Wording cleanup for error messages. Also change can't -> cannot.

Standard English uses "may", "can", and "might" in different ways:

        may - permission, "You may borrow my rake."

        can - ability, "I can lift that log."

        might - possibility, "It might rain today."

Unfortunately, in conversational English, their use is often mixed, as
in, "You may use this variable to do X", when in fact, "can" is a better
choice.  Similarly, "It may crash" is better stated, "It might crash".

Author: bmomjian

contrib/spi/autoinc.c

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ autoinc(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		elog(ERROR, "not fired by trigger manager");
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "cannot process STATEMENT events");
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_AFTER(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
 		elog(ERROR, "must be fired before event");
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ autoinc(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		rettuple = trigdata->tg_newtuple;
 	else
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "can't process DELETE events");
+		elog(ERROR, "cannot process DELETE events");
 
 	rel = trigdata->tg_relation;
 	relname = SPI_getrelname(rel);

contrib/spi/insert_username.c

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * insert_username.c
  * $Modified: Thu Oct 16 08:13:42 1997 by brook $
- * $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/spi/insert_username.c,v 1.14 2006/05/30 22:12:13 tgl Exp $
+ * $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/spi/insert_username.c,v 1.15 2007/02/01 19:10:23 momjian Exp $
  *
  * insert user name in response to a trigger
  * usage:  insert_username (column_name)
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ insert_username(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: not fired by trigger manager");
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: cannot process STATEMENT events");
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_AFTER(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
 		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: must be fired before event");
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ insert_username(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		rettuple = trigdata->tg_newtuple;
 	else
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: can't process DELETE events");
+		elog(ERROR, "insert_username: cannot process DELETE events");
 
 	rel = trigdata->tg_relation;
 	relname = SPI_getrelname(rel);

contrib/spi/moddatetime.c

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
 moddatetime.c
 
-$PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/spi/moddatetime.c,v 1.13 2006/05/30 22:12:13 tgl Exp $
+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/spi/moddatetime.c,v 1.14 2007/02/01 19:10:23 momjian Exp $
 
 What is this?
 It is a function to be called from a trigger for the purpose of updating
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ moddatetime(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "moddatetime: can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "moddatetime: cannot process STATEMENT events");
 
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_AFTER(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ moddatetime(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		rettuple = trigdata->tg_newtuple;
 	else
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "moddatetime: can't process DELETE events");
+		elog(ERROR, "moddatetime: cannot process DELETE events");
 
 	rel = trigdata->tg_relation;
 	relname = SPI_getrelname(rel);

contrib/spi/refint.c

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ check_primary_key(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	/* Should be called for ROW trigger */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "check_primary_key: can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "check_primary_key: cannot process STATEMENT events");
 
 	/* If INSERTion then must check Tuple to being inserted */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_BY_INSERT(trigdata->tg_event))
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ check_primary_key(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	/* Not should be called for DELETE */
 	else if (TRIGGER_FIRED_BY_DELETE(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "check_primary_key: can't process DELETE events");
+		elog(ERROR, "check_primary_key: cannot process DELETE events");
 
 	/* If UPDATion the must check new Tuple, not old one */
 	else
@@ -277,12 +277,12 @@ check_foreign_key(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	/* Should be called for ROW trigger */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "check_foreign_key: can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "check_foreign_key: cannot process STATEMENT events");
 
 	/* Not should be called for INSERT */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_BY_INSERT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "check_foreign_key: can't process INSERT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "check_foreign_key: cannot process INSERT events");
 
 	/* Have to check tg_trigtuple - tuple being deleted */
 	trigtuple = trigdata->tg_trigtuple;

contrib/spi/timetravel.c

@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ timetravel(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	/* Should be called for ROW trigger */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
-		elog(ERROR, "timetravel: can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "timetravel: cannot process STATEMENT events");
 
 	/* Should be called BEFORE */
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_AFTER(trigdata->tg_event))
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ timetravel(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 			elog(ERROR, "timetravel (%s): %s must be NOT NULL", relname, args[a_time_off]);
 
 		if (oldtimeon != newtimeon || oldtimeoff != newtimeoff)
-			elog(ERROR, "timetravel (%s): you can't change %s and/or %s columns (use set_timetravel)",
+			elog(ERROR, "timetravel (%s): you cannot change %s and/or %s columns (use set_timetravel)",
 				 relname, args[a_time_on], args[a_time_off]);
 	}
 	if (oldtimeoff != NOEND_ABSTIME)

contrib/tsearch2/dict_thesaurus.c

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/tsearch2/dict_thesaurus.c,v 1.7 2006/12/26 14:54:24 teodor Exp $ */
+/* $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/tsearch2/dict_thesaurus.c,v 1.8 2007/02/01 19:10:23 momjian Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * thesaurus
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ thesaurusRead(char *filename, DictThesaurus * d)
 
 	fh = fopen(to_absfilename(filename), "r");
 	if (!fh)
-		elog(ERROR, "Thesaurus: can't open '%s' file", filename);
+		elog(ERROR, "Thesaurus: cannot open '%s' file", filename);
 
