Changes to get ready for 6.0 final release.

1 files changed, 824 insertions, 1074 deletions

diff --git a/doc/FAQ b/doc/FAQ
index d8b95a180b4..ce96f1d13c6 100644
--- a/doc/FAQ
+++ b/doc/FAQ
@@ -1,544 +1,422 @@
+Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL
+
+Last updated: Tue Jan 28 20:08:25 EST 1997
+Version: 6.0
+
+Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian ([email protected])
+
+The most recent version of this document can be viewed at the postgreSQL Web
+site, http://postgreSQL.org.
+
+Linux-specific questions are answered in
+http://postgreSQL.org/docs/FAQ-Linux.phtml.
+
+Irix-specific questions are answered in
+http://postgreSQL.org/docs/FAQ-Irix.phtml.
+
+Changes in this version (* = modified, + = new):
+
+   * *1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
+   * *1.5) Support for PostgreSQL
+   * *1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
+   * *1.10 Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of
+     postgres?
+   * *3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
+   * *3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
+   * *3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
+   * *3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
+   * *3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating
+     an index. How do I do it?
+   * *3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
+   * *5.1) How do I make a bug report?
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-   html>
-   
-              FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) FOR POSTGRESQL 
-                                       
-   
-   
-   Last updated: Thu Dec 12 21:30:37 EST 1996
-   Version: 6.0
-   
-   Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian ([email protected])
-   
-   
-   The most recent version of this document can be viewed at the
-   postgreSQL Web site, http://postgreSQL.org.
-   
-   Linux-specific questions are answered in
-   http://postgreSQL.org/docs/FAQ-Linux.phtml.
-   
-   Irix-specific questions are answered in
-   http://postgreSQL.org/docs/FAQ-Irix.phtml.
-   
-   Changes in this version (* = modified, + = new):
-   
-   *1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
-   
-   *1.5) Support for PostgreSQL
-   
-   *1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
-   
-   *1.10 Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of
-   postgres?
-   
-   *3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
-   
-   *3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
-   
-   *3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
-   
-   *3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
-   
-   *3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating
-   an index. How do I do it?
-   
-   *3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
-   
-   *5.1) How do I make a bug report?
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-   
-   
 Questions answered:
 
-   1) General questions
-  
-   1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
-   1.2) What does PostgreSQL run on?
-   1.3) Where can I get PostgreSQL?
-   1.4) What's the copyright on PostgreSQL?
-   1.5) Support for PostgreSQL
-   1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
-   1.7) Is there a commercial version of PostgreSQL?
-   1.9) What version of SQL does PostgreSQL use?
-   1.10) Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of
-   postgres?
-   1.11) How many people use PostgreSQL?
-   
-  2) Installation questions
-  
-   2.1) initdb doesn't run
-   2.2) when I start up the postmaster, I get "FindBackend: could not
-   find a backend to execute..." "postmaster: could not find backend to
-   execute..."
-   2.3) The system seems to be confused about commas, decimal points, and
-   date formats.
-   2.4) How do I install PostgreSQL somewhere other than
-   /usr/local/pgsql?
-   2.5) The backend compiled successfully, but compiling libpq resulted
-   in a complaint: "libpq/pqcomm.h" not found when compiling fe-auth.c.
-   2.6) When I run postmaster, I get a Bad System Call core dumped
-   message.
-   2.7) When I try to start the postmaster, I get IpcMemoryCreate errors.
-   2.8) I have changed a source file, but a recompile does not see the
-   change.
-   
-  3) PostgreSQL Features questions
-  
-   3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
-   3.2) Does PostgreSQL support nested subqueries?
-   3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
-   3.4) I've having a lot of problems using rules.
-   3.5) I can't seem to write into the middle of large objects reliably.
-   3.6) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user interface? A report
-   generator? A embedded query language interface?
-   3.7) How can I write client applications to PostgreSQL?
-   3.8) How do I prevent other hosts from accessing my PostgreSQL
-   3.9) How do I set up a pg_group?
-   3.10) What is the exact difference between binary cursors and normal
-   cursors?
-   3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
-   3.12) What is a R-tree index and what is it used for?
-   3.13) What is the maximum size for a tuple?
-   3.14) I defined indices but my queries don't seem to make use of them.
-   Why?
-   3.15) Are there ODBC drivers for PostgreSQL?
-   3.16) How do I use postgres for multi-dimensional indexing (> 2
-   dimensions)?
-   3.17) How do I do regular expression searches? case-insensitive regexp
-   searching?
-   3.18) I can't access the database as the 'root' user.
-   3.19) I experienced a server crash during a vacuum. How do I remove
-   the lock file?
-   3.20) What is the difference between the various character types?
-   3.21) In a query, how do I detect if a field is NULL?
-   3.22) How do I see how the query optimizer is evaluating my query?
-   3.23) How do I create a serial field?
-   3.24) How do I create a multi-column index?
-   3.25) What are the temp_XXX files in my database directory?
-   3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
-   3.27) Why can't I connect to my database from another machine?
-   3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating
-   an index. How do I do it?
-   3.29) Why does creating an index crash the backend server?
-   3.30) How do I specify a decimal constant as a float8, or a string as
-   a text? Why am I getting poor precision?
-   3.31) How do I find out what indexes or operations are defined in the
-   database?
-   3.32) My database is corrupt. I can't do anything. What should I do?
-   3.33) Createdb, destroydb, createuser, destroyuser don't run. Why?
-   3.34) Why does 'createuser' return 'unexpected last match in input()'?
-   3.35) All my servers crash under concurrent table access. Why?
-   3.36) What tools are available for hooking postgres to Web pages?
-   3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
-   3.38) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
-   3.39) What debugging features are available in PostgreSQL?
-   3.40) What is an oid? What is a tid?
-   3.41) What is the meaning of some of the terms used in Postgres?
-   
-  4) Questions about extending PostgreSQL
-  
-   4.1) I wrote a user-defined function and when I run it in psql, it
-   dumps core.
-   4.2) I get messages of the type NOTICE:PortalHeapMemoryFree:
-   0x402251d0
-   4.3) I've written some nifty new types and functions for PostgreSQL.
-   4.4) How do I write a C function to return a tuple?
-   
-  5) Bugs
-  
-   5.1) How do I make a bug report?
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
+1) General questions
+
+1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
+1.2) What does PostgreSQL run on?
+1.3) Where can I get PostgreSQL?
+1.4) What's the copyright on PostgreSQL?
+1.5) Support for PostgreSQL
+1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
+1.7) Is there a commercial version of PostgreSQL?
+1.9) What version of SQL does PostgreSQL use?
+1.10) Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of postgres?
+1.11) How many people use PostgreSQL?
+
+2) Installation questions
+
+2.1) initdb doesn't run
+2.2) when I start up the postmaster, I get "FindBackend: could not find a
+backend to execute..." "postmaster: could not find backend to execute..."
+2.3) The system seems to be confused about commas, decimal points, and date
+formats.
+2.4) How do I install PostgreSQL somewhere other than /usr/local/pgsql?
+2.5) When I run postmaster, I get a Bad System Call core dumped message.
+2.6) When I try to start the postmaster, I get IpcMemoryCreate errors.
+2.7) I have changed a source file, but a recompile does not see the change.
+2.8) I have changed a source file, but a recompile does not see the change?
+3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
+3.2) Does PostgreSQL support nested subqueries?
+3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
+3.4) I've having a lot of problems using rules.
+3.5) I can't seem to write into the middle of large objects reliably.
+3.6) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user interface? A report generator? A
+embedded query language interface?
+3.7) How can I write client applications to PostgreSQL?
+3.8) How do I prevent other hosts from accessing my PostgreSQL
+3.9) How do I set up a pg_group?
+3.10) What is the exact difference between binary cursors and normal
+cursors?
+3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
+3.12) What is a R-tree index and what is it used for?
+3.13) What is the maximum size for a tuple?
+3.14) I defined indices but my queries don't seem to make use of them. Why?
+3.15) Are there ODBC drivers for PostgreSQL?
+3.16) How do I use postgres for multi-dimensional indexing (> 2 dimensions)?
+3.17) How do I do regular expression searches? case-insensitive regexp
+searching?
+3.18) I can't access the database as the 'root' user.
+3.19) I experienced a server crash during a vacuum. How do I remove the lock
+file?
+3.20) What is the difference between the various character types?
+3.21) In a query, how do I detect if a field is NULL?
+3.22) How do I see how the query optimizer is evaluating my query?
+3.23) How do I create a serial field?
+3.24) How do I create a multi-column index?
+3.25) What are the temp_XXX files in my database directory?
+3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
+3.27) Why can't I connect to my database from another machine?
+3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating an
+index. How do I do it?
+3.29) Why does creating an index crash the backend server?
+3.30) How do I specify a decimal constant as a float8, or a string as a
+text? Why am I getting poor precision?
+3.31) How do I find out what indexes or operations are defined in the
+database?
+3.32) My database is corrupt. I can't do anything. What should I do?
+3.33) Createdb, destroydb, createuser, destroyuser don't run. Why?
+3.34) Why does 'createuser' return 'unexpected last match in input()'?
+3.35) All my servers crash under concurrent table access. Why?
+3.36) What tools are available for hooking postgres to Web pages?
+3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
+3.38) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
+3.39) What debugging features are available in PostgreSQL?
+3.40) What is an oid? What is a tid?
+3.41) What is the meaning of some of the terms used in Postgres?
+
+4) Questions about extending PostgreSQL
+
+4.1) I wrote a user-defined function and when I run it in psql, it dumps
+core.
+4.2) I get messages of the type NOTICE:PortalHeapMemoryFree: 0x402251d0
+4.3) I've written some nifty new types and functions for PostgreSQL.
+4.4) How do I write a C function to return a tuple?
+
+5) Bugs
+
+5.1) How do I make a bug report?
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 Section 1: General Questions
 
