3 Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (bruce@momjian.us)
4 Last updated: Mon Jun 30 15:45:09 EDT 2008
6 The most recent version of this document can be viewed at
7 http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.TODO.html.
9 #A hyphen, "-", marks changes that will appear in the upcoming 8.4 release.#
10 #A percent sign, "%", marks items that are easier to implement.#
12 This list contains all known PostgreSQL bugs and feature requests. If
13 you would like to work on an item, please read the Developer's FAQ
14 first. There is also a developer's wiki at
15 http://developer.postgresql.org.
21 * -Allow administrators to safely terminate individual sessions either
22 via an SQL function or SIGTERM
23 * Check for unreferenced table files created by transactions that were
24 in-progress when the server terminated abruptly
26 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-06/msg00096.php
28 * Set proper permissions on non-system schemas during db creation
30 Currently all schemas are owned by the super-user because they are copied
31 from the template1 database. However, since all objects are inherited
32 from the template database, it is not clear that setting schemas to the db
35 * -Add function to report the time of the most recent server reload
36 * Allow log_min_messages to be specified on a per-module basis
38 This would allow administrators to see more detailed information from
39 specific sections of the backend, e.g. checkpoints, autovacuum, etc.
40 Another idea is to allow separate configuration files for each module,
41 or allow arbitrary SET commands to be passed to them.
43 * Simplify ability to create partitioned tables
45 This would allow creation of partitioned tables without requiring
46 creation of triggers or rules for INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE, and constraints
47 for rapid partition selection. Options could include range and hash
50 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00375.php
51 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00151.php
52 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00028.php
53 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00248.php
54 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00387.php
55 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00413.php
57 * Allow auto-selection of partitioned tables for min/max() operations
58 * Allow more complex user/database default GUC settings
60 Currently ALTER USER and ALTER DATABASE support per-user and
61 per-database defaults. Consider adding per-user-and-database
62 defaults so things like search_path can be defaulted for a
63 specific user connecting to a specific database.
65 * Allow custom variables to appear in pg_settings()
66 * Allow custom variable classes that can restrict who can set the values
68 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg00911.php
70 * Implement the SQL standard mechanism whereby REVOKE ROLE revokes only
71 the privilege granted by the invoking role, and not those granted
74 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-05/msg00010.php
76 * Allow SSL authentication/encryption over unix domain sockets
78 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00924.php
80 * Allow SSL key file permission checks to be optionally disabled when
81 sharing SSL keys with other applications
83 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-12/msg00069.php
85 * Allow client certificate names to be checked against the client
88 This is already implemented in
89 libpq/fe-secure.c::verify_peer_name_matches_certificate() but the code
92 * Improve server security options
94 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01875.php
95 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-05/msg00000.php
99 o Allow pg_hba.conf to specify host names along with IP addresses
101 Host name lookup could occur when the postmaster reads the
102 pg_hba.conf file, or when the backend starts. Another
103 solution would be to reverse lookup the connection IP and
104 check that hostname against the host names in pg_hba.conf.
105 We could also then check that the host name maps to the IP
107 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-06/msg00569.php
109 o %Allow postgresql.conf file values to be changed via an SQL
110 API, perhaps using SET GLOBAL
111 o Allow the server to be stopped/restarted via an SQL API
112 o Issue a warning if a change-on-restart-only postgresql.conf value
113 is modified and the server config files are reloaded
114 o Consider normalizing fractions in postgresql.conf, perhaps
117 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-06/msg00550.php
119 o Allow Kerberos to disable stripping of realms so we can
120 check the username@realm against multiple realms
122 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00009.php
124 o Add functions to syntax check configuration files
126 o Improve LDAP authentication configuration options
128 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01745.php
133 o Allow a database in tablespace t1 with tables created in
134 tablespace t2 to be used as a template for a new database created
135 with default tablespace t2
137 Currently all objects in the default database tablespace must
138 have default tablespace specifications. This is because new
139 databases are created by copying directories. If you mix default
140 tablespace tables and tablespace-specified tables in the same
141 directory, creating a new database from such a mixed directory
142 would create a new database with tables that had incorrect
143 explicit tablespaces. To fix this would require modifying
144 pg_class in the newly copied database, which we don't currently
147 o Allow reporting of which objects are in which tablespaces
149 This item is difficult because a tablespace can contain objects
150 from multiple databases. There is a server-side function that
151 returns the databases which use a specific tablespace, so this
152 requires a tool that will call that function and connect to each
153 database to find the objects in each database for that tablespace.
155 o Allow WAL replay of CREATE TABLESPACE to work when the directory
156 structure on the recovery computer is different from the original
158 o Allow per-tablespace quotas
161 * Statistics Collector
163 o Allow statistics collector information to be pulled from the collector
164 process directly, rather than requiring the collector to write a
165 filesystem file twice a second?
166 o Reduce file system activity overhead of statistics file pgstat.stat
168 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-12/msg00106.php
170 o Allow statistics last vacuum/analyze execution times to be displayed
171 without requiring stats_row_level to be enabled
173 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2007-04/msg00028.php
175 o Clear table counters on TRUNCATE
177 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg00169.php
180 * Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR)
182 o Allow a warm standby system to also allow read-only statements
184 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00050.php
186 o %Create dump tool for write-ahead logs for use in determining
187 transaction id for point-in-time recovery
189 This is useful for checking PITR recovery.
191 o Allow recovery.conf to support the same syntax as
192 postgresql.conf, including quoting
194 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00497.php
196 o Fix server restart problem when the server was shutdown during
199 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00800.php
201 o Recreate pg_xlog/archive_status/ if it doesn't exist after
202 restoring from a PITR backup
204 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00487.php
210 * Change NUMERIC to enforce the maximum precision
211 * Reduce storage space for small NUMERICs
213 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg01331.php
214 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-02/msg00505.php
215 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-06/msg00715.php
217 * Fix data types where equality comparison isn't intuitive, e.g. box
218 * Add support for public SYNONYMs
220 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-03/msg00519.php
222 * Fix CREATE CAST on DOMAINs
224 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-05/msg00072.php
225 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-09/msg01681.php
227 * Allow domains to be cast
229 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2003-06/msg01206.php
230 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00289.php
232 * Add support for SQL-standard GENERATED/IDENTITY columns
234 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-07/msg00543.php
235 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-08/msg00038.php
236 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-05/msg00344.php
237 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-05/msg00076.php
238 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00604.php
240 * Improve XML support
242 http://developer.postgresql.org/index.php/XML_Support
244 * Consider placing all sequences in a single table, or create a system
247 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00008.php
249 * Allow the UUID type to accept non-standard formats
251 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg01214.php
253 * Consider a special data type for regular expressions
255 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg01067.php
257 * Reduce BIT data type overhead using short varlena headers
259 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-12/msg00273.php
261 * Allow xml arrays to be cast to other data types
263 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00981.php
264 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg00231.php
265 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00471.php
267 * Simplify integer cross-data-type operators
269 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2008-01/msg00189.php
271 * Allow XML to accept more liberal DOCTYPE specifications
273 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-02/msg00347.php
275 * Allow adding/renaming/removing enumerated values to an existing
278 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01718.php
282 o Allow infinite dates and intervals just like infinite timestamps
283 o Merge hardwired timezone names with the TZ database; allow either
284 kind everywhere a TZ name is currently taken
285 o Allow TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE to store the original timezone
286 information, either zone name or offset from UTC
288 If the TIMESTAMP value is stored with a time zone name, interval
289 computations should adjust based on the time zone rules.
