Hello.
I noticed that some error messages have issues such as non-standard
wording, slightly odd output, and minor grammatical mistakes, and have
attached patches addressing each of the items below.
0001:
guc_table.c:
> .name = "effective_wal_level",
>...
> .short_desc = gettext_noop("Show effective WAL level."),
We use "shows" in that context.
0002:
partbounds.c:
> errhint("ALTER TABLE ... MERGE PARTITIONS requires the partition bounds to be
> adjacent."),
...
> errhint("ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION requires the partition bounds to be
> adjacent."),
These messages share the same body only differ in the command name. On
the other hand we have the following message in the same file.
> errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the
> bound of the split partition",
> "ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
So, I think that the first two messages shoud use the same structure
with the last one.
0003:
The last message above mistakenly uses the present tense, and some
other messages do the same. I think this should be fixed.
0004:
In the messages mentioned in 0002, the sentence structure is somewhat
hard to parse. Adding “that” after “requires” should improve clarity,
as in several other messages with the same issue.
0005:
In wait.c, there are three error messages with inconsistent wording:
two use "timeout value", while one uses "timeout" to refer to the same
object. This makes translation slightly awkward, so I suggest unifying
the wording.
0006:
In extended_stats_funcs.c:
> errmsg("could not find extended statistics object \"%s\".\"%s\"",
> quote_identifier(nspname),
> quote_identifier(stxname)));
Since quote_identifier() already adds quoting when needed, adding
"%s"."%s" in the format string results in double quoting. It would be
better to use %s.%s instead. I think quoting should be applied only
when necessary here. I'm not sure we should use
quote_qualified_identifier() instead.. (It's not used in the attached
patch).
There's a similar inconsistency.
> errmsg("could not clear extended statistics object \"%s\".\"%s\":
> incorrect relation \"%s\".\"%s\" specified",
> get_namespace_name(nspoid), stxname,
> relnspname, relname));
In this part, the names are not passed through quote_identifier(). It
would be better to unify this as well.
regards.
--
Kyotaro Horiguchi
NTT Open Source Software Center
>From b2315b812b3ed5274a49bcaeeffe9e343cbd5a19 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 13:09:00 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 1/6] =?UTF-8?q?Use=20third-person=20singular=20=E2=80=9CSh?=
=?UTF-8?q?ows=E2=80=9D=20for=20reporting=20variable?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Align with the convention of using third-person singular “Shows” in a
reporting variable description.
---
src/backend/utils/misc/guc_parameters.dat | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc_parameters.dat b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc_parameters.dat
index 762b8efe6b0..1031c7dbe80 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc_parameters.dat
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc_parameters.dat
@@ -806,7 +806,7 @@
},
{ name => 'effective_wal_level', type => 'enum', context => 'PGC_INTERNAL', group => 'PRESET_OPTIONS',
- short_desc => 'Show effective WAL level.',
+ short_desc => 'Shows effective WAL level.',
flags => 'GUC_NOT_IN_SAMPLE | GUC_DISALLOW_IN_FILE',
variable => 'effective_wal_level',
boot_val => 'WAL_LEVEL_REPLICA',
--
2.47.3
>From cab8e36ef5ec98b0988b5b0115570fee61dec7b8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 13:17:58 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 2/6] Consolidate target-only message variants
Consolidate two messages that differ only in their targets into a
single translation unit.
---
src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c | 6 ++++--
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
index 0ca312ac27d..d8f48cb0868 100644
--- a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
+++ b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
@@ -5033,7 +5033,8 @@ check_two_partitions_bounds_range(Relation parent,
second_name->relname, first_name->relname),
errdetail("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to the upper bound of partition \"%s\"",
second_name->relname, first_name->relname),
- errhint("ALTER TABLE ... MERGE PARTITIONS requires the partition bounds to be adjacent."),
+ errhint("%s requires the partition bounds to be adjacent.",
+ "ALTER TABLE ... MERGE PARTITIONS"),
parser_errposition(pstate, datum->location));
else
ereport(ERROR,
@@ -5042,7 +5043,8 @@ check_two_partitions_bounds_range(Relation parent,
second_name->relname, first_name->relname),
errdetail("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to the upper bound of partition \"%s\"",
second_name->relname, first_name->relname),
- errhint("ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION requires the partition bounds to be adjacent."),
+ errhint("%s requires the partition bounds to be adjacent.",
+ "ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, datum->location));
}
}
--
2.47.3
From dc2214e460b19a105c2858362a8daa653ce38b17 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:46:17 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 3/6] Fix grammar in a partition-related message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Fix subject–verb agreement.