-  1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL is an enhancement of the POSTGRES database management
-   system, a next-generation DBMS research prototype. While PostgreSQL
-   retains the powerful data model and rich data types of POSTGRES, it
-   replaces the PostQuel query language with an extended subset of SQL.
-   PostgreSQL is free and the complete source is available.
-   
-   PostgreSQL development is being performed by a team of Internet
-   developers who all subscribe to the PostgreSQL development mailing
-   list. The current coordinator is Marc G. Fournier
-   ([email protected]). (See below on how to join). This team is
-   now responsible for all current and future development of PostgreSQL.
-   
-   The authors of PostgreSQL 1.01 were Andrew Yu and Jolly Chen. Many
-   others have contributed to the porting, testing, debugging and
-   enhancement of the code. The original Postgres code, from which
-   PostgreSQL is derived, was the effort of many graduate students,
-   undergraduate students, and staff programmers working under the
-   direction of Professor Michael Stonebraker at the University of
-   California, Berkeley.
-   
-   The original name of the software at Berkeley was Postgres. When SQL
-   functionality was added in 1995, its name was changed to Postgres95.
-   The name was changed at the end of 1996 to PostgreSQL.
-   
-  1.2) What does PostgreSQL run on?
-  
-   
-   
-   The authors have compiled and tested PostgreSQL on the following
-   platforms(some of these compiles require gcc 2.7.0):
-     * DEC Alpha AXP on OSF/1 2.0
-     * HP PA-RISC on HP-UX 9.0
-     * i386 Solaris
-     * SUN SPARC on Solaris 2.4
-     * SUN SPARC on SunOS 4.1.3
-     * DEC MIPS on Ultrix 4.4
-     * Intel x86 on Linux 1.2 and Linux ELF
-     * OSs derived from 4.4-lite BSD (NetBSD, FreeBSD)
-     * IBM on AIX 3.2.5
-     * BSD/OS 2.0, 2.01 & 2.1
-     * SGI MIPS on IRIX 5.3
-       
-   
-   
-   The following ports are bundled with the PostgreSQL distribution. The
-   authors do not have handy access to these platforms but the ports have
-   been tested by the others.
-     * Motorola MC68K or Intel x86 on NeXTSTEP 3.2
-     * Intel x86 on Intel SVR4
-       
-   
-   
-  1.3) Where can I get PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-    The primary anonymous ftp site for PostgreSQL is:
-     * ftp://ftp.postgreSQL.org/pub
-       
-   
-   
-   A mirror site exists at:
-     * ftp://postgres95.vnet.net/pub/postgres95
-     * ftp://ftp.luga.or.at/pub/postgres95
-     * ftp://cal011111.student.utwente.nl/pub/postgres95
-     * ftp://ftp.uni-trier.de/pub/database/rdbms/postgres/postgres95
-     * ftp://rocker.sch.bme.hu
-       
-  1.4) What's the copyright on PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL is subject to the following COPYRIGHT.
-   
-   PostgreSQL Data Base Management System
-   
-   Copyright (c) 1994-6 Regents of the University of California
-   
-   Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
-   documentation for any purpose, without fee, and without a written
-   agreement is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice
-   and this paragraph and the following two paragraphs appear in all
-   copies.
-   
-   IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY
-   FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES,
-   INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND
-   ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN
-   ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
-   
-   THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES,
-   INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
-   MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE
-   PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF
-   CALIFORNIA HAS NO OBLIGATIONS TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT,
-   UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.
-   
-  1.5) Support for PostgreSQL 
-  
-   
-   
-   There is no official support for PostgreSQL from the original
-   maintainers or from University of California, Berkeley. It is
-   maintained through volunteer effort only.
-   
-   The main mailing list is: [email protected]. It is available
-   for discussion o f matters pertaining to PostgreSQL, including but not
-   limited to bug reports and fixes. For info on how to subscribe, send a
-   mail with the lines in the body (not the subject line)
-
-
-        help
-        info questions
-
-   
-   
-   to [email protected].
-   
-   There is also a digest list available. To subscribe to this list, send
-   email to: [email protected] with a BODY of:
-
-
-        subscribe questions-digest
-
-   Digests are sent out to members of this list whenever the main list
-   has received around 30k of messages.
-   
-   There is also a developers mailing list available. To subscribe to
-   this list, send email to [email protected] with a BODY
-   of:
-   
-
-
-        subscribe hackers
-
-   
-   
-   Additional information about PostgreSQL can be found via the
-   PostgreSQL WWW home page at:
-   
+1.1) What is PostgreSQL?
+
+PostgreSQL is an enhancement of the POSTGRES database management system, a
+next-generation DBMS research prototype. While PostgreSQL retains the
+powerful data model and rich data types of POSTGRES, it replaces the
+PostQuel query language with an extended subset of SQL. PostgreSQL is free
+and the complete source is available.
+
+PostgreSQL development is being performed by a team of Internet developers
+who all subscribe to the PostgreSQL development mailing list. The current
+coordinator is Marc G. Fournier ([email protected]). (See below on how
+to join). This team is now responsible for all current and future
+development of PostgreSQL.
+
+The authors of PostgreSQL 1.01 were Andrew Yu and Jolly Chen. Many others
+have contributed to the porting, testing, debugging and enhancement of the
+code. The original Postgres code, from which PostgreSQL is derived, was the
+effort of many graduate students, undergraduate students, and staff
+programmers working under the direction of Professor Michael Stonebraker at
+the University of California, Berkeley.
+
+The original name of the software at Berkeley was Postgres. When SQL
+functionality was added in 1995, its name was changed to Postgres95. The
+name was changed at the end of 1996 to PostgreSQL.
+
+1.2) What does PostgreSQL run on?
+
+The authors have compiled and tested PostgreSQL on the following
+platforms(some of these compiles require gcc 2.7.0):
+
+   * aix - IBM on AIX 3.2.5
+   * alpha - DEC Alpha AXP on OSF/1 2.0
+   * BSD44_derived - OSs derived from 4.4-lite BSD (NetBSD, FreeBSD)
+   * bsdi - BSD/OS 2.0, 2.01, 2.1
+   * dgux - DG/UX 5.4R3.10
+   * hpux - HP PA-RISC on HP-UX 9.0
+   * i386_solaris - i386 Solaris
+   * irix5 - SGI MIPS on IRIX 5.3
+   * linux - Intel x86 on Linux 1.2 and Linux ELF (For non-ELF Linux, see
+     LINUX_ELF below).
+   * next - Motorola MC68K or Intel x86 on NeXTSTEP 3.2
+   * sparc_solaris - SUN SPARC on Solaris 2.4
+   * sunos4 - SUN SPARC on SunOS 4.1.3
+   * svr4 - Intel x86 on Intel SVR4
+   * ultrix4 - DEC MIPS on Ultrix 4.4
+
+1.3) Where can I get PostgreSQL?
+
+The primary anonymous ftp site for PostgreSQL is:
+
+   * ftp://ftp.postgreSQL.org/pub
+
+A mirror site exists at:
+
+   * ftp://postgres95.vnet.net/pub/postgres95
+   * ftp://ftp.luga.or.at/pub/postgres95
+   * ftp://cal011111.student.utwente.nl/pub/postgres95
+   * ftp://ftp.uni-trier.de/pub/database/rdbms/postgres/postgres95
+   * ftp://rocker.sch.bme.hu
+
+1.4) What's the copyright on PostgreSQL?
+
+PostgreSQL is subject to the following COPYRIGHT.
+
+PostgreSQL Data Base Management System
+
+Copyright (c) 1994-6 Regents of the University of California
+
+Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
+documentation for any purpose, without fee, and without a written agreement
+is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this
+paragraph and the following two paragraphs appear in all copies.
+
+IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR
+DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING
+LOST PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION,
+EVEN IF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES,
+INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS ON AN
+"AS IS" BASIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HAS NO OBLIGATIONS TO
+PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.
+
+1.5) Support for PostgreSQL
+
+There is no official support for PostgreSQL from the original maintainers or
+from University of California, Berkeley. It is maintained through volunteer
+effort only.
+
+The main mailing list is: [email protected]. It is available for
+discussion o f matters pertaining to PostgreSQL, including but not limited