290 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-10/msg00705.php
292 o Fix SELECT '0.01 years'::interval, '0.01 months'::interval
293 o Add a GUC variable to allow output of interval values in ISO8601
295 o Have timestamp subtraction not call justify_hours()?
297 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-sql/2006-10/msg00059.php
299 o Improve timestamptz subtraction to be DST-aware
301 Currently subtracting one date from another that crosses a
302 daylight savings time adjustment can return '1 day 1 hour', but
303 adding that back to the first date returns a time one hour in
304 the future. This is caused by the adjustment of '25 hours' to
305 '1 day 1 hour', and '1 day' is the same time the next day, even
306 if daylight savings adjustments are involved.
308 o Fix interval display to support values exceeding 2^31 hours
309 o Add overflow checking to timestamp and interval arithmetic
310 o Extend timezone code to allow 64-bit values so we can
311 represent years beyond 2038
313 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-09/msg01363.php
315 o -Use LC_TIME for localized weekday/month names, rather than
318 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg00390.php
320 o Add ISO INTERVAL handling
322 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-01/msg00250.php
323 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2006-04/msg00248.php
325 o Support ISO INTERVAL syntax if units cannot be determined from
326 the string, and are supplied after the string
328 The SQL standard states that the units after the string
329 specify the units of the string, e.g. INTERVAL '2' MINUTE
330 should return '00:02:00'. The current behavior has the units
331 restrict the interval value to the specified unit or unit
332 range, INTERVAL '70' SECOND returns '00:00:10'.
334 For syntax that isn't uniquely ISO or PG syntax, like '1' or
335 '1:30', treat as ISO if there is a range specification clause,
336 and as PG if there no clause is present, e.g. interpret '1:30'
337 MINUTE TO SECOND as '1 minute 30 seconds', and interpret
338 '1:30' as '1 hour, 30 minutes'.
340 This makes common cases like SELECT INTERVAL '1' MONTH
341 SQL-standard results. The SQL standard supports a limited
342 number of unit combinations and doesn't support unit names in
343 the string. The PostgreSQL syntax is more flexible in the
344 range of units supported, e.g. PostgreSQL supports '1 year 1
345 hour', while the SQL standard does not.
347 o Add support for year-month syntax, INTERVAL '50-6' YEAR
349 o Interpret INTERVAL '1 year' MONTH as CAST (INTERVAL '1
350 year' AS INTERVAL MONTH), and this should return '12 months'
351 o Round or truncate values to the requested precision, e.g.
352 INTERVAL '11 months' AS YEAR should return one or zero
353 o Support precision, CREATE TABLE foo (a INTERVAL MONTH(3))
358 o Delay resolution of array expression's data type so assignment
359 coercion can be performed on empty array expressions
360 o Add support for arrays of domains
362 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-05/msg00114.php
364 o Allow single-byte header storage for array elements
369 o Improve vacuum of large objects, like contrib/vacuumlo?
370 o Add security checking for large objects
371 o Auto-delete large objects when referencing row is deleted
373 contrib/lo offers this functionality.
375 o Allow read/write into TOAST values like large objects
377 This requires the TOAST column to be stored EXTERNAL.
379 o Add API for 64-bit large object access
381 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-09/msg00781.php
385 * Add locale-aware MONEY type, and support multiple currencies
387 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2005-08/msg01432.php
388 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg01181.php
390 * MONEY dumps in a locale-specific format making it difficult to
391 restore to a system with a different locale
392 * Allow MONEY to be easily cast to/from other numeric data types
396 o Allow dictionaries to change the token that is passed on to
399 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-11/msg00081.php
401 o Consider a function-based API for '@@' searches
403 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00511.php
405 o Improve text search error messages
407 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg00966.php
408 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg01146.php
410 o Consider changing error to warning for strings larger than one
413 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2008-02/msg00190.php
414 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-03/msg00062.php
421 * Allow INET subnet tests using non-constants to be indexed
422 * Allow to_date() and to_timestamp() accept localized month names
423 * Fix to_date()-related functions to consistently issue errors
425 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg00915.php
427 * Add missing parameter handling in to_char()
429 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-12/msg00948.php
431 * Allow substring/replace() to get/set bit values
432 * Allow to_char() on interval values to accumulate the highest unit
435 Some special format flag would be required to request such
436 accumulation. Such functionality could also be added to EXTRACT.
437 Prevent accumulation that crosses the month/day boundary because of
438 the uneven number of days in a month.
440 o to_char(INTERVAL '1 hour 5 minutes', 'MI') => 65
441 o to_char(INTERVAL '43 hours 20 minutes', 'MI' ) => 2600
442 o to_char(INTERVAL '43 hours 20 minutes', 'WK:DD:HR:MI') => 0:1:19:20
443 o to_char(INTERVAL '3 years 5 months','MM') => 41
445 * Implement inlining of set-returning functions defined in SQL
446 * Allow SQL-language functions to return results from RETURNING queries
448 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00665.php
450 * Allow SQL-language functions to reference parameters by parameter name
452 Currently SQL-language functions can only refer to dollar parameters,
455 * Add SPI_gettypmod() to return the typemod for a TupleDesc
456 * Enforce typmod for function inputs, function results and parameters for
457 spi_prepare'd statements called from PLs
459 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg01403.php
461 * Allow holdable cursors in SPI
462 * Tighten function permission checks
464 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00568.php
466 * Fix IS OF so it matches the ISO specification, and add documentation
468 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2003-08/msg00060.php
469 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg00060.php
471 * Add missing operators for geometric data types
473 Some geometric types do not have the full suite of geometric operators,
476 * Implement Boyer-Moore searching in strpos()
478 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-08/msg00012.php
480 * Prevent malicious functions from being executed with the permissions
481 of unsuspecting users
483 Index functions are safe, so VACUUM and ANALYZE are safe too.
484 Triggers, CHECK and DEFAULT expressions, and rules are still vulnerable.
485 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00268.php
487 * Reduce memory usage of aggregates in set returning functions
489 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2008-01/msg00031.php
491 * Add temporal versions of generate_series()
493 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg01180.php
495 * Add array_accum() and array_to_set() functions for arrays
497 The standards specify array_agg() and UNNEST.
498 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00464.php
500 * Fix /contrib/ltree operator
502 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-11/msg00044.php
504 * Fix inconsistent precedence of =, >, and < compared to <>, >=, and <=
506 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-12/msg00145.php
508 * Fix regular expression bug when using complex back-references
510 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-10/msg00000.php
512 * Have /contrib/dblink reuse unnamed connections
514 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg00895.php
516 * Add SQL-standard array_agg() and unnest() array functions
518 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg01017.php
520 * Allow calling of a procedure outside a SELECT that can control the
523 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg01375.php
527 Multi-Language Support
528 ======================
530 * Add NCHAR (as distinguished from ordinary varchar),
531 * Allow locale to be set at database creation
533 Currently locale can only be set during initdb. No global tables have
534 locale-aware columns. However, the database template used during
535 database creation might have locale-aware indexes. The indexes would
536 need to be reindexed to match the new locale.
538 * Allow encoding on a per-column basis optionally using the ICU library;
541 Right now only one encoding is allowed per database.
543 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-03/msg00932.php
544 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-08/msg00039.php
545 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-08/msg00309.php
546 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-09/msg00110.php
547 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-09/msg00020.php
548 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-12/msg01121.php
549 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-01/msg00767.php
550 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-03/msg00233.php
551 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-09/msg00662.php
552 http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Todo:Collate
553 http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Todo:ICU
555 * Support multiple simultaneous character sets, per SQL92
556 * Improve UTF8 combined character handling?