 	while (fgets(str, sizeof(str), fh))
 	{

contrib/tsearch2/tsvector.c

@@ -859,7 +859,7 @@ tsearch2(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	trigdata = (TriggerData *) fcinfo->context;
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_FOR_STATEMENT(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
-		elog(ERROR, "TSearch: Can't process STATEMENT events");
+		elog(ERROR, "TSearch: Cannot process STATEMENT events");
 	if (TRIGGER_FIRED_AFTER(trigdata->tg_event))
 		/* internal error */
 		elog(ERROR, "TSearch: Must be fired BEFORE event");

doc/src/sgml/ecpg.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ecpg.sgml,v 1.79 2007/02/01 00:28:16 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ecpg.sgml,v 1.80 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="ecpg">
  <title><application>ECPG</application> - Embedded <acronym>SQL</acronym> in C</title>
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ EXEC SQL TYPE serial_t IS long;
       <listitem>
       <para>
        You can declare pointers to the most common types. Note however that
-       you can not use pointers as target variables of queries without
+       you cannot use pointers as target variables of queries without
        auto-allocation. See <xref linkend="ecpg-descriptors"> for more
        information on auto-allocation.
       </para>
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ int PGTYPESnumeric_from_decimal(decimal *src, numeric *dst);
        <literal>src</> points to into the numeric variable that
        <literal>dst</> points to. It returns 0 on success and -1 if an error
        occurs. Since the decimal type is implemented as a limited version of
-       the numeric type, overflow can not occur with this conversion.
+       the numeric type, overflow cannot occur with this conversion.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
@@ -4548,7 +4548,7 @@ EXEC SQL DEFINE MYNUMBER 12;
 EXEC SQL UPDATE Tbl SET col = MYNUMBER;
 </programlisting>
     then ecpg will already do the substitution and your C compiler will never
-    see any name or identifier <literal>MYNUMBER</>. Note that you can not use
+    see any name or identifier <literal>MYNUMBER</>. Note that you cannot use
     <literal>#define</literal> for a constant that you are going to use in an
     embedded SQL query because in this case the embedded SQL precompiler is not
     able to see this declaration.

doc/src/sgml/gin.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/gin.sgml,v 2.9 2007/01/31 20:56:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/gin.sgml,v 2.10 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="GIN">
 <title>GIN Indexes</title>
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@
   <acronym>GIN</acronym> will emit an error.  Depending on the operator,
   a void query might match all, some, or none of the indexed values (for
   example, every array contains the empty array, but does not overlap the
-  empty array), and <acronym>GIN</acronym> can't determine the correct
+  empty array), and <acronym>GIN</acronym> cannot determine the correct
   answer, nor produce a full-index-scan result if it could determine that
   that was correct.
  </para>

doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml,v 1.280 2007/02/01 00:28:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml,v 1.281 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="installation">
  <title><![%standalone-include[<productname>PostgreSQL</>]]>
@@ -1040,7 +1040,7 @@ su - postgres
        <listitem>
         <para>
          Enables <firstterm>assertion</> checks in the server, which test for
-         many <quote>can't happen</> conditions.  This is invaluable for
+         many <quote>cannot happen</> conditions.  This is invaluable for
          code development purposes, but the tests slow things down a little.
          Also, having the tests turned on won't necessarily enhance the
          stability of your server!  The assertion checks are not categorized

doc/src/sgml/lobj.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/lobj.sgml,v 1.43 2007/01/31 20:56:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/lobj.sgml,v 1.44 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
  <chapter id="largeObjects">
   <title id="largeObjects-title">Large Objects</title>
@@ -437,15 +437,15 @@ importFile(PGconn *conn, char *filename)
     fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, 0666);
     if (fd &lt; 0)
     {                           /* error */
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't open unix file %s\n&quot;, filename);
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot open unix file %s\n&quot;, filename);
     }
 
     /*
      * create the large object
      */
     lobjId = lo_creat(conn, INV_READ | INV_WRITE);
     if (lobjId == 0)
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't create large object\n&quot;);
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot create large object\n&quot;);
 
     lobj_fd = lo_open(conn, lobjId, INV_WRITE);
 
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ pickout(PGconn *conn, Oid lobjId, int start, int len)
     lobj_fd = lo_open(conn, lobjId, INV_READ);
     if (lobj_fd &lt; 0)
     {
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't open large object %d\n&quot;,
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot open large object %d\n&quot;,
                 lobjId);
     }
 
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ overwrite(PGconn *conn, Oid lobjId, int start, int len)
     lobj_fd = lo_open(conn, lobjId, INV_WRITE);
     if (lobj_fd &lt; 0)
     {
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't open large object %d\n&quot;,
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot open large object %d\n&quot;,
                 lobjId);
     }
 
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ exportFile(PGconn *conn, Oid lobjId, char *filename)
     lobj_fd = lo_open(conn, lobjId, INV_READ);
     if (lobj_fd &lt; 0)
     {
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't open large object %d\n&quot;,
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot open large object %d\n&quot;,
                 lobjId);
     }
 