+to bug reports and fixes. For info on how to subscribe, send a mail with the
+lines in the body (not the subject line)
+
+        subscribe
+        end
+
+to [email protected].
+
+There is also a digest list available. To subscribe to this list, send email
+to: [email protected] with a BODY of:
+
+        subscribe
+        end
+
+Digests are sent out to members of this list whenever the main list has
+received around 30k of messages.
+
+There is a bugs mailing list available. To subscribe to this list, send
+email to [email protected] with a BODY of:
+
+There is also a developers discussion mailing list available. To subscribe
+to this list, send email to [email protected] with a BODY of:
+
+        subscribe
+        end
+
+Additional information about PostgreSQL can be found via the PostgreSQL WWW
+home page at:
+
      http://postgreSQL.org
-     
-   
-   
-  1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
-  
-   
-   
-   The latest release of PostgreSQL is version 1.09. The next release
-   will be numbered 6.0 for historical reasons. This release is in beta
-   and is available at our ftp site. We expect the beta period to be
-   complete during the week of January 2, 1997. For information about
-   what is new in 6.0, see our TODO list on our WWW page.
-   
-   We expect a 7.0 release in several months that will remove time-travel
-   and reduce by 50% the size of on-disk system columns maintained for
-   each row in a table. This release will also require a dump and
-   restore.
-   
-  1.7) Is there a commercial version of PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   Illustra Information Technology (a wholly owned subsidiary of Informix
-   Software, Inc.) sells an object-relational DBMS called Illustra that
-   was originally based on postgres. Illustra has cosmetic similarities
-   to PostgreSQL but has more features, is more robust, performs better,
-   and offers real documentation and support. On the flip side, it costs
-   money. For more information, contact [email protected]
-   
-  1.8) What documentation is available for PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   A user manual, manual pages, and some small test examples are included
-   in the distribution. The sql and built-in manual pages are
-   particularly important.
-   
-   The www page contains pointers to an implementation guide and five
-   papers written about postgres design concepts and features.
-   
-  1.9) What version of SQL does PostgreSQL use?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL supports a subset of SQL-92. It has most of the important
-   constructs but lacks some of the functionality. The most visible
-   differences are:
-     * no support for nested subqueries
-     * no HAVING clause under a GROUP BY
-       
-   
-   
-   On the other hand, you get to create user-defined types, functions,
-   inheritance etc. If you're willing to help with PostgreSQL coding,
-   eventually we can also add the missing features listed above.
-   
-  1.10) Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of postgres?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL v1.09 is compatible with databases created with v1.01.
-   Those upgrading from 1.0 should read the directions in the
-   MIGRATION_1.0_TO_1.02 directory.
-   
-   Upgrading to 6.0 requires a dump and restore.
-   
-  1.11) How many people use PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   Since we don't have any licensing or registration scheme, it's
-   impossible to tell. We do know hundreds copies of PostgreSQL v1.* have
-   been downloaded, and that there many hundreds of subscribers to the
-   mailing lists.
-   
-   
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-Section 2: Installation Questions 
-
-   
-   
-  2.1) initdb doesn't run
-  
-   
-   
-     * check to see that you have the proper paths set
-     * check that the 'postgres' user owns all the right files
-     * ensure that there are files in $PGDATA/files, and that they are
-       non-empty. If they aren't, then "gmake install" failed for some
-       reason
-       
-   
-   
-  2.2) when I start up the postmaster, I get "FindBackend: could not find a
-  backend to execute..." "postmaster: could not find backend to execute..."
-  
-   
-   
-   You probably do not have the right path set up. The 'postgres'
-   executable needs to be in your path.
-   
-  2.3) The system seems to be confused about commas, decimal points, and date
-  formats.
-  
-   
-   
-   Check your locale configuration. PostgreSQL uses the locale settings
-   of the user that ran the postmaster process. Set those accordingly for
-   your operating environment.
-   
-  2.4) How do I install PostgreSQL somewhere other than /usr/local/pgsql?
-  
-   
-   
-   You need to manually edit the paths in src/Makefile.global to your
-   site configuration.
-   
-  2.5) The backend compiled successfully, but compiling libpq resulted in a
-  complaint: "libpq/pqcomm.h" not found when compiling fe-auth.c.
-  
-   
-   
-   You've probably installed PostgreSQL somewhere other than
-   /usr/local/pgsql, but didn't edit the src/Makefile.global accordingly.
-   See question 2.6.
-   
-  2.6) When I run postmaster, I get a Bad System Call core dumped message.
-  
-   
-   
-   It could be a variety of problems, but first check to see that you
-   have system V extensions installed on your kernel. PostgreSQL requires
-   kernel support for shared memory.
-   
-  2.7) I get the error message "obj/fmgr.h: No such file or directory"
-  
-   
-   
-   This indicates that you did not generate the file fmgr.h properly.
-   Something failed in the running of the
-   src/backend/utils/Gen_fmgrtab.sh script. Check to see the paths used
-   in that script is appropriate to your system.
-   
-  2.8) When I try to start the postmaster, I get IpcMemoryCreate errors.
-  
-   
-   
-   You either do not have shared memory configured properly in kernel or
-   you need to enlarge the shared memory available in the kernel. The
-   exact amount you need depends on your architecture and how many
-   buffers you configure postmaster to run with. For most systems, with
-   default buffer sizes, you need a minimum of ~760K.
-   
-  2.10) I have changed a source file, but a recompile does not see the change?
-  
-   
-   
-   The Makefiles do not have the proper dependencies for include files.
-   You have to do a 'make clean' and then another 'make'.
-   
-   
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-Section 3: PostgreSQL Features 
-
-   
-   
-  3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
-  
-   
-   
-   Column constraints are not supported in PostgreSQL. As a consequence,
-   the system does not check for duplicates.
-   
-   Under 6.0, create a unique index on the column. Attempts to create
-   duplicate of that column will report an error.
-   
-  3.2) Does PostgreSQL support nested subqueries?
-  
-   
-   
-   Subqueries are not implemented, but they can be simulated using sql
-   functions.
-   
-  3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL 6.0 supports unique indices.
-   
-  3.4) I've having a lot of problems using rules.
-  
-   
-   
-   Currently, the rule system in PostgreSQL is mostly broken. It works
-   enough to support the view mechanism, but that's about it. Use
-   PostgreSQL rules at your own peril.
-   
-  3.5) I can't seem to write into the middle of large objects reliably.
-  
-   
-   
-   The Inversion large object system in PostgreSQL is also mostly broken.
-   It works well enough for storing large wads of data and reading them
-   back out, but the implementation has some underlying problems. Use
-   PostgreSQL large objects at your own peril.
-   
-  3.6) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user interface? A report generator? A
-  embedded query language interface?
-  
-   
-   
-   No. No. No. Not in the official distribution at least. Some users have
-   reported some success at using 'pgbrowse' and 'onyx' as frontends to
-   PostgreSQL. Several contributions are working on tk based frontend
-   tools. Ask on the mailing list.
-   
-  3.7) How can I write client applications to PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL supports a C-callable library interface called libpq as
-   well as a Tcl-based library interface called libtcl.
-   
-   Others have contributed a perl interface and a WWW gateway to
-   PostgreSQL. See the PostgreSQL home pages for more details.
-   
-  3.8) How do I prevent other hosts from accessing my PostgreSQL backend?
-  
-   
-   
-   Use host-based authentication by modifying the file $PGDATA/pg_hba
-   accordingly.
-   
-  3.9) How do I set up a pg_group?
-  
-   
-   
-   Currently, there is no easy interface to set up user groups. You have
-   to explicitly insert/update the pg_group table. For example:
 
