Bruce,
I have developed the following patch to address these issues. I have
removed the lock GUC settings from postgresql.conf, as suggested. (They
aren't even enabled in the general builds.)
Great! Just to keep you from getting complacent, what follows is a proposal
for re-ordering the settings in the postgresql.conf.sample file. (sorry for
replying to your thread on a different list; I'm not subscribed to PATCHES).
THE PROPOSAL: We should re-order the settings in postgresql.conf.sample in
order to make more logical groupings per the attached outline. The online
documenation should be then re-sorted to match this order.
THE REASONS WHY: Our current ordering of settings in the CONF file is largely
based on history (i.e. based on when settings were added rather than any more
logical order). This makes understanding the CONF file baffling to
newcomers, and even experienced DBAs can miss important settings because they
are not grouped with their logical associates.
For that matter, the current ordering can be baffling to developers. When I
started this thread, Tom wasn't sure that CONF and GUC.c corresponded 100%.
And no wonder! postgresql.conf.sample is in one order, the Run-time
configuration doc page in a second order, and GUC.c in yet a third order!
It took me most of an afternoon just to match up the various options. The
CONF file and the docs should be in the same order, leaving us only two
orderings to keep track of.
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST: This would be an annoyance for anyone who diffs their
conf files as part of upgrading. I cannot think of any other objection,
except for the work involved, which I am quite willing to help with.
THE OUTLINE ATTACHED: is my proposed ordering. I've put it in outline form,
so that the groupings I'm using are obvious; I feel that the final
postgresql.conf.sample should keep the group and subgroup headers as comments
for additional clarity. I welcome improvements and suggestions -- the only
thing I'm attached to is the idea of logical re-ordering, not this particular
order.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS OUTLINE IS BASED ON 7.3.2 postgresql.conf. My laptop
is in the shop and I don't have a copy of 7.4 cvs on my back-up computer.
If my proposal is accepted in general, I will flesh it out for 7.4 before
June 15.
COMMITTMENT TO FOLLOW-UP: I will also be posting an article entitled The
Annotated PostgreSQL.conf either on Techdocs or at Elein's web site based on
this ordering to help people decipher their .conf files. This will include
the official docs, comments from the -PERFORMANCE mailing list, the command
line options, and whether or not each variable can be SET by the user.
--
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco
#CONNECTIONS AND AUTHENTICATION
#Connection Settings
tcpip_socket
max_connections
superuser_reserved_connections
port
unix_socket_directory
unix_socket_group
unix_socket_permissions
#Security Authentication
ssl
authentication_timeout
virtual_host
krb_server_keyfile
db_user_namespace
#MEMORY USAGE
#Memory
shared_buffers
sort_mem
vacuum_mem
#Free Space Map
max_fsm_relations
max_fsm_pages
#WAL Options
fsync
wal_sync_method
wal_buffers
checkpoint_segments
checkpoint_timeout
commit_delay
commit_siblings
wal_debug
#QUERY TUNING
#Join Methods
enable_seqscan
enable_indexscan
enable_tidscan
enable_sort
enable_nestloop
enable_mergejoin
enable_hashjoin
#Planner Cost Constants
effective_cache_size
random_page_cost
cpu_tuple_cost
cpu_index_tuple_cost
cpu_operator_cost
default_statistics_target
#Genetic Estimate Query Optimizer
geqo
geqo_threshold
geqo_selection_bias
geqo_pool_size
geqo_effort
geqo_generations
geqo_random_seed
#Other
explain_pretty_print
max_expr_depth
#CLIENT CONNECTION DEFAULTS
#Statement Behaviour
autocommit
search_path
default_transaction_isolation
statement_timeout
#Locale and Formatting
datestyle
timezone
australian_timezones
client_encoding
lc_messages
lc_monetary