557 * Add octet_length_server() and octet_length_client()
558 * Make octet_length_client() the same as octet_length()?
559 * Fix problems with wrong runtime encoding conversion for NLS message files
560 * Add URL to more complete multi-byte regression tests
562 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-07/msg00272.php
564 * Fix ILIKE and regular expressions to handle case insensitivity
565 properly in multibyte encodings
567 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2005-10/msg00001.php
568 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-11/msg00173.php
570 * Set client encoding based on the client operating system encoding
572 Currently client_encoding is set in postgresql.conf, which
573 defaults to the server encoding.
574 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-08/msg01696.php
576 * Change memory allocation for multi-byte functions so memory is
577 allocated inside conversion functions
579 Currently we preallocate memory based on worst-case usage.
586 * Automatically create rules on views so they are updateable, per SQL99
588 We can only auto-create rules for simple views. For more complex
589 cases users will still have to write rules manually.
591 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-03/msg00586.php
592 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-08/msg00255.php
594 * Add the functionality for WITH CHECK OPTION clause of CREATE VIEW
595 * Allow VIEW/RULE recompilation when the underlying tables change
597 Another issue is whether underlying table changes should be reflected
598 in the view, e.g. should SELECT * show additional columns if they
599 are added after the view is created.
601 * Make it possible to use RETURNING together with conditional DO INSTEAD
602 rules, such as for partitioning setups
604 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00577.php
606 * Add the ability to automatically create materialized views
608 Right now materialized views require the user to create triggers on the
609 main table to keep the summary table current. SQL syntax should be able
610 to manager the triggers and summary table automatically. A more
611 sophisticated implementation would automatically retrieve from the
612 summary table when the main table is referenced, if possible.
619 * Add CORRESPONDING BY to UNION/INTERSECT/EXCEPT
620 * Add ROLLUP, CUBE, GROUPING SETS options to GROUP BY
621 * %Allow SET CONSTRAINTS to be qualified by schema/table name
622 * %Add a separate TRUNCATE permission
624 Currently only the owner can TRUNCATE a table because triggers are not
625 called, and the table is locked in exclusive mode.
627 * Allow PREPARE of cursors
628 * Allow finer control over the caching of prepared query plans
630 Currently queries prepared via the libpq API are planned on first
631 execute using the supplied parameters --- allow SQL PREPARE to do the
632 same. Also, allow control over replanning prepared queries either
633 manually or automatically when statistics for execute parameters
634 differ dramatically from those used during planning.
636 * Improve logging of prepared transactions recovered during startup
638 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg00092.php
640 * Improve failure message when DROP DATABASE is used on a database that
641 has prepared transactions
642 * Allow prepared transactions with temporary tables created and dropped
643 in the same transaction, and when an ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS temporary
646 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00047.php
648 * Add a GUC variable to warn about non-standard SQL usage in queries
649 * Add SQL-standard MERGE/REPLACE/UPSERT command
651 MERGE is typically used to merge two tables. REPLACE or UPSERT
652 command does UPDATE, or on failure, INSERT. This is similar to UPDATE,
653 then for unmatched rows, INSERT. Whether concurrent access allows
654 modifications which could cause row loss is implementation independent.
655 To implement this cleanly requires that the table have a unique index
656 so duplicate checking can be easily performed. It is possible to do it
657 without a unique index if we require the user to LOCK the table before
660 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-11/msg00501.php
661 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-11/msg00536.php
662 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01157.php
663 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01475.php
664 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01890.php
666 * Add NOVICE output level for helpful messages like automatic sequence/index
668 * Add GUC to issue notice about statements that use unjoined tables
669 * Allow EXPLAIN to identify tables that were skipped because of
671 * Allow EXPLAIN output to be more easily processed by scripts, perhaps XML
672 * Enable standard_conforming_strings
673 * Make standard_conforming_strings the default in 8.5?
675 When this is done, backslash-quote should be prohibited in non-E''
676 strings because of possible confusion over how such strings treat
677 backslashes. Basically, '' is always safe for a literal single
678 quote, while \' might or might not be based on the backslash
681 * Simplify dropping roles that have objects in several databases
682 * Allow COMMENT ON to accept an expression rather than just a string
683 * Allow the count returned by SELECT, etc to be represented as an int64
684 to allow a higher range of values
685 * Add SQL99 WITH clause to SELECT
686 * Add SQL:2003 WITH RECURSIVE (hierarchical) queries to SELECT
688 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg01375.php
689 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00642.php
690 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-03/msg00139.php
691 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg01334.php
692 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-01/msg00105.php
693 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-03/msg00327.php
695 * Add DEFAULT .. AS OWNER so permission checks are done as the table
698 This would be useful for SERIAL nextval() calls and CHECK constraints.
700 * Allow DISTINCT to work in multiple-argument aggregate calls
701 * Add column to pg_stat_activity that shows the progress of long-running
702 commands like CREATE INDEX and VACUUM
704 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-04/msg00203.php
706 * Implement SQL:2003 window functions
707 * Allow INSERT/UPDATE ... RETURNING inside a SELECT 'FROM' clause or
710 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2006-09/msg00803.php
711 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00693.php
712 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-06/msg00124.php
714 * Increase locking when DROPing objects so dependent objects cannot
715 get dropped while the DROP operation is happening
717 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg00937.php
719 * -Allow AS in "SELECT col AS label" to be optional in certain cases
721 * Allow INSERT ... DELETE ... RETURNING, namely allow the DELETE ...
722 RETURNING to supply values to the INSERT
723 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/thrd2.php#00979
725 * Add comments on system tables/columns using the information in
728 Ideally the information would be pulled from the SGML file
731 * Improve reporting of UNION type mismatches
733 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00944.php
734 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00597.php
739 o Allow CREATE TABLE AS to determine column lengths for complex
740 expressions like SELECT col1 || col2
742 o Have WITH CONSTRAINTS also create constraint indexes
744 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-04/msg00149.php
746 o Have CONSTRAINT cname NOT NULL record the contraint name
748 Right now pg_attribute.attnotnull records the NOT NULL status
749 of the column, but does not record the contraint name
751 o Prevent concurrent CREATE TABLE table1 from sometimes returning
752 a cryptic error message
754 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-10/msg00169.php
756 o Add CREATE SCHEMA ... LIKE that copies a schema
761 o Allow UPDATE tab SET ROW (col, ...) = (SELECT...)
763 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-07/msg01306.php
764 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00865.php
765 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-04/msg00315.php
766 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-03/msg00237.php
768 o Research self-referential UPDATEs that see inconsistent row versions
769 in read-committed mode
771 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-05/msg00507.php
772 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-06/msg00016.php
774 o Allow GLOBAL temporary tables to exist as empty by default in
777 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00006.php
782 o Have ALTER TABLE RENAME rename SERIAL sequence names
784 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00008.php
786 o Have ALTER SEQUENCE RENAME rename the sequence name stored
787 in the sequence table
789 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-09/msg00092.php
790 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-10/msg00007.php
791 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00008.php
793 o Add ALTER DOMAIN to modify the underlying data type
794 o %Allow ALTER TABLE ... ALTER CONSTRAINT ... RENAME
796 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-02/msg00168.php
798 o %Allow ALTER TABLE to change constraint deferrability and actions
799 o Add missing object types for ALTER ... SET SCHEMA
800 o Allow ALTER TABLESPACE to move to different directories
801 o Allow databases to be moved to different tablespaces
802 o Allow moving system tables to other tablespaces, where possible
804 Currently non-global system tables must be in the default database
805 tablespace. Global system tables can never be moved.
