i need to get a row count on a large table. it appears that select count(*) from <table>; always does a table scan, whether i have an index or not, and that is too slow.
so i found this: select reltuples from pg_class where relname = '<table>'; this is nice and fast, but not all that accurate at any given time. but, i *did* notice that it is pretty accurate if i run analyze just before. so, i am wondering if analyze also does a table scan, in which case i am back to where i started. it *seems* to run fairly quickly, even on a large table, but i am just wall-clocking all of this. or any other ideas on counting rows are welcome. thanks. pg ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to [EMAIL PROTECTED])