+1.6) Latest release of PostgreSQL
+
+The latest release of PostgreSQL is version 1.09. The next release will be
+numbered 6.0 for historical reasons. This release is in beta and is
+available at our ftp site. We expect the beta period to be complete during
+the week of January 31, 1997. For information about what is new in 6.0, see
+our TODO list on our WWW page.
+
+We expect a 7.0 release in several months that will remove time-travel and
+reduce by 50% the size of on-disk system columns maintained for each row in
+a table. This release will also require a dump and restore.
+
+1.7) Is there a commercial version of PostgreSQL?
+
+Illustra Information Technology (a wholly owned subsidiary of Informix
+Software, Inc.) sells an object-relational DBMS called Illustra that was
+originally based on postgres. Illustra has cosmetic similarities to
+PostgreSQL but has more features, is more robust, performs better, and
+offers real documentation and support. On the flip side, it costs money. For
+more information, contact [email protected]
+
+1.8) What documentation is available for PostgreSQL?
+
+A user manual, manual pages, and some small test examples are included in
+the distribution. The sql and built-in manual pages are particularly
+important.
+
+The www page contains pointers to an implementation guide and five papers
+written about postgres design concepts and features.
+
+1.9) What version of SQL does PostgreSQL use?
+
+PostgreSQL supports a subset of SQL-92. It has most of the important
+constructs but lacks some of the functionality. The most visible differences
+are:
+
+   * no support for nested subqueries
+   * no HAVING clause under a GROUP BY
+
+On the other hand, you get to create user-defined types, functions,
+inheritance etc. If you're willing to help with PostgreSQL coding,
+eventually we can also add the missing features listed above.
+
+1.10) Does PostgreSQL work with databases from earlier versions of postgres?
+
+PostgreSQL v1.09 is compatible with databases created with v1.01. Those
+upgrading from 1.0 should read the directions in the MIGRATION_1.0_TO_1.02
+directory.
+
+Upgrading to 6.0 requires a dump and restore.
+
+1.11) How many people use PostgreSQL?
+
+Since we don't have any licensing or registration scheme, it's impossible to
+tell. We do know hundreds copies of PostgreSQL v1.* have been downloaded,
+and that there many hundreds of subscribers to the mailing lists.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Section 2: Installation Questions
+
+2.1) initdb doesn't run
+
+   * check to see that you have the proper paths set
+   * check that the 'postgres' user owns all the right files
+   * ensure that there are files in $PGDATA/files, and that they are
+     non-empty. If they aren't, then "gmake install" failed for some reason
+
+2.2) when I start up the postmaster, I get "FindBackend: could not find a
+backend to execute..." "postmaster: could not find backend to execute..."
+
+You probably do not have the right path set up. The 'postgres' executable
+needs to be in your path.
+
+2.3) The system seems to be confused about commas, decimal points, and date
+formats.
+
+Check your locale configuration. PostgreSQL uses the locale settings of the
+user that ran the postmaster process. Set those accordingly for your
+operating environment.
+
+2.4) How do I install PostgreSQL somewhere other than /usr/local/pgsql?
+
+You need to edit Makefile.global and change POSTGRESDIR accordingly, or
+create a Makefile.custom and define POSTGRESDIR there.
+
+2.5) When I run postmaster, I get a Bad System Call core dumped message.
+
+It could be a variety of problems, but first check to see that you have
+system V extensions installed on your kernel. PostgreSQL requires kernel
+support for shared memory.
+
+2.6) I get the error message "obj/fmgr.h: No such file or directory"
+
+This indicates that you did not generate the file fmgr.h properly. Something
+failed in the running of the src/backend/utils/Gen_fmgrtab.sh script. Check
+to see the paths used in that script is appropriate to your system.
+
+2.7) When I try to start the postmaster, I get IpcMemoryCreate errors.
+
+You either do not have shared memory configured properly in kernel or you
+need to enlarge the shared memory available in the kernel. The exact amount
+you need depends on your architecture and how many buffers you configure
+postmaster to run with. For most systems, with default buffer sizes, you
+need a minimum of ~760K.
+
+2.8) I have changed a source file, but a recompile does not see the change?
+
+The Makefiles do not have the proper dependencies for include files. You
+have to do a 'make clean' and then another 'make'.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Section 3: PostgreSQL Features
+
+3.1) How do I specify a KEY or other constraints on a column?
+
+Column constraints are not supported in PostgreSQL. As a consequence, the
+system does not check for duplicates.
+
+Under 6.0, create a unique index on the column. Attempts to create duplicate
+of that column will report an error.
+
+3.2) Does PostgreSQL support nested subqueries?
+
+Subqueries are not implemented, but they can be simulated using sql
+functions.
+
+3.3) How do I define a unique indices?
+
+PostgreSQL 6.0 supports unique indices.
+
+3.4) I've having a lot of problems using rules.
+
+Currently, the rule system in PostgreSQL is mostly broken. It works enough
+to support the view mechanism, but that's about it. Use PostgreSQL rules at
+your own peril.
+
+3.5) I can't seem to write into the middle of large objects reliably.
+
+The Inversion large object system in PostgreSQL is also mostly broken. It
+works well enough for storing large wads of data and reading them back out,
+but the implementation has some underlying problems. Use PostgreSQL large
+objects at your own peril.
+
+3.6) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user interface? A report generator? A
+embedded query language interface?
+
+No. No. No. Not in the official distribution at least. Some users have
+reported some success at using 'pgbrowse' and 'onyx' as frontends to
+PostgreSQL. Several contributions are working on tk based frontend tools.
+Ask on the mailing list.
+
+3.7) How can I write client applications to PostgreSQL?
+
+PostgreSQL supports a C-callable library interface called libpq as well as a
+Tcl-based library interface called libtcl.
+
+Others have contributed a perl interface and a WWW gateway to PostgreSQL.
+See the PostgreSQL home pages for more details.
+
+3.8) How do I prevent other hosts from accessing my PostgreSQL backend?
+
+Use host-based authentication by modifying the file $PGDATA/pg_hba
+accordingly.
+
+3.9) How do I set up a pg_group?
+
+Currently, there is no easy interface to set up user groups. You have to
+explicitly insert/update the pg_group table. For example:
 