807 o -Prevent parent tables from altering or dropping constraints
808 like CHECK that are inherited by child tables unless CASCADE
810 o -Prevent child tables from altering or dropping constraints
811 like CHECK that were inherited from the parent table
812 o Have ALTER INDEX update the name of a constraint using that index
813 o Add ALTER TABLE RENAME CONSTRAINT, update index name also
814 o Allow column display reordering by recording a display,
815 storage, and permanent id for every column?
817 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00782.php
819 o Allow an existing index to be marked as a table's primary key
821 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg00500.php
826 o Automatically maintain clustering on a table
828 This might require some background daemon to maintain clustering
829 during periods of low usage. It might also require tables to be only
830 partially filled for easier reorganization. Another idea would
831 be to create a merged heap/index data file so an index lookup would
832 automatically access the heap data too. A third idea would be to
833 store heap rows in hashed groups, perhaps using a user-supplied
835 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2004-08/msg00349.php
837 o %Add default clustering to system tables
839 To do this, determine the ideal cluster index for each system
840 table and set the cluster setting during initdb.
842 o %Add VERBOSE option to report tables as they are processed,
848 o Allow COPY to report error lines and continue
850 This requires the use of a savepoint before each COPY line is
851 processed, with ROLLBACK on COPY failure.
852 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00572.php
854 o Allow COPY on a newly-created table to skip WAL logging
856 On crash recovery, the table involved in the COPY would
857 be removed or have its heap and index files truncated. One
858 issue is that no other backend should be able to add to
859 the table at the same time, which is something that is
860 currently allowed. This currently is done if the table is
861 created inside the same transaction block as the COPY because
862 no other backends can see the table.
864 o Consider using a ring buffer for COPY FROM
866 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-02/msg00140.php
867 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg01080.php
869 o Allow COPY FROM to create index entries in bulk
871 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00811.php
873 o Allow COPY in CSV mode to control whether a quoted zero-length
874 string is treated as NULL
876 Currently this is always treated as a zero-length string,
877 which generates an error when loading into an integer column
878 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00905.php
880 o Impove COPY performance
882 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00954.php
884 o Allow COPY to report errors sooner
886 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01169.php
892 o Allow column-level privileges
893 o %Allow GRANT/REVOKE permissions to be applied to all schema objects
896 The proposed syntax is:
897 GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN public TO phpuser;
898 GRANT SELECT ON NEW TABLES IN public TO phpuser;
900 o Allow GRANT/REVOKE permissions to be inherited by objects based on
903 o Allow SERIAL sequences to inherit permissions from the base table?
908 o Prevent DROP TABLE from dropping a row referenced by its own open
914 o Allow INSERT/UPDATE of the system-generated oid value for a row
915 o In rules, allow VALUES() to contain a mixture of 'old' and 'new'
921 o Add SET PERFORMANCE_TIPS option to suggest INDEX, VACUUM, VACUUM
927 o Allow LISTEN/NOTIFY to store info in memory rather than tables?
929 Currently LISTEN/NOTIFY information is stored in pg_listener.
930 Storing such information in memory would improve performance.
932 o Add optional textual message to NOTIFY
934 This would allow an informational message to be added to the notify
935 message, perhaps indicating the row modified or other custom
938 o Allow multiple identical NOTIFY events to always be communicated
939 to the client, rather than sent as a single notification to the
942 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-01/msg00057.php
944 o Allow NOTIFY in rules involving conditionals
945 o Improve LISTEN concurrency
947 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg01106.php
951 Referential Integrity
952 =====================
954 * Add MATCH PARTIAL referential integrity
955 * Change foreign key constraint for array -> element to mean element
957 * Fix problem when cascading referential triggers make changes on
958 cascaded tables, seeing the tables in an intermediate state
960 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-09/msg00174.php
961 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-09/msg00174.php
963 * Allow DEFERRABLE and end-of-statement UNIQUE constraints?
965 This would allow UPDATE tab SET col = col + 1 to work if col has
966 a unique index. Currently, uniqueness checks are done while the
967 command is being executed, rather than at the end of the statement
969 http://people.planetpostgresql.org/greg/index.php?/archives/2006/06/10.html
970 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-09/msg01458.php
972 * Optimize referential integrity checks
974 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2005-10/msg00458.php
975 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00744.php
978 Server-Side Languages
979 =====================
982 o Fix RENAME to work on variables other than OLD/NEW
984 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2002-03/msg00591.php
985 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg01615.php
986 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg01587.php
988 o Allow function parameters to be passed by name,
989 get_employee_salary(12345 AS emp_id, 2001 AS tax_year)
990 o Allow handling of %TYPE arrays, e.g. tab.col%TYPE[]
991 o Allow listing of record column names, and access to
992 record columns via variables, e.g. columns := r.(*),
995 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-07/msg00458.php
996 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-05/msg00302.php
997 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-06/msg00031.php
999 o Add support for SCROLL cursors
1000 o Add support for WITH HOLD cursors
1001 o Allow row and record variables to be set to NULL constants,
1002 and allow NULL tests on such variables
1004 Because a row is not scalar, do not allow assignment
1005 from NULL-valued scalars.
1007 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00070.php
1009 o Review handling of MOVE and FETCH
1011 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-04/msg00527.php
1013 o Improve logic of determining if an identifier is a a
1014 variable or column name
1016 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00436.php
1018 o Consider keeping seperate cached copies when search_path changes
1020 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg01009.php
1022 o -Add CASE capability to language (already in SQL)
1024 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00696.php
1030 o Add table function support to pltcl, plpythonu
1031 o Add support for polymorphic arguments and return types to
1032 languages other than PL/PgSQL
1033 o Add capability to create and call PROCEDURES
1034 o Add support for OUT and INOUT parameters to languages other
1036 o Add PL/PythonU tracebacks
1038 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-02/msg00288.php
1040 o Allow data to be passed in native language formats, rather
1043 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-05/msg00289.php
1045 o Add ability to obfuscate function bodies
1047 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-01/msg00125.php
1054 * Have pg_ctl look at PGHOST in case it is a socket directory?
1055 * Allow pg_ctl to work properly with configuration files located outside
1056 the PGDATA directory
1058 pg_ctl can not read the pid file because it isn't located in the
1059 config directory but in the PGDATA directory. The solution is to
1060 allow pg_ctl to read and understand postgresql.conf to find the
1061 data_directory value.
1063 * Add a function like pg_get_indexdef() that report more detailed index
1066 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-12/msg00166.php
1069 o Have psql show current values for a sequence
1070 o Move psql backslash database information into the backend, use
1073 This would allow non-psql clients to pull the same information out
1074 of the database as psql.
1075 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-01/msg00191.php
1077 o Make psql's \d commands more consistent
1079 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-11/msg00014.php
1080 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-11/msg00014.php
1082 o Consistently display privilege information for all objects in psql
1083 o Add auto-expanded mode so expanded output is used if the row
1084 length is wider than the screen width.
1086 Consider using auto-expanded mode for backslash commands like \df+.
1088 o Prevent tab completion of SET TRANSACTION from querying the
1089 database and therefore preventing the transaction isolation
1090 level from being set.
