM tab
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</ PRE >
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< P > To sort by the < SMALL > NULL</ SMALL > status, use the < SMALL > IS NULL</ SMALL >
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and < SMALL > IS NOT NULL</ SMALL > modifiers in your < SMALL > ORDER BY</ SMALL > clause.
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Things that are < I > true</ I > will sort higher than things that are < I > false</ I > ,
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execute("INSERT INTO person (name) VALUES ('Blaise Pascal')");
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new_id = execute("SELECT currval('person_id_seq')");
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</ PRE >
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< H3 id ="item4.11.3 "> 4.11.3) Doesn't < I > currval()</ I >
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lead to a race condition with other users?</ H3 >
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