         jolly=> insert into pg_group (groname, grosysid, grolist)
         jolly=>     values ('posthackers', '1234', '{5443, 8261}');
@@ -547,180 +425,145 @@ Section 3: PostgreSQL Features
         CHANGE
         jolly=>
 
-   
-   
-   The fields in pg_group are:
-     * groname: the group name. This a char16 and should be purely
-       alphanumeric. Do not include underscores or other punctuation.
-     * grosysid: the group id. This is an int4. This should be unique for
-       each group.
-     * grolist: the list of pg_user id's that belong in the group. This
-       is an int4[].
-       
-   
-   
-  3.10) What is the exact difference between binary cursors and normal cursors?
-  
-   
-   
-   Normal cursors return data back in ASCII format. Since data is stored
-   natively in binary format, the system must do a conversion to produce
-   the ASCII format. In addition, ASCII formats are often large in size
-   than binary format. Once the attributes come back in ASCII, often the
-   client application then has to convert it to a binary format to
-   manipulate it anyway.
-   
-   Binary cursors give you back the data in the native binary
-   representation. Thus, binary cursors will tend to be a little faster
-   since there's less overhead of conversion.
-   
-   However, ASCII is architectural neutral whereas binary representation
-   can differ between different machine architecture. Thus, if your
-   client machine uses a different representation than you server
-   machine, getting back attributes in binary format is probably not what
-   you want. Also, if your main purpose is displaying the data in ASCII,
-   then getting it back in ASCII will save you some effort on the client
-   side.
-   
-  3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
-  
-   
-   
-   SQL specifies <> as the inequality operator, and that is what we have
-   defined for the built-in types.
-   
-   In 6.0, != is equivalent to <>.
-   
-  3.12) What is a R-tree index and what is it used for?
-  
-   
-   
-   An r-tree index is used for indexing spatial data. A hash index can't
-   handle range searches. A B-tree index only handles range searches in a
-   single dimension. R-tree's can handle multi-dimensional data. For
-   example, if a R-tree index can be built on an attribute of type
-   'point', the system can more efficient answer queries like select all
-   points within a bounding rectangle.
-   
-   The canonical paper that describes the original R-Tree design is:
-   
-   Guttman, A. "R-Trees: A Dynamic Index Structure for Spatial
-   Searching." Proc of the 1984 ACM SIGMOD Int'l Conf on Mgmt of Data,
-   45-57.
-   
-   You can also find this paper in Stonebraker's "Readings in Database
-   Systems"
-   
-  3.13) What is the maximum size for a tuple?
-  
-   
-   
-   Tuples are limited to 8K bytes. Taking into account system attributes
-   and other overhead, one should stay well shy of 8,000 bytes to be on
-   the safe side. To use attributes larger than 8K, try using the large
-   objects interface.
-   
-   Tuples do not cross 8k boundaries so a 5k tuple will require 8k of
-   storage.
-   
-  3.14) I defined indices but my queries don't seem to make use of them. Why?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL does not automatically maintain statistics. One has to make
-   an explicit 'vacuum' call to update the statistics. After statistics
-   are updated, the optimizer has a better shot at using indices. Note
-   that the optimizer is limited and does not use indices in some
-   circumstances (such as OR clauses).
-   
-   If the system still does not see the index, it is probably because you
-   have created an index on a field with the improper *_ops type. For
-   example, you have created a CHAR(4) field, but have specified a
-   char_ops index type_class.
-   
-   See the create_index manual page for information on what type classes
-   are available. It must match the field type.
-   
-   Postgres does not warn the user when the improper index is created.
-   
-   Indexes not used for ORDER BY operations.
-   
-  3.15) Are there ODBC drivers for PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   There are two ODBC drivers available, PostODBC and OpenLink ODBC.
-   
-   For all people being interested in PostODBC, there are now two mailing
-   lists devoted to the discussion of PostODBC. The mailing lists are:
-     * [email protected]. net
-     * postodbc-developers@listse rv.direct.net
-       
-   
-   
-   these lists are ordinary majordomo mailing lists. You can subscribe by
-   sending a mail to:
-     * [email protected]
-       
-   
-   
-   OpenLink ODBC is currently in beta under Linux. You can get it from
-   http://www.openlinksw.com/postgres.html. It works with our standard
-   ODBC client software so you'll have Postgres ODBC available on every
-   client platform we support (Win, Mac, Unix, VMS).
-   
-   We will probably be selling this product to people who need
-   commercial-quality support, but a freeware version will always be
-   available. Questions to [email protected].
-   
-  3.16) How do I use postgres for multi-dimensional indexing (> 2
-  dimensions">)?
-  
-   
-   
-   Builtin R-Trees can handle polygons and boxes. In theory, R-trees can
-   be extended to handle higher number of dimensions. In practice,
-   extending R-trees require a bit of work and we don't currently have
-   any documentation on how to do it.
-   
-  3.17) How do I do regular expression searches? case-insensitive regexp
-  searching?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL supports the SQL LIKE syntax as well as more general
-   regular expression searching with the ~ operator. The !~ is the
-   negated regexp operator. ~* and !~* are the case-insensitive regular
-   expression operators.
-   
-  3.18) I can't access the database as the 'root' user.
-  
-   
-   
-   You should not create database users with user id 0(root). They will
-   be unable to access the database. This is a security precaution
-   because of the ability of any user to dynamically link object modules
-   into the database engine.
-   
-  3.19) I experienced a server crash during a vacuum. How do I remove the lock
-  file?
-  
-   
-   
-   If the server crashes during a vacuum command, chances are it will
-   leave a lock file hanging around. Attempts to re-run the vacuum
-   command result in
+The fields in pg_group are:
+
+   * groname: the group name. This a char16 and should be purely
+     alphanumeric. Do not include underscores or other punctuation.
+   * grosysid: the group id. This is an int4. This should be unique for each
+     group.
+   * grolist: the list of pg_user id's that belong in the group. This is an
+     int4[].
+
+3.10) What is the exact difference between binary cursors and normal
+cursors?
+
+Normal cursors return data back in ASCII format. Since data is stored
+natively in binary format, the system must do a conversion to produce the
+ASCII format. In addition, ASCII formats are often large in size than binary
+format. Once the attributes come back in ASCII, often the client application
+then has to convert it to a binary format to manipulate it anyway.
+
+Binary cursors give you back the data in the native binary representation.
+Thus, binary cursors will tend to be a little faster since there's less
+overhead of conversion.
+
+However, ASCII is architectural neutral whereas binary representation can
+differ between different machine architecture. Thus, if your client machine
+uses a different representation than you server machine, getting back
+attributes in binary format is probably not what you want. Also, if your
+main purpose is displaying the data in ASCII, then getting it back in ASCII
+will save you some effort on the client side.
+
+3.11) Why doesn't the != operator work?
+
+SQL specifies <> as the inequality operator, and that is what we have
+defined for the built-in types.
+
+In 6.0, != is equivalent to <>.
+
+3.12) What is a R-tree index and what is it used for?
+
+An r-tree index is used for indexing spatial data. A hash index can't handle
+range searches. A B-tree index only handles range searches in a single
+dimension. R-tree's can handle multi-dimensional data. For example, if a
+R-tree index can be built on an attribute of type 'point', the system can
+more efficient answer queries like select all points within a bounding
+rectangle.
+
+The canonical paper that describes the original R-Tree design is:
 
+Guttman, A. "R-Trees: A Dynamic Index Structure for Spatial Searching." Proc
+of the 1984 ACM SIGMOD Int'l Conf on Mgmt of Data, 45-57.
+
+You can also find this paper in Stonebraker's "Readings in Database Systems"
+
+3.13) What is the maximum size for a tuple?
+
+Tuples are limited to 8K bytes. Taking into account system attributes and
+other overhead, one should stay well shy of 8,000 bytes to be on the safe
+side. To use attributes larger than 8K, try using the large objects
+interface.
+
+Tuples do not cross 8k boundaries so a 5k tuple will require 8k of storage.
+
+3.14) I defined indices but my queries don't seem to make use of them. Why?
+
+PostgreSQL does not automatically maintain statistics. One has to make an
+explicit 'vacuum' call to update the statistics. After statistics are
+updated, the optimizer has a better shot at using indices. Note that the
+optimizer is limited and does not use indices in some circumstances (such as
+OR clauses).
+
+If the system still does not see the index, it is probably because you have
+created an index on a field with the improper *_ops type. For example, you
+have created a CHAR(4) field, but have specified a char_ops index
+type_class.
+
+See the create_index manual page for information on what type classes are
+available. It must match the field type.
+
+Postgres does not warn the user when the improper index is created.
+
+Indexes not used for ORDER BY operations.
+
+3.15) Are there ODBC drivers for PostgreSQL?
+
+There are two ODBC drivers available, PostODBC and OpenLink ODBC.
+
+For all people being interested in PostODBC, there are now two mailing lists
+devoted to the discussion of PostODBC. The mailing lists are:
+
+   * [email protected]. net
+   * postodbc-developers@listse rv.direct.net
+
+these lists are ordinary majordomo mailing lists. You can subscribe by
+sending a mail to:
+
+   * [email protected]
+
+OpenLink ODBC is currently in beta under Linux. You can get it from
+http://www.openlinksw.com/postgres.html. It works with our standard ODBC
+client software so you'll have Postgres ODBC available on every client
+platform we support (Win, Mac, Unix, VMS).
+
+We will probably be selling this product to people who need
+commercial-quality support, but a freeware version will always be available.
+Questions to [email protected].
+
+3.16) How do I use postgres for multi-dimensional indexing (> 2
+dimensions">)?
+
+Builtin R-Trees can handle polygons and boxes. In theory, R-trees can be
+extended to handle higher number of dimensions. In practice, extending
+R-trees require a bit of work and we don't currently have any documentation
+on how to do it.
+
+3.17) How do I do regular expression searches? case-insensitive regexp
+searching?
+
+PostgreSQL supports the SQL LIKE syntax as well as more general regular
+expression searching with the ~ operator. The !~ is the negated regexp
+operator. ~* and !~* are the case-insensitive regular expression operators.
+
+3.18) I can't access the database as the 'root' user.
+
+You should not create database users with user id 0(root). They will be
+unable to access the database. This is a security precaution because of the
+ability of any user to dynamically link object modules into the database
+engine.
+
+3.19) I experienced a server crash during a vacuum. How do I remove the lock
+file?
+
+If the server crashes during a vacuum command, chances are it will leave a
+lock file hanging around. Attempts to re-run the vacuum command result in
 