1092 Currently SET <tab> causes a database lookup to check all
1093 supported session variables. This query causes problems
1094 because setting the transaction isolation level must be the
1095 first statement of a transaction.
1097 o Add a \set variable to control whether \s displays line numbers
1099 Another option is to add \# which lists line numbers, and
1100 allows command execution.
1102 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00255.php
1104 o Prevent escape string warnings when object names have
1107 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00227.php
1109 o Have \d show foreign keys that reference a table's primary key
1111 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00424.php
1113 o Have \d show child tables that inherit from the specified parent
1114 o -Have \l+ show database size, if permissions allow
1116 Ideally it will not generate an error for invalid permissions
1118 o Include the symbolic SQLSTATE name in verbose error reports
1120 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-09/msg00438.php
1122 o -Improve display of enums to show valid enum values
1123 o Add prompt escape to display the client and server versions
1124 o Add option to wrap column values at whitespace boundaries,
1125 rather than chopping them at a fixed width.
1127 Currently, "wrapped" format chops values into fixed
1128 widths. Perhaps the word wrapping could use the same
1129 algorithm documented in the W3C specification.
1130 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-05/msg00404.php
1131 http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/tables.html#auto-table-layout
1132 o Add "auto" expanded mode that outputs in expanded format if
1133 "wrapped" mode can't wrap the output to the screen width
1135 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-05/msg00417.php
1138 * pg_dump / pg_restore
1139 o %Add dumping of comments on index columns and composite type columns
1140 o %Add full object name to the tag field. eg. for operators we need
1141 '=(integer, integer)', instead of just '='.
1142 o Add pg_dumpall custom format dumps?
1143 o Allow selection of individual object(s) of all types, not just
1145 o In a selective dump, allow dumping of an object and all its
1147 o Add options like pg_restore -l and -L to pg_dump
1148 o Stop dumping CASCADE on DROP TYPE commands in clean mode
1149 o Allow pg_dump --clean to drop roles that own objects or have
1151 o Change pg_dump so that a comment on the dumped database is
1152 applied to the loaded database, even if the database has a
1153 different name. This will require new backend syntax, perhaps
1154 COMMENT ON CURRENT DATABASE.
1155 o Remove unnecessary function pointer abstractions in pg_dump source
1157 o Allow pg_dump to utilize multiple CPUs and I/O channels by dumping
1158 multiple objects simultaneously
1160 The difficulty with this is getting multiple dump processes to
1161 produce a single dump output file. It also would require
1162 several sessions to share the same snapshot.
1163 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00205.php
1165 o Allow pg_restore to utilize multiple CPUs and I/O channels by
1166 restoring multiple objects simultaneously
1168 This might require a pg_restore flag to indicate how many
1169 simultaneous operations should be performed. Only pg_dump's
1170 -Fc format has the necessary dependency information.
1171 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00963.php
1173 o To better utilize resources, allow pg_restore to check foreign
1174 keys simultaneously, where possible
1175 o Allow pg_restore to create all indexes of a table
1176 concurrently, via a single heap scan
1178 This requires a pg_dump -Fc file because that format contains
1179 the required dependency information.
1180 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-05/msg01274.php
1182 o Allow pg_restore to load different parts of the COPY data
1184 o -Prevent pg_dump/pg_restore from being affected by
1187 Using psql to restore a pg_dump dump is also affected.
1189 o Remove pre-7.3 pg_dump code that assumes pg_depend does not exit
1190 o Allow pre/data/post files when schema and data are dumped
1191 separately, for performance reasons
1193 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00205.php
1200 Document differences between ecpg and the SQL standard and
1201 information about the Informix-compatibility module.
1203 o Solve cardinality > 1 for input descriptors / variables?
1204 o Add a semantic check level, e.g. check if a table really exists
1205 o fix handling of DB attributes that are arrays
1206 o Use backend PREPARE/EXECUTE facility for ecpg where possible
1208 o Fix nested C comments
1209 o %sqlwarn[6] should be 'W' if the PRECISION or SCALE value specified
1210 o Make SET CONNECTION thread-aware, non-standard?
1211 o Allow multidimensional arrays
1212 o Add internationalized message strings
1213 o Implement COPY FROM STDIN
1217 o Add PQescapeIdentifierConn()
1218 o Prevent PQfnumber() from lowercasing unquoted the column name
1220 PQfnumber() should never have been doing lowercasing, but
1221 historically it has so we need a way to prevent it
1223 o Allow statement results to be automatically batched to the client
1225 Currently all statement results are transferred to the libpq
1226 client before libpq makes the results available to the
1227 application. This feature would allow the application to make
1228 use of the first result rows while the rest are transferred, or
1229 held on the server waiting for them to be requested by libpq.
1230 One complexity is that a statement like SELECT 1/col could error
1231 out mid-way through the result set.
1233 o Consider disallowing multiple queries in PQexec() as an
1234 additional barrier to SQL injection attacks
1236 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg00184.php
1238 o Add PQexecf() that allows complex parameter substitution
1240 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg01803.php
1242 o Add SQLSTATE severity to PGconn return status
1244 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-interfaces/2007-11/msg00015.php
1250 * Add deferred trigger queue file
1252 Right now all deferred trigger information is stored in backend
1253 memory. This could exhaust memory for very large trigger queues.
1254 This item involves dumping large queues into files, or doing some
1255 kind of join to process all the triggers, or some bulk operation.
1256 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-05/msg00876.php
1258 * Allow triggers to be disabled in only the current session.
1260 This is currently possible by starting a multi-statement transaction,
1261 modifying the system tables, performing the desired SQL, restoring the
1262 system tables, and committing the transaction. ALTER TABLE ...
1263 TRIGGER requires a table lock so it is not ideal for this usage.
1265 * With disabled triggers, allow pg_dump to use ALTER TABLE ADD FOREIGN KEY
1267 If the dump is known to be valid, allow foreign keys to be added
1268 without revalidating the data.
1270 * Allow statement-level triggers to access modified rows
1271 * Support triggers on columns
1273 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-07/msg00107.php
1275 * Allow AFTER triggers on system tables
1277 System tables are modified in many places in the backend without going
1278 through the executor and therefore not causing triggers to fire. To
1279 complete this item, the functions that modify system tables will have
1282 * Tighten trigger permission checks
1284 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00564.php
1286 * Allow BEFORE INSERT triggers on views
1288 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-02/msg01466.php
1290 * -Add ability to trigger on TRUNCATE
1291 * Add database and transaction-level triggers
1293 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00451.php
1300 * Add UNIQUE capability to non-btree indexes
1301 * Prevent index uniqueness checks when UPDATE does not modify the column
1303 Uniqueness (index) checks are done when updating a column even if the
1304 column is not modified by the UPDATE.
1306 * Allow the creation of on-disk bitmap indexes which can be quickly
1307 combined with other bitmap indexes
1309 Such indexes could be more compact if there are only a few distinct values.
1310 Such indexes can also be compressed. Keeping such indexes updated can be
1313 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-07/msg00512.php
1314 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg01107.php
1315 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00265.php
1316 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg01214.php
1317 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-05/msg00013.php
1318 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00741.php
1320 * Allow accurate statistics to be collected on indexes with more than
1321 one column or expression indexes, perhaps using per-index statistics
1323 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2006-10/msg00222.php
1324 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg01131.php
1326 * Consider increasing the default and maximum number of statistics targets,
1327 and reduce statistics target overhead
1329 Also consider having a larger statistics target for indexed columns
1330 and expression indexes.