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ exportFile(PGconn *conn, Oid lobjId, char *filename)
     fd = open(filename, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, 0666);
     if (fd &lt; 0)
     {                           /* error */
-        fprintf(stderr, &quot;can't open unix file %s\n&quot;,
+        fprintf(stderr, &quot;cannot open unix file %s\n&quot;,
                 filename);
     }
 

doc/src/sgml/maintenance.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/maintenance.sgml,v 1.69 2007/02/01 00:28:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/maintenance.sgml,v 1.70 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="maintenance">
  <title>Routine Database Maintenance Tasks</title>
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@
     wraparound</>: the XID counter wraps around to zero, and all of a sudden
     transactions that were in the past appear to be in the future &mdash; which
     means their outputs become invisible.  In short, catastrophic data loss.
-    (Actually the data is still there, but that's cold comfort if you can't
+    (Actually the data is still there, but that's cold comfort if you cannot
     get at it.)  To avoid this, it is necessary to vacuum every table
     in every database at least once every two billion transactions.
    </para>

doc/src/sgml/perform.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/perform.sgml,v 1.62 2007/02/01 00:28:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/perform.sgml,v 1.63 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
  <chapter id="performance-tips">
   <title>Performance Tips</title>
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT * FROM tenk1 t1, tenk2 t2 WHERE t1.unique1 &lt; 100 AND t
    <para>
     It is worth noting that <command>EXPLAIN</> results should not be extrapolated
     to situations other than the one you are actually testing; for example,
-    results on a toy-sized table can't be assumed to apply to large tables.
+    results on a toy-sized table cannot be assumed to apply to large tables.
     The planner's cost estimates are not linear and so it might choose
     a different plan for a larger or smaller table.  An extreme example
     is that on a table that only occupies one disk page, you'll nearly

doc/src/sgml/plperl.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/plperl.sgml,v 2.62 2007/02/01 00:28:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/plperl.sgml,v 2.63 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
  <chapter id="plperl">
   <title>PL/Perl - Perl Procedural Language</title>
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION lotsa_md5 (INTEGER) RETURNS SETOF foo_type AS $$
     my $t = localtime;
     elog(NOTICE, "opening file $file at $t" );
     open my $fh, '&lt;', $file # ooh, it's a file access!
-        or elog(ERROR, "can't open $file for reading: $!");
+        or elog(ERROR, "cannot open $file for reading: $!");
     my @words = &lt;$fh&gt;;
     close $fh;
     $t = localtime;
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION set_var(name text, val text) RETURNS text AS $$
     if ($_SHARED{$_[0]} = $_[1]) {
         return 'ok';
     } else {
-        return "can't set shared variable $_[0] to $_[1]";
+        return "cannot set shared variable $_[0] to $_[1]";
     }
 $$ LANGUAGE plperl;
 

doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml,v 1.43 2007/02/01 00:28:17 momjian Exp $ -->
+<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml,v 1.44 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="queries">
  <title>Queries</title>
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ FROM (SELECT * FROM table1) AS alias_name
 
     <para>
      This example is equivalent to <literal>FROM table1 AS
-     alias_name</literal>.  More interesting cases, which can't be
+     alias_name</literal>.  More interesting cases, which cannot be
      reduced to a plain join, arise when the subquery involves
      grouping or aggregation.
     </para>

doc/src/sgml/ref/create_function.sgml

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_function.sgml,v 1.72 2007/01/31 23:26:03 momjian Exp $
+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_function.sgml,v 1.73 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $
 -->
 
 <refentry id="SQL-CREATEFUNCTION">
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] FUNCTION
    Also, <command>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION</command> will not let
    you change the return type of an existing function.  To do that,
    you must drop and recreate the function.  (When using <literal>OUT</>
-   parameters, that means you can't change the names or types of any
+   parameters, that means you cannot change the names or types of any
    <literal>OUT</> parameters except by dropping the function.)
   </para>
 

doc/src/sgml/ref/create_rule.sgml

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_rule.sgml,v 1.50 2007/02/01 00:28:18 momjian Exp $
+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_rule.sgml,v 1.51 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $
 PostgreSQL documentation
 -->
 
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] RULE <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable> AS
       Any <acronym>SQL</acronym> conditional expression (returning
       <type>boolean</type>).  The condition expression cannot refer
       to any tables except <literal>NEW</> and <literal>OLD</>, and
-      can not contain aggregate functions.
+      cannot contain aggregate functions.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

doc/src/sgml/ref/create_trigger.sgml

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_trigger.sgml,v 1.46 2007/01/31 23:26:03 momjian Exp $
+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_trigger.sgml,v 1.47 2007/02/01 19:10:24 momjian Exp $
 PostgreSQL documentation
 -->
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ CREATE TRIGGER <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> { BEFORE | AFTE
   </para>
 
   <para>
-   <command>SELECT</command> does not modify any rows so you can not
+   <command>SELECT</command> does not modify any rows so you cannot
    create <command>SELECT</command> triggers. Rules and views are more
    appropriate in such cases.
   </para>