         WARN:can't create lock file -- another vacuum cleaner running?
 
-   
-   
-   If you are sure that no vacuum is actually running, you can remove the
-   file called "pg_vlock" in your database directory (which is
-   $PGDATA/base/)
-   
-  3.20) What is the difference between the various character types?
+If you are sure that no vacuum is actually running, you can remove the file
+called "pg_vlock" in your database directory (which is $PGDATA/base/)
+
+3.20) What is the difference between the various character types?
 
 Type            Internal Name   Notes
 --------------------------------------------------
@@ -734,48 +577,35 @@ VARCHAR(#)      varchar         size specifies maximum length, no padding
 TEXT            text            length limited only by maximum tuple length
 BYTEA           bytea           variable-length array of bytes
 
-   
-   
-   Remember, you need to use the internal name when creating indexes on
-   these fields or when doing other internal operations.
-   
-   The last four types above are "varlena" types (i.e. the first four
-   bytes is the length, followed by the data). CHAR(#) and VARCHAR(#)
-   allocate the maximum number of bytes no matter how much data is stored
-   in the field. TEXT and BYTEA are the only character types that have
-   variable length on the disk.
-   
-  3.21) In a query, how do I detect if a field is NULL?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL has two builtin keywords, "isnull" and "notnull" (note no
-   spaces). Version 1.05 and later and 6.* understand IS NULL and IS NOT
-   NULL.
-   
-  3.22) How do I see how the query optimizer is evaluating my query?
-  
-   
-   
-   Place the word 'EXPLAIN' at the beginning of the query, for example:
+Remember, you need to use the internal name when creating indexes on these
+fields or when doing other internal operations.
 
+The last four types above are "varlena" types (i.e. the first four bytes is
+the length, followed by the data). CHAR(#) and VARCHAR(#) allocate the
+maximum number of bytes no matter how much data is stored in the field. TEXT
+and BYTEA are the only character types that have variable length on the
+disk.
+
+3.21) In a query, how do I detect if a field is NULL?
+
+PostgreSQL has two builtin keywords, "isnull" and "notnull" (note no
+spaces). Version 1.05 and later and 6.* understand IS NULL and IS NOT NULL.
+
+3.22) How do I see how the query optimizer is evaluating my query?
+
+Place the word 'EXPLAIN' at the beginning of the query, for example:
 
         EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE age = 23;
 
-   
-   
-  3.23) How do I create a serial field?
-  
-   
-   
-   Postgres does not allow the user to specifiy a user column as type
-   SERIAL. Instead, you can use each row's oid field as a unique value.
-   However, if you need to dump and reload the database, you need to be
-   using postgres version 1.07 or later or 6.* with pgdump's -o option or
-   COPY's WITH OIDS option to preserver the oids.
-   
-   Another valid way of doing this is to create a function:
+3.23) How do I create a serial field?
 
+Postgres does not allow the user to specifiy a user column as type SERIAL.
+Instead, you can use each row's oid field as a unique value. However, if you
+need to dump and reload the database, you need to be using postgres version
+1.07 or later or 6.* with pgdump's -o option or COPY's WITH OIDS option to
+preserver the oids.
+
+Another valid way of doing this is to create a function:
 
         create table my_oids (f1 int4);
         insert into my_oids values (1);
@@ -783,358 +613,278 @@ BYTEA           bytea           variable-length array of bytes
                 'update my_oids set f1 = f1 + 1;  select f1 from my_oids; '
         language 'sql';
 
-   
-   
-   then:
-
+then:
 
         create table my_stuff (my_key int4, value text);
         insert into my_stuff values (new_oid(), 'hello');
 
-   
-   
-   However, keep in mind there is a race condition here where one server
-   could do the update, then another one do an update, and they both
-   could select the same new id. This statement should be performed
-   within a transaction.
-   
-  3.24) How do I create a multi-column index?
-  
-   
-   
-   You can not directly create a multi-column index using create index.
-   You need to define a function which acts on the multiple columns, then
-   use create index with that function.
-   
-  3.25) What are the temp_XXX files in my database directory?
-  
-   
-   
-   They are temp_ files generated by the query executor. For example, if
-   a sort needs to be done to satisfy an ORDER BY, some temp files are
-   generated as a result of the sort.
-   
-   If you have no transactions or sorts running at the time, it is safe
-   to delete the temp_ files.
-   
-  3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
-  
-   
-   
-   If you run vacuum in pre-6.0, unused rows will be marked for reuse,
-   but the file blocks are not released.
-   
-   In 6.0, vacuum properly shrinks tables.
-   
-  3.27) Why can't I connect to my database from another machine?
-  
-   
-   
-   The default configuration allows only connections from tcp/ip host
-   localhost. You need to add a host entry to the file pgsql/data/pg_hba.
-   
-   
-  3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating an
-  index. How do I do it?
-  
-   
-   
-   You probably used:
+However, keep in mind there is a race condition here where one server could
+do the update, then another one do an update, and they both could select the
+same new id. This statement should be performed within a transaction.
+
+3.24) How do I create a multi-column index?
+
+You can not directly create a multi-column index using create index. You
+need to define a function which acts on the multiple columns, then use
+create index with that function.
+
+3.25) What are the temp_XXX files in my database directory?
+
+They are temp_ files generated by the query executor. For example, if a sort
+needs to be done to satisfy an ORDER BY, some temp files are generated as a
+result of the sort.
+
+If you have no transactions or sorts running at the time, it is safe to
+delete the temp_ files.
+
+3.26) Why are my table files not getting any smaller after a delete?
+
+If you run vacuum in pre-6.0, unused rows will be marked for reuse, but the
+file blocks are not released.
+
+In 6.0, vacuum properly shrinks tables.
 
+3.27) Why can't I connect to my database from another machine?
+
+The default configuration allows only connections from tcp/ip host
+localhost. You need to add a host entry to the file pgsql/data/pg_hba.
+
+3.28) I get the error 'default index class unsupported' when creating an
+index. How do I do it?
+
+You probably used:
 
         create index idx1 on person using btree (name);
 
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL indexes are extensible, and therefore in pre-6.0, you must
-   specify a class_type when creating an index. Read the manual page for
-   create index (called create_index).
-   
-   Version 6.0, if you do not specify a class_type, it defaults to the
-   proper type for the column.
-   
-  3.29) Why does creating an index crash the backend server?
-  
-   
-   
-   You have probably defined an incorrect *_ops type class for the field
-   you are indexing.
-   
-  3.30) How do I specify a decimal constant as a float8, or a string as a text?
-  Why am I getting poor precision?
-  
-   
-   
-   Use the :: operator. It is needed only when the default promotion
-   rules fail. i.e.:
+PostgreSQL indexes are extensible, and therefore in pre-6.0, you must
+specify a class_type when creating an index. Read the manual page for create
+index (called create_index).
+
+Version 6.0, if you do not specify a class_type, it defaults to the proper
+type for the column.
+
+3.29) Why does creating an index crash the backend server?
+
+You have probably defined an incorrect *_ops type class for the field you
+are indexing.
+
+3.30) How do I specify a decimal constant as a float8, or a string as a
+text? Why am I getting poor precision?
 