1331 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-05/msg01228.php
1332 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-06/msg00542.php
1333 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg01066.php
1334 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00188.php
1336 * Consider smaller indexes that record a range of values per heap page,
1337 rather than having one index entry for every heap row
1339 This is useful if the heap is clustered by the indexed values.
1340 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00341.php
1341 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg01264.php
1342 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00465.php
1343 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-03/msg00163.php
1344 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00014.php
1345 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00487.php
1346 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01589.php
1348 * Add REINDEX CONCURRENTLY, like CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY
1350 This is difficult because you must upgrade to an exclusive table lock
1351 to replace the existing index file. CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY does not
1352 have this complication. This would allow index compaction without
1354 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2007-08/msg00289.php
1356 * Allow multiple indexes to be created concurrently, ideally via a
1357 single heap scan, and have pg_restore use it
1359 * Consider sorting entries before inserting into btree index
1361 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-01/msg01010.php
1363 * Allow index scans to return matching index keys, not just the matching
1366 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg01657.php
1372 o Allow inherited tables to inherit indexes, UNIQUE constraints,
1373 and primary/foreign keys
1374 o Honor UNIQUE INDEX on base column in INSERTs/UPDATEs
1375 on inherited table, e.g. INSERT INTO inherit_table
1376 (unique_index_col) VALUES (dup) should fail
1378 The main difficulty with this item is the problem of
1379 creating an index that can span multiple tables.
1381 o Allow SELECT ... FOR UPDATE on inherited tables
1382 o Require all CHECK constraints to be inherited
1384 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-04/msg00026.php
1386 o Add checks to prevent a CREATE RULE views on inherited tables
1388 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-02/msg01420.php
1389 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-03/msg00077.php
1394 o Add more GIST index support for geometric data types
1395 o Allow GIST indexes to create certain complex index types, like
1396 digital trees (see Aoki)
1401 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00051.php
1403 o Pack hash index buckets onto disk pages more efficiently
1405 Currently only one hash bucket can be stored on a page. Ideally
1406 several hash buckets could be stored on a single page and greater
1407 granularity used for the hash algorithm.
1409 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-06/msg00168.php
1411 o Consider sorting hash buckets so entries can be found using a
1412 binary search, rather than a linear scan
1413 o In hash indexes, consider storing the hash value with or instead
1415 o Add WAL logging for crash recovery
1416 o Allow multi-column hash indexes
1417 o -During index creation, pre-sort the tuples to improve build speed
1421 * Consider using hash buckets to do DISTINCT, rather than sorting
1423 This would be beneficial when there are few distinct values. This is
1424 already used by GROUP BY.
1426 * Consider whether duplicate keys should be sorted by block/offset
1428 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00558.php
1430 * -Avoid tuple some tuple copying in sort routines
1431 * Consider being smarter about memory and external files used during
1434 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg01101.php
1435 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00045.php
1437 * Consider detoasting keys before sorting
1443 * Determine optimal fdatasync/fsync, O_SYNC/O_DSYNC options
1445 Ideally this requires a separate test program that can be run
1446 at initdb time or optionally later. Consider O_SYNC when
1449 * Add program to test if fsync has a delay compared to non-fsync
1450 * Consider sorting writes during checkpoint
1452 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-06/msg00541.php
1461 We could use a fixed row count and a +/- count to follow MVCC
1462 visibility rules, or a single cached value could be used and
1463 invalidated if anyone modifies the table. Another idea is to
1464 get a count directly from a unique index, but for this to be
1465 faster than a sequential scan it must avoid access to the heap
1466 to obtain tuple visibility information.
1468 * Provide a way to calculate an "estimated COUNT(*)"
1470 Perhaps by using the optimizer's cardinality estimates or random
1473 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-11/msg00943.php
1475 * Allow data to be pulled directly from indexes
1477 Currently indexes do not have enough tuple visibility information
1478 to allow data to be pulled from the index without also accessing
1479 the heap. One way to allow this is to set a bit on index tuples
1480 to indicate if a tuple is currently visible to all transactions
1481 when the first valid heap lookup happens. This bit would have to
1482 be cleared when a heap tuple is expired.
1484 Another idea is to maintain a bitmap of heap pages where all rows
1485 are visible to all backends, and allow index lookups to reference
1486 that bitmap to avoid heap lookups, perhaps the same bitmap we might
1487 add someday to determine which heap pages need vacuuming. Frequently
1488 accessed bitmaps would have to be stored in shared memory. One 8k
1489 page of bitmaps could track 512MB of heap pages.
1491 A third idea would be for a heap scan to check if all rows are visible
1492 and if so set a per-table flag which can be checked by index scans.
1493 Any change to the table would have to clear the flag. To detect
1494 changes during the heap scan a counter could be set at the start and
1495 checked at the end --- if it is the same, the table has not been
1496 modified --- any table change would increment the counter.
1498 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-10/msg00166.php
1499 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-01/msg00049.php
1501 * Consider automatic caching of statements at various levels:
1504 o Query execute plan
1506 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg00823.php
1508 * Consider increasing internal areas when shared buffers is increased
1510 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-10/msg01419.php
1512 * Consider decreasing the amount of memory used by PrivateRefCount
1514 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg00797.php
1515 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg00752.php
1517 * Consider allowing higher priority queries to have referenced buffer
1518 cache pages stay in memory longer
1520 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00562.php
1527 * Improve speed with indexes
1529 For large table adjustments during VACUUM FULL, it is faster to cluster
1530 or reindex rather than update the index. Also, index updates can bloat
1533 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg00024.php
1534 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2007-05/msg00296.php
1535 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00307.php
1537 * Auto-fill the free space map by scanning the buffer cache or by
1538 checking pages written by the background writer
1540 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-02/msg01125.php
1541 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-03/msg00011.php
1543 * Create a bitmap of pages that need vacuuming
1545 Instead of sequentially scanning the entire table, have the background
1546 writer or some other process record pages that have expired rows, then
1547 VACUUM can look at just those pages rather than the entire table. In
1548 the event of a system crash, the bitmap would probably be invalidated.
1549 One complexity is that index entries still have to be vacuumed, and
1550 doing this without an index scan (by using the heap values to find the
1551 index entry) might be slow and unreliable, especially for user-defined
1554 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg01188.php
1555 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg00121.php
1556 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-03/msg00508.php
1557 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-04/msg00347.php
1558 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00156.php
1559 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00546.php
1560 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg00416.php
1562 * Allow FSM to return free space toward the beginning of the heap file,
1563 in hopes that empty pages at the end can be truncated by VACUUM
1564 * Allow FSM page return free space based on table clustering, to assist
1565 in maintaining clustering?
1566 * -Improve dead row detection during multi-statement transactions usage
1568 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-03/msg00358.php
1570 * Consider a more compact data representation for dead tuples
1572 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-05/msg00143.php
1577 o %Issue log message to suggest VACUUM FULL if a table is nearly
1579 o Improve control of auto-vacuum
1581 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00876.php
1583 o Prevent long-lived temporary tables from causing frozen-xid
1584 advancement starvation
1586 The problem is that autovacuum cannot vacuum them to set frozen xids;
1587 only the session that created them can do that.
1588 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-06/msg01645.php
1590 o Store per-table autovacuum settings in pg_class.reloptions.
