On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 5:23 PM Matthias van de Meent <[email protected]> wrote: > > They're exclusively for btree code's use; extensions (*) must not add > to (or change the meaning of) those bits, lest they create a forward > incompatibility with core PostgreSQL btree code in newer major > versions; it would cause corrupted binary upgraded databases. > But patches against core btree code can use those bits, because > forward compatibility is less of an issue there - we don't really > support binary upgrades manually patched systems, especially if they > have incompatible on-disk data.
Noted, I'm looking at it from the core btree code side of things. I'm unable to see a way where scans or VACUUM calls can recognise transient merge states if we implement merging as an extension. Madhav