---
src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c | 12 ++++++------
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
index d8f48cb0868..a4487521a67 100644
--- a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
+++ b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
@@ -5406,7 +5406,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to lower bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5416,7 +5416,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is less than lower bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5448,7 +5448,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("upper bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to upper bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5458,7 +5458,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("upper bound of partition \"%s\" is greater than upper bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5654,7 +5654,7 @@ check_parent_values_in_new_partitions(Relation parent,
errmsg("new partitions combined partition bounds do not contain value (%s) but split partition \"%s\" does",
"NULL",
get_rel_name(partOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"));
/*
@@ -5697,7 +5697,7 @@ check_parent_values_in_new_partitions(Relation parent,
errmsg("new partitions combined partition bounds do not contain value (%s) but split partition \"%s\" does",
deparse_expression((Node *) notFoundVal, NIL, false, false),
get_rel_name(partOid)),
- errhint("%s require combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"));
}
}
--
2.47.3
>From 7a3524600fa589565b0cc4b5f00196d60213dff6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:48:25 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 4/6] Add omitted "that" for clarity in some messages
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
This patch inserts “that” in several message where it had been
omitted, improving readability and reducing ambiguity.
---
src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c | 12 ++++++------
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
index a4487521a67..be3a3dc80f0 100644
--- a/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
+++ b/src/backend/partitioning/partbounds.c
@@ -5406,7 +5406,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to lower bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5416,7 +5416,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("lower bound of partition \"%s\" is less than lower bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5448,7 +5448,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("upper bound of partition \"%s\" is not equal to upper bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5458,7 +5458,7 @@ check_partition_bounds_for_split_range(Relation parent,
errmsg("upper bound of partition \"%s\" is greater than upper bound of split partition \"%s\"",
relname,
get_rel_name(splitPartOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"),
parser_errposition(pstate, exprLocation((Node *) datum)));
}
@@ -5654,7 +5654,7 @@ check_parent_values_in_new_partitions(Relation parent,
errmsg("new partitions combined partition bounds do not contain value (%s) but split partition \"%s\" does",
"NULL",
get_rel_name(partOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"));
/*
@@ -5697,7 +5697,7 @@ check_parent_values_in_new_partitions(Relation parent,
errmsg("new partitions combined partition bounds do not contain value (%s) but split partition \"%s\" does",
deparse_expression((Node *) notFoundVal, NIL, false, false),
get_rel_name(partOid)),
- errhint("%s requires combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
+ errhint("%s requires that combined bounds of new partitions must exactly match the bound of the split partition",
"ALTER TABLE ... SPLIT PARTITION"));
}
}
--
2.47.3
>From 945b925964407c5f7527d0d942862d83fba63fbf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 16:55:21 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 5/6] Unify wording of timeout error messages
Align the wording of timeout-related error messages by using
"timeout value" consistently.
---
src/backend/commands/wait.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/wait.c b/src/backend/commands/wait.c
index 1290df10c6f..5218ce4c7fe 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/wait.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/wait.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ ExecWaitStmt(ParseState *pstate, WaitStmt *stmt, DestReceiver *dest)
if (result < 0)
ereport(ERROR,
errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
- errmsg("timeout cannot be negative"));
+ errmsg("timeout value cannot be negative"));
timeout = (int64) result;
}
--
2.47.3
>From b78d758fb6d44aa4a5e99f9a6250cd8c57c1fe16 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kyotaro Horiguchi <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2026 16:16:06 +0900
Subject: [PATCH 6/6] Fix double quoting in extended statistics error message
Remove extra quoting for identifiers already quoted by
quote_identifier().
---
src/backend/statistics/extended_stats_funcs.c | 12 +++++++-----
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/src/backend/statistics/extended_stats_funcs.c b/src/backend/statistics/extended_stats_funcs.c
index b640941a9cc..c718ffa95c6 100644
--- a/src/backend/statistics/extended_stats_funcs.c
+++ b/src/backend/statistics/extended_stats_funcs.c
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ extended_statistics_update(FunctionCallInfo fcinfo)
{
ereport(WARNING,
errcode(ERRCODE_UNDEFINED_OBJECT),
- errmsg("could not find extended statistics object \"%s\".\"%s\"",
+ errmsg("could not find extended statistics object %s.%s",
quote_identifier(nspname),
quote_identifier(stxname)));
success = false;
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ extended_statistics_update(FunctionCallInfo fcinfo)
errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
errmsg("cannot specify parameter \"%s\"",
extarginfo[NDISTINCT_ARG].argname),
- errhint("Extended statistics object \"%s\".\"%s\" does not support statistics of this type.",
+ errhint("Extended statistics object %s.%s does not support statistics of this type.",
quote_identifier(nspname),
quote_identifier(stxname)));
@@ -904,9 +904,11 @@ pg_clear_extended_stats(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
table_close(pg_stext, RowExclusiveLock);
ereport(WARNING,
errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
- errmsg("could not clear extended statistics object \"%s\".\"%s\": incorrect relation \"%s\".\"%s\" specified",
- get_namespace_name(nspoid), stxname,
- relnspname, relname));
+ errmsg("could not clear extended statistics object %s.%s: incorrect relation %s.%s specified",
+ quote_identifier(get_namespace_name(nspoid)),
+ quote_identifier(stxname),
+ quote_identifier(relnspname),
+ quote_identifier(relname)));
PG_RETURN_VOID();
}
--
2.47.3