+Use the :: operator. It is needed only when the default promotion rules
+fail. i.e.:
 
         insert into tab1 values (4.23::float8, '2343'::text)
 
-   
-   
-   The default floating-point constant is a float4 in releases prior to
-   1.05. Later releases default to float8.
-   
-  3.31) How do I find out what indexes or operations are defined in the
-  database?
-  
-   
-   
-   Run the file pgsql/src/tutorial/syscat.source. It illustrates many of
-   the 'select's needed to get information out of the database system
-   tables.
-   
-  3.32) My database is corrupt. I can't do anything. What should I do?
-  
-   
-   
-   The 1.02 release has a README file and utility that describes a
-   possible cause of the problem and a workaround.
-   
-   This bug is fixed in 1.02.1.
-   
-  3.33) Createdb, destroydb, createuser,destroyuser don't run. Why?
-  
-   
-   
-   Release 1.02 does not have this problem.
-   
-   The 1.01 release of PostgreSQL uses a variable called PAGER to filter
-   the output of SELECT statements. Unfortunately, this PAGER is used
-   even when the standard output is not a terminal.
-   
-  3.34) Why does 'createuser' return 'unexpected last match in input(">)'?
-  
-   
-   
-   You have compile postgres with flex version 2.5.3. There is bug in
-   this version of flex. Use flex version 2.5.2 or flex 2.5.4 instead.
-   There is a doc/README.flex file which will properly patch the flex
-   2.5.3 source code.
-   
-  3.35) All my servers crash under concurrent table access. Why?
-  
-   
-   
-   This problem can be caused by a kernel that is not configured to
-   support semaphores.
-   
-  3.36) What tools are available for hooking postgres to Web pages?
-  
-   
-   
-   For web integration, PHP/FI is an excellent interface. The URL for
-   that is http://www.vex.net/php/
-   
-   PHP is great for simple stuff, but for more complex stuff, some still
-   use the perl interface and CGI.pm.
-   
-   An example of using WWW with C to talk to Postgres is can be tried at:
-     * http://postgreSQL.org/~mlc
-       
-   
-   
-   An WWW gatway based on WDB using perl can be downloaded from:
-     * http://www.eol.ists.ca/~dunlop/wdb -p95
-       
-  3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL handles data changes differently than most database
-   systems. When a row is changed in a table, the original row is marked
-   with the time it was changed, and a new row is created with the
-   current data. By default, only current rows are used in a table. If
-   you specify a date/time after the table name in a FROM clause, you can
-   access the data that was current at that time, i.e.
+The default floating-point constant is a float4 in releases prior to 1.05.
+Later releases default to float8.
+
+3.31) How do I find out what indexes or operations are defined in the
+database?
+
+Run the file pgsql/src/tutorial/syscat.source. It illustrates many of the
+'select's needed to get information out of the database system tables.
+
+3.32) My database is corrupt. I can't do anything. What should I do?
+
+The 1.02 release has a README file and utility that describes a possible
+cause of the problem and a workaround.
+
+This bug is fixed in 1.02.1.
+
+3.33) Createdb, destroydb, createuser,destroyuser don't run. Why?
 
+Release 1.02 does not have this problem.
+
+The 1.01 release of PostgreSQL uses a variable called PAGER to filter the
+output of SELECT statements. Unfortunately, this PAGER is used even when the
+standard output is not a terminal.
+
+3.34) Why does 'createuser' return 'unexpected last match in input(">)'?
+
+You have compile postgres with flex version 2.5.3. There is bug in this
+version of flex. Use flex version 2.5.2 or flex 2.5.4 instead. There is a
+doc/README.flex file which will properly patch the flex 2.5.3 source code.
+
+3.35) All my servers crash under concurrent table access. Why?
+
+This problem can be caused by a kernel that is not configured to support
+semaphores.
+
+3.36) What tools are available for hooking postgres to Web pages?
+
+For web integration, PHP/FI is an excellent interface. The URL for that is
+http://www.vex.net/php/
+
+PHP is great for simple stuff, but for more complex stuff, some still use
+the perl interface and CGI.pm.
+
+An example of using WWW with C to talk to Postgres is can be tried at:
+
+   * http://postgreSQL.org/~mlc
+
+An WWW gatway based on WDB using perl can be downloaded from:
+
+   * http://www.eol.ists.ca/~dunlop/wdb -p95
+
+3.37) What is the time-warp feature and how does it relate to vacuum?
+
+PostgreSQL handles data changes differently than most database systems. When
+a row is changed in a table, the original row is marked with the time it was
+changed, and a new row is created with the current data. By default, only
+current rows are used in a table. If you specify a date/time after the table
+name in a FROM clause, you can access the data that was current at that
+time, i.e.
 
         SELECT *
         FROM employees ['July 24, 1996 09:00:00']
 
-   
-   
-   displays employee rows in the table at the specified time. You can
-   specify intervals like [date,date], [date,], [,date], or [,]. This
-   last option accesses all rows that ever existed.
-   
-   INSERTed rows get a timestamp too, so rows that were not in the table
-   at the desired time will not appear.
-   
-   Vacuum removes rows that are no longer current. This time-warp feature
-   is used by the engine for rollback and crash recovery. Expiration
-   times can be set with purge.
-   
-   In 6.0, once a table is vacuumed, the creation time of a row may be
-   incorrect, causing time-traval to fail.
-   
-   The time-travel feature will be removed in 7.0.
-   
-  3.38) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
-  
-   
-   
-   There are two things that can be done. You can use Openlink's option
-   to disable fsync() by starting the postmaster with a '-o -F' option.
-   This will prevent fsync()'s from flushing to disk after every
-   transaction.
-   
-   You can also use the postmaster -B option to increase the number of
-   shared memory buffers shared among the backend processes. If you make
-   this parameter too high, the process will not start or crash
-   unexpectedly. Each buffer is 8K and the defualt is 64 buffers.
-   
-  3.39) What debugging features are available in PostgreSQL?
-  
-   
-   
-   PostgreSQL has several features that report status information that
-   can be valuable for debugging purposes.
-   
-   First, by compiling with DEBUG defined, many assert()'s monitor the
-   progress of the backend and halt the program when something unexpected
-   occurs.
-   
-   Both postmaster and postgres have several debug options available.
-   First, whenever you start the postmaster, make sure you send the
-   standard output and error to a log file, like:
+displays employee rows in the table at the specified time. You can specify
+intervals like [date,date], [date,], [,date], or [,]. This last option
+accesses all rows that ever existed.
 
+INSERTed rows get a timestamp too, so rows that were not in the table at the
+desired time will not appear.
+
+Vacuum removes rows that are no longer current. This time-warp feature is
+used by the engine for rollback and crash recovery. Expiration times can be
+set with purge.
+
+In 6.0, once a table is vacuumed, the creation time of a row may be
+incorrect, causing time-traval to fail.
+
+The time-travel feature will be removed in 7.0.
+
+3.38) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
+
+There are two things that can be done. You can use Openlink's option to
+disable fsync() by starting the postmaster with a '-o -F' option. This will
+prevent fsync()'s from flushing to disk after every transaction.
+
+You can also use the postmaster -B option to increase the number of shared
+memory buffers shared among the backend processes. If you make this
+parameter too high, the process will not start or crash unexpectedly. Each
+buffer is 8K and the defualt is 64 buffers.
+
+3.39) What debugging features are available in PostgreSQL?
+
+PostgreSQL has several features that report status information that can be
+valuable for debugging purposes.
+
+First, by compiling with DEBUG defined, many assert()'s monitor the progress
+of the backend and halt the program when something unexpected occurs.
+
+Both postmaster and postgres have several debug options available. First,
+whenever you start the postmaster, make sure you send the standard output
+and error to a log file, like:
 