1592 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg01440.php
1593 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00724.php
1595 o Prevent autovacuum from running if an old transaction is still
1596 running from the last vacuum
1598 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00899.php
1605 * Fix priority ordering of read and write light-weight locks (Neil)
1607 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-11/msg00893.php
1608 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-11/msg00905.php
1610 * Fix problem when multiple subtransactions of the same outer transaction
1611 hold different types of locks, and one subtransaction aborts
1613 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg01011.php
1614 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg00001.php
1615 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg00435.php
1616 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-05/msg00773.php
1618 * Allow UPDATEs on only non-referential integrity columns not to conflict
1619 with referential integrity locks
1621 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg00073.php
1623 * Add idle_in_transaction_timeout GUC so locks are not held for long
1626 * Improve deadlock detection when a page cleaning lock conflicts
1627 with a shared buffer that is pinned
1629 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2008-01/msg00138.php
1630 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00873.php
1631 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-committers/2008-01/msg00365.php
1633 * Detect deadlocks involving LockBufferForCleanup()
1635 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00873.php
1639 Startup Time Improvements
1640 =========================
1642 * Experiment with multi-threaded backend for backend creation
1644 This would prevent the overhead associated with process creation. Most
1645 operating systems have trivial process creation time compared to
1646 database startup overhead, but a few operating systems (Win32,
1647 Solaris) might benefit from threading. Also explore the idea of
1648 a single session using multiple threads to execute a statement faster.
1655 * Eliminate need to write full pages to WAL before page modification
1657 Currently, to protect against partial disk page writes, we write
1658 full page images to WAL before they are modified so we can correct any
1659 partial page writes during recovery. These pages can also be
1660 eliminated from point-in-time archive files.
1661 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2002-06/msg00655.php
1663 o When off, write CRC to WAL and check file system blocks
1666 If CRC check fails during recovery, remember the page in case
1667 a later CRC for that page properly matches.
1669 o Write full pages during file system write and not when
1670 the page is modified in the buffer cache
1672 This allows most full page writes to happen in the background
1673 writer. It might cause problems for applying WAL on recovery
1674 into a partially-written page, but later the full page will be
1677 * Allow WAL traffic to be streamed to another server for stand-by
1679 * Reduce WAL traffic so only modified values are written rather than
1682 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-03/msg01589.php
1684 * Allow WAL information to recover corrupted pg_controldata
1686 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-06/msg00025.php
1688 * Find a way to reduce rotational delay when repeatedly writing
1691 Currently fsync of WAL requires the disk platter to perform a full
1692 rotation to fsync again. One idea is to write the WAL to different
1693 offsets that might reduce the rotational delay.
1694 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2002-11/msg00483.php
1696 * Allow WAL logging to be turned off for a table, but the table
1697 might be dropped or truncated during crash recovery
1699 Allow tables to bypass WAL writes and just fsync() dirty pages on
1700 commit. This should be implemented using ALTER TABLE, e.g. ALTER
1701 TABLE PERSISTENCE [ DROP | TRUNCATE | DEFAULT ]. Tables using
1702 non-default logging should not use referential integrity with
1703 default-logging tables. A table without dirty buffers during a
1704 crash could perhaps avoid the drop/truncate.
1705 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-12/msg01016.php
1707 * Allow WAL logging to be turned off for a table, but the table would
1708 avoid being truncated/dropped
1710 To do this, only a single writer can modify the table, and writes
1711 must happen only on new pages so the new pages can be removed during
1712 crash recovery. Readers can continue accessing the table. Such
1713 tables probably cannot have indexes. One complexity is the handling
1714 of indexes on TOAST tables.
1715 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-12/msg01016.php
1717 * Speed WAL recovery by allowing more than one page to be prefetched
1719 This should be done utilizing the same infrastructure used for
1720 prefetching in general to avoid introducing complex error-prone code
1722 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-12/msg00683.php
1723 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00497.php
1724 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg01279.php
1726 * Improve WAL concurrency by increasing lock granularity
1728 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00556.php
1730 * Be more aggressive about creating WAL files
1732 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg01325.php
1733 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-07/msg01075.php
1734 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2005-04/msg00556.php
1736 * Have resource managers report the duration of their status changes
1738 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg01468.php
1740 * Move pgfoundry's xlogdump to /contrib and have it rely more closely
1741 on the WAL backend code
1743 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00035.php
1748 Optimizer / Executor
1749 ====================
1751 * Improve selectivity functions for geometric operators
1752 * Precompile SQL functions to avoid overhead
1753 * Create utility to compute accurate random_page_cost value
1754 * Improve ability to display optimizer analysis using OPTIMIZER_DEBUG
1755 * Have EXPLAIN ANALYZE issue NOTICE messages when the estimated and
1756 actual row counts differ by a specified percentage
1757 * Improve how ANALYZE computes in-doubt tuples
1759 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-11/msg00771.php
1761 * Log statements where the optimizer row estimates were dramatically
1762 different from the number of rows actually found?
1763 * Consider compressed annealing to search for query plans
1765 This might replace GEQO, http://sixdemonbag.org/Djinni.
1767 * Improve merge join performance by allowing mark/restore of
1770 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-01/msg00096.php
1772 * Consider using a hash for joining to a large IN (VALUES ...) list
1774 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-05/msg00450.php
1781 * Consider having the background writer update the transaction status
1782 hint bits before writing out the page
1784 Implementing this requires the background writer to have access to system
1785 catalogs and the transaction status log.
1787 * Consider adding buffers the background writer finds reusable to the
1790 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00781.php
1792 * Automatically tune bgwriter_delay based on activity rather then using a
1795 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-04/msg00781.php
1797 * Consider wither increasing BM_MAX_USAGE_COUNT improves performance
1799 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-06/msg01007.php
1801 * Test to see if calling PreallocXlogFiles() from the background writer
1802 will help with WAL segment creation latency
1804 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-06/msg00340.php
1808 Miscellaneous Performance
1809 =========================
1811 * Do async I/O for faster random read-ahead of data
1813 Async I/O allows multiple I/O requests to be sent to the disk with
1814 results coming back asynchronously.
1816 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00820.php
1817 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2007-09/msg00255.php
1818 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00027.php
1819 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-01/msg00170.php
1821 * Use mmap() rather than SYSV shared memory or to write WAL files?
1823 This would remove the requirement for SYSV SHM but would introduce
1824 portability issues. Anonymous mmap (or mmap to /dev/zero) is required
1825 to prevent I/O overhead.
1827 * Consider mmap()'ing files into a backend?
1829 Doing I/O to large tables would consume a lot of address space or
1830 require frequent mapping/unmapping. Extending the file also causes
1831 mapping problems that might require mapping only individual pages,
1832 leading to thousands of mappings. Another problem is that there is no
1833 way to _prevent_ I/O to disk from the dirty shared buffers so changes
1834 could hit disk before WAL is written.
1836 * Add a script to ask system configuration questions and tune postgresql.conf
1837 * Consider ways of storing rows more compactly on disk
1839 o Reduce the row header size?
1840 o Consider reducing on-disk varlena length from four bytes to
1841 two because a heap row cannot be more than 64k in length
1843 * Consider increasing NUM_CLOG_BUFFERS
1845 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00030.php
1846 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2007-08/msg00024.php
1848 * Consider transaction start/end performance improvements
1850 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00948.php
1851 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00361.php
1853 * Allow user configuration of TOAST thresholds
1855 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-02/msg00213.php
1856 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00082.php
1858 * Allow configuration of backend priorities via the operating system
1860 Though backend priorities make priority inversion during lock
1861 waits possible, research shows that this is not a huge problem.
