Re: [DOCS] .backup files not needed?

2008-05-09 Thread Tom Lane
Simon Riggs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Just had questions from a replication user about why the .backup file is
> described as "can ordinarily be ignored" and is considered optional by
> recovery also even when pg_start_backup() was used.

What it says is that the second part of the filename can ordinarily
be ignored.  I don't know why neither he nor you managed to parse the
sentence correctly.  Feel free to propose a rewording, but removing
information doesn't sound like a solution.

regards, tom lane

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Re: [DOCS] .backup files not needed?

2008-05-09 Thread Bruce Momjian
Simon Riggs wrote:
> Just had questions from a replication user about why the .backup file is
> described as "can ordinarily be ignored" and is considered optional by
> recovery also even when pg_start_backup() was used.
> 
> If the file was created, it is necessary to use it in recovery, so
> should never be ignored as the docs imply.
> 
> Can we remove the phrase ", and can ordinarily be ignored." ? from
> doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
> 
>   
> To make use of the backup, you will need to keep around all the WAL
> segment files generated during and after the file system backup.
> To aid you in doing this, the pg_stop_backup function
> creates a backup history file that is immediately
> stored into the WAL archive area. This file is named after the first
> WAL segment file that you need to have to make use of the backup.
> For example, if the starting WAL file is
> 0001123455CD the backup history file will be
> named something like
> 0001123455CD.007C9330.backup. (The second
> part of the file name stands for an exact position within the WAL
> file, and can ordinarily be ignored.) Once you have safely archived
> the file system backup and the WAL segment files used during the
> backup (as specified in the backup history file), all archived WAL
> segments with names numerically less are no longer needed to recover
> the file system backup and can be deleted. However, you should
> consider keeping several backup sets to be absolutely certain that
> you can recover your data.
>

The comment is saying "the second part of the file name" can be ignored,
not the backup file itself.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com

  + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

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Re: [DOCS] .backup files not needed?

2008-05-09 Thread Simon Riggs
On Fri, 2008-05-09 at 10:28 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Simon Riggs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > Just had questions from a replication user about why the .backup file is
> > described as "can ordinarily be ignored" and is considered optional by
> > recovery also even when pg_start_backup() was used.
> 
> What it says is that the second part of the filename can ordinarily
> be ignored.  I don't know why neither he nor you managed to parse the
> sentence correctly.  Feel free to propose a rewording, but removing
> information doesn't sound like a solution.

Its probably best to read the whole mail before commenting on other
people's parsing. ;-)

I'll do a patch.

-- 
  Simon Riggs
  2ndQuadrant  http://www.2ndQuadrant.com


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Re: [DOCS] .backup files not needed?

2008-05-09 Thread Simon Riggs
On Fri, 2008-05-09 at 10:35 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:

> The comment is saying "the second part of the file name" can be ignored,
> not the backup file itself.

Yes, I know. I'm asking if anyone minds me changing the docs to make it
clearer, not being confused by it myself. The issue was raised because
pg_standby doesn't treat the file as optional, though recovery code
does.

-- 
  Simon Riggs
  2ndQuadrant  http://www.2ndQuadrant.com


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