         cd /usr/local/pgsql
         ./bin/postmaster >server.log 2>&1 &
 
-   
-   
-   This will put a server.log file in the top-level PostgreSQL directory.
-   This file can contain useful information about problems or errors
-   encountered by the server. Postmaster has a -d option that allows even
-   more detailed information to be reported. The -d option takes a number
-   1-3 that specifies the debug level. The query plans in a verbose debug
-   file can be formatted using the 'indent' program. (You may need to
-   remove the '====' lines in 1.* releases.) Be warned that a debug level
-   greater than one generates large log files in 1.* releases.
-   
-   You can actuall run the postgres backend from the command line, and
-   type your SQL statement directly. This is recommended ONLY for
-   debugging purposes. Note that a newline terminates the query, not a
-   semicolon. If you have compiled with debugging symbols, you can
-   perhaps use a debugger to see what is happening. Because the backend
-   was not started from the postmaster, it is not running in an identical
-   environment and locking/backend interaction problems may not be
-   duplicated. Some operating system can attach to a running backend
-   directly to diagnose problems.
-   
-   The postgres program has a -s, -A, -t options that can be very usefull
-   for debugging and performance measurements.
-   
-   The EXPLAIN command (see this FAQ) allows you to see how PostgreSQL is
-   iterpreting your query.
-   
-  3.40) What is an oid? What is a tid?
-  
-   
-   
-   Oids are Postgres's answer to unique row ids or serial columns. Every
-   row that is created in Postgres gets a unique oid. All oids generated
-   by initdb are less than 16384 (from backend/access/transam.h). All
-   post-initdb (user-created) oids are equal or greater that this. All
-   these oids are unique not only within a table, or database, but unique
-   within the entire postgres installation.
-   
-   Postgres uses oids in its internal system tables to link rows in
-   separate tables. These oids can be used to identify specific user rows
-   and used in joins. It is recommended you use column type oid to store
-   oid values. See the sql(l) manual page to see the other internal
-   columns.
-   
-   Tids are used to indentify specific physical rows with block and
-   offset values. Tids change after rows are modified or reloaded. They
-   are used by index entries to point to physical rows. They can not be
-   accessed through sql.
-   
-  3.41) What is the meaning of some of the terms used in Postgres?
-  
-   
-   
-   Some of the source code and older documentation use terms that have
-   more common usage. Here are some:
-     * row, record, tuple
-     * attribute, field, column
-     * table, class
-     * retrieve, select
-     * replace, update
-     * append, insert
-     * oid, serial value
-     * portal, cursor
-     * range variable, table name, table alias
-       
-   
-   
-   Please let me know if you think of any more.
-   
-   
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-Section 4: Extending PostgreSQL 
-
-   
-   
-  4.1) I wrote a user-defined function and when I run it in psql, it dumps
-  core.
-  
-   
-   
-   The problem could be a number of things. Try testing your user-defined
-   function in a stand alone test program first. Also, make sure you are
-   not sending elog NOTICES when the front-end is expecting data, such as
-   during a type_in() or type_out() functions
-   
-  4.2) I get messages of the type NOTICE:PortalHeapMemoryFree: 0x402251d0 not
-  in alloc set!
-  
-   
-   
-   You are pfree'ing something that was not palloc'ed. When writing
-   user-defined functions, do not include the file "libpq-fe.h". Doing so
-   will cause your palloc to be a malloc instead of a free. Then, when
-   the backend pfrees the storage, you get the notice message.
-   
-  4.3) I've written some nifty new types and functions for PostgreSQL.
-  
-   
-   
-   Please share them with other PostgreSQL users. Send your extensions to
-   mailing list, and they will eventually end up in the contrib/
-   subdirectory.
-   
-  4.4) How do I write a C function to return a tuple?
-  
-   
-   
-   This requires extreme wizardry, so extreme that the authors have not
-   ever tried it, though in principle it can be done. The short answer is
-   ... you can't. This capability is forthcoming in the future.
-   
-   
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-Section 5: Bugs 
-
-   
-   
-  5.1) How do I make a bug report?
-  
-   
-   
-   Check the current FAQ at http://postgreSQL.org
-   
-   Also check out our ftp site ftp://ftp.postgreSQL.org/pub to see if
-   there is a more recent PostgreSQL version.
-   
-   You can also fill out the "bug-template" file and send it to:
-     * [email protected]
-       
-   
-   
-   This is the address of the developers mailing list.
+This will put a server.log file in the top-level PostgreSQL directory. This
+file can contain useful information about problems or errors encountered by
+the server. Postmaster has a -d option that allows even more detailed
+information to be reported. The -d option takes a number 1-3 that specifies
+the debug level. The query plans in a verbose debug file can be formatted
+using the 'indent' program. (You may need to remove the '====' lines in 1.*
+releases.) Be warned that a debug level greater than one generates large log
+files in 1.* releases.
+
+You can actuall run the postgres backend from the command line, and type
+your SQL statement directly. This is recommended ONLY for debugging
+purposes. Note that a newline terminates the query, not a semicolon. If you
+have compiled with debugging symbols, you can perhaps use a debugger to see
+what is happening. Because the backend was not started from the postmaster,
+it is not running in an identical environment and locking/backend
+interaction problems may not be duplicated. Some operating system can attach
+to a running backend directly to diagnose problems.
+
+The postgres program has a -s, -A, -t options that can be very usefull for
+debugging and performance measurements.
+
+The EXPLAIN command (see this FAQ) allows you to see how PostgreSQL is
+iterpreting your query.
+
+3.40) What is an oid? What is a tid?
+
+Oids are Postgres's answer to unique row ids or serial columns. Every row
+that is created in Postgres gets a unique oid. All oids generated by initdb
+are less than 16384 (from backend/access/transam.h). All post-initdb
+(user-created) oids are equal or greater that this. All these oids are
+unique not only within a table, or database, but unique within the entire
+postgres installation.
+
+Postgres uses oids in its internal system tables to link rows in separate
+tables. These oids can be used to identify specific user rows and used in
+joins. It is recommended you use column type oid to store oid values. See
+the sql(l) manual page to see the other internal columns.
+
+Tids are used to indentify specific physical rows with block and offset
+values. Tids change after rows are modified or reloaded. They are used by
+index entries to point to physical rows. They can not be accessed through
+sql.
+
+3.41) What is the meaning of some of the terms used in Postgres?
+
+Some of the source code and older documentation use terms that have more
+common usage. Here are some:
+
+   * row, record, tuple
+   * attribute, field, column
+   * table, class
+   * retrieve, select
+   * replace, update
+   * append, insert
+   * oid, serial value
+   * portal, cursor
+   * range variable, table name, table alias
+
+Please let me know if you think of any more.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Section 4: Extending PostgreSQL
+
+4.1) I wrote a user-defined function and when I run it in psql, it dumps
+core.
+
+The problem could be a number of things. Try testing your user-defined
+function in a stand alone test program first. Also, make sure you are not
+sending elog NOTICES when the front-end is expecting data, such as during a
+type_in() or type_out() functions
+
+4.2) I get messages of the type NOTICE:PortalHeapMemoryFree: 0x402251d0 not
+in alloc set!
+
+You are pfree'ing something that was not palloc'ed. When writing
+user-defined functions, do not include the file "libpq-fe.h". Doing so will
+cause your palloc to be a malloc instead of a free. Then, when the backend
+pfrees the storage, you get the notice message.
+
+4.3) I've written some nifty new types and functions for PostgreSQL.
+
+Please share them with other PostgreSQL users. Send your extensions to
+mailing list, and they will eventually end up in the contrib/ subdirectory.
+
+4.4) How do I write a C function to return a tuple?
+
+This requires extreme wizardry, so extreme that the authors have not ever
+tried it, though in principle it can be done. The short answer is ... you
+can't. This capability is forthcoming in the future.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Section 5: Bugs
+
+5.1) How do I make a bug report?
+
+Check the current FAQ at http://postgreSQL.org
+
+Also check out our ftp site ftp://ftp.postgreSQL.org/pub to see if there is
+a more recent PostgreSQL version.
+
+You can also fill out the "bug-template" file and send it to:
+
+   * [email protected]
+
+This is the address of the developers mailing list.