1863 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-02/msg00493.php
1865 * Experiment with multi-threaded backend better I/O utilization
1867 This would allow a single query to make use of multiple I/O channels
1868 simultaneously. One idea is to create a background reader that can
1869 pre-fetch sequential and index scan pages needed by other backends.
1870 This could be expanded to allow concurrent reads from multiple devices
1871 in a partitioned table.
1873 * Experiment with multi-threaded backend better CPU utilization
1875 This would allow several CPUs to be used for a single query, such as
1876 for sorting or query execution.
1878 * Consider increasing the minimum allowed number of shared buffers
1880 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2008-02/msg00157.php
1882 * Expire published xmin for read-only and idle transactions
1884 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00343.php
1886 * Consider if CommandCounterIncrement() can avoid its
1887 AcceptInvalidationMessages() call
1889 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-committers/2007-11/msg00585.php
1891 * Improve performance of shared invalidation queue for multiple CPUs
1893 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2008-01/msg00023.php
1895 * Consider Cartesian joins when both relations are needed to form an
1896 indexscan qualification for a third relation
1898 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2007-12/msg00090.php
1900 * Consider not storing a NULL bitmap on disk if all the NULLs are
1903 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00624.php
1904 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-12/msg00109.php
1906 * Sort large UPDATE/DELETEs so it is done in heap order
1908 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg01119.php
1910 * SMP scalability improvements
1912 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00439.php
1913 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00206.php
1914 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00361.php
1916 * Research reducing deTOASTing in more places
1918 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-09/msg00895.php
1920 * Allow one transaction to see tuples using the snapshot of another
1923 This would assist multiple backends in working together.
1924 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00400.php
1930 * Add use of 'const' for variables in source tree
1931 * Move some things from contrib into main tree
1932 * %Remove warnings created by -Wcast-align
1933 * Move platform-specific ps status display info from ps_status.c to ports
1934 * Add optional CRC checksum to heap and index pages
1935 * Improve documentation to build only interfaces (Marc)
1936 * Remove or relicense modules that are not under the BSD license, if possible
1937 * Acquire lock on a relation before building a relcache entry for it
1938 * Allow cross-compiling by generating the zic database on the target system
1939 * Improve NLS maintenance of libpgport messages linked onto applications
1940 * Clean up casting in contrib/isn
1942 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-11/msg00245.php
1944 * Improve the /contrib installation experience
1946 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-04/msg00132.php
1948 * Use UTF8 encoding for NLS messages so all server encodings can
1950 * Update Bonjour to work with newer cross-platform SDK
1952 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-09/msg02238.php
1953 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-10/msg00048.php
1955 * Consider GnuTLS if OpenSSL license becomes a problem
1957 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2006-05/msg00040.php
1958 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-12/msg01213.php
1960 * Consider changing documentation format from SGML to XML
1962 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2006-12/msg00152.php
1964 * Consider making NAMEDATALEN more configurable in future releases
1965 * Update our code to handle 64-bit timezone files to match the zic
1966 source code, which now uses them
1967 * Have configure choose integer datetimes by default
1969 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-05/msg00046.php
1971 * Support scoped IPv6 addresses
1973 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2007-05/msg00111.php
1975 * Consider allowing 64-bit integers and floats to be passed by value on
1978 Also change 32-bit floats (float4) to be passed by value at the same
1981 * Research use of signals and sleep wake ups
1983 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00003.php
1985 * Add automated check for invalid C++ source code constructs
1987 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-07/msg00056.php
1989 * Consider simplifying how memory context resets handle child contexts
1991 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2007-08/msg00067.php
1993 * Remove use of MAKE_PTR and MAKE_OFFSET macros
1995 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-08/msg01510.php
1997 * Convert single quotes to apostrophes in the PDF documentation
1999 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2007-12/msg00059.php
2001 * Create three versions of libpgport to simplify client code
2003 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg00154.php
2005 * Remove old-style routines for manipulating tuples
2007 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-10/msg00851.php
2009 * Improve detection of shared memory segments being used by others
2010 by checking the SysV shared memory field 'nattch'
2012 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00656.php
2013 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00673.php
2015 * Implement the non-threaded Avahi service discovery protocol
2017 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00939.php
2018 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-02/msg00097.php
2019 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg01211.php
2020 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-04/msg00001.php
2022 * Implement a module capability for loading /contrib-style extensions
2024 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-04/msg00164.php
2026 * Fix system views like pg_stat_all_tables to use set-returning
2027 functions, rather than views of per-column functions
2032 o Remove configure.in check for link failure when cause is found
2033 o Remove readdir() errno patch when runtime/mingwex/dirent.c rev
2035 o -Remove psql newline patch when we find out why mingw outputs an
2037 o Allow psql to use readline once non-US code pages work with
2039 o Fix problem with shared memory on the Win32 Terminal Server
2040 o Diagnose problem where shared memory can sometimes not be
2041 attached by postmaster children
2043 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-08/msg01377.php
2045 o Improve signal handling
2047 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2005-06/msg00027.php
2049 o Convert MSVC build system to remove most batch files
2051 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-08/msg00961.php
2053 o Prevent SSL from sending network packets to avoid interference
2054 with Win32 signal emulation
2056 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-12/msg00455.php
2058 o Support pgxs when using MSVC
2060 o Fix MSVC NLS support, like for to_char()
2062 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-02/msg00485.php
2063 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2008-02/msg00038.php
2065 o Find a correct rint() substitute on Windows
2067 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00808.php
2071 * Wire Protocol Changes
2073 o Allow dynamic character set handling
2074 o Add decoded type, length, precision
2076 o Update clients to use data types, typmod, schema.table.column names
2077 of result sets using new statement protocol
2083 * Add pre-parsing phase that converts non-ISO syntax to supported
2086 This could allow SQL written for other databases to run without
2089 * Allow plug-in modules to emulate features from other databases
2090 * Add features of Oracle-style packages (Pavel)
2092 A package would be a schema with session-local variables,
2093 public/private functions, and initialization functions. It
2094 is also possible to implement these capabilities
2095 in any schema and not use a separate "packages"
2098 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-08/msg00384.php
2100 * Consider allowing control of upper/lower case folding of unquoted
2103 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-04/msg00818.php
2104 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg01527.php
2105 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-03/msg00849.php
2107 * Add autonomous transactions
2109 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00893.php
2113 Features We Do _Not_ Want
2114 =========================
2116 * All backends running as threads in a single process (not wanted)
2118 This eliminates the process protection we get from the current setup.
2119 Thread creation is usually the same overhead as process creation on
2120 modern systems, so it seems unwise to use a pure threaded model.
2122 * Optimizer hints (not wanted)
2124 Optimizer hints are used to work around problems in the optimizer. We
2125 would rather have the problems reported and fixed.
2127 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-08/msg00506.php
2128 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00517.php
2129 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2006-10/msg00663.php
2132 Because we support postfix operators, it isn't possible to make AS
2133 optional and continue to use bison.
2134 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2003-04/msg00436.php
2136 http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-sql/2006-08/msg00164.php
2138 * Embedded server (not wanted)
2140 While PostgreSQL clients runs fine in limited-resource environments, the
2141 server requires multiple processes and a stable pool of resources to
2142 run reliabily and efficiently. Stripping down the PostgreSQL server
2143 to run in the same process address space as the client application
2144 would add too much complexity and failure cases.