From: Peter Eisentraut Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:11:09 +0000 (+0000) Subject: 8.5alpha3 release notes up to Fri Dec 18 21:37:38 2009 +0000 X-Git-Tag: REL8_5_ALPHA3~18 X-Git-Url: https://granicus.if.org/sourcecode?a=commitdiff_plain;h=2692274dd94e860403679d0d0e5c14f64ae3499c;p=postgresql 8.5alpha3 release notes up to Fri Dec 18 21:37:38 2009 +0000 --- diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/release-8.5.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/release-8.5.sgml index f95b35505c..73ad960fa2 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/release-8.5.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/release-8.5.sgml @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ - + - Release 8.5alpha2 + Release 8.5alpha3 Overview @@ -69,45 +69,105 @@ - Add SQL-compliant triggers on columns, which fire only if - certain columns are named in the UPDATE's SET list. + Remove previously deprecated configuration + parameter add_missing_from. The system now always behaves as + though add_missing_from were off. - Add CREATE LIKE INCLUDING COMMENTS and STORAGE, and INCLUDING + Performance and behavioral improvements in UPDATE, + DELETE, and SELECT FOR UPDATE/SHARE queries with + joins. Various corner-cases could result in duplicated output + rows. Set-returning functions are now prohibited in the + target list of SELECT FOR UPDATE/SHARE. FOR UPDATE does not + propagate into a WITH query anymore. + + + + + Fixed for SELECT FOR UPDATE/SHARE in conjuction with LIMIT. + Previously, it could return fewer rows than the limit specified. + + + + + Add a WHEN clause to CREATE TRIGGER, allowing a boolean expression + to be checked to determine whether the trigger should be fired. + + + For BEFORE triggers this is mostly a matter of spec compliance; but + for AFTER triggers it can provide a noticeable performance + improvement, since queuing of a deferred trigger event and + re-fetching of the row(s) at end of statement can be + short-circuited if the trigger does not need to be fired. + + + + + Add exclusion constraints, which generalize the concept of + uniqueness to support any indexable commutative operator, not just + equality. Two rows violate the exclusion constraint if + "row1.col OP row2.col" is TRUE for each of the columns in + the constraint. + + + + + Support ORDER BY within aggregate function calls, at long last + providing a non-kluge method for controlling the order in which + values are fed to an aggregate function. At the same time eliminate + the old implementation restriction that DISTINCT was only supported + for single-argument aggregates. + + + Behavioral change: formerly, agg(DISTINCT x) dropped null values of + x unconditionally. Now, it does so only if the agg transition + function is strict; otherwise nulls are treated as DISTINCT + normally would, i.e., you get one copy. + + + + + Add SQL-compliant triggers on columns, which fire only if + certain columns are named in the UPDATE's SET list. + + + + + Add CREATE LIKE INCLUDING COMMENTS and STORAGE, and INCLUDING ALL shortcut to allow users to make an exact copy of a table including - all options and features. + all options and features. - Define a new, more extensible syntax for COPY options - in order to support additional COPY options in the future. + Define a new, more extensible syntax for COPY options + in order to support additional COPY options in the future. - Modify the definition of window-function PARTITION + Modify the definition of window-function PARTITION BY and ORDER BY clauses so that their elements are always taken as simple expressions over the query's input - columns. This fixes a bug. + columns. This fixes a bug. - Fix bug with nested WITH RECURSIVE statements. + Fix bug with nested WITH RECURSIVE statements. - Add surrogate pair support for U& string and identifier - syntax. + Add surrogate pair support for U& string and identifier + syntax. - Add Unicode escapes in E'...' strings. + Add Unicode escapes in E'...' strings. @@ -154,24 +214,34 @@ - Make TRUNCATE do truncate-in-place when processing + Allow rewriting ALTER TABLE to skip WAL logging. + + + + + Speed up information schema privilege views. + + + + + Make TRUNCATE do truncate-in-place when processing a relation that was created or previously truncated in the - current (sub)transaction. + current (sub)transaction. - Implement "join removal" for cases where the inner side + Implement "join removal" for cases where the inner side of a left join is unique and is not referenced above the join. This should - speed up many ORM-generated and reporting tool queries. + speed up many ORM-generated and reporting tool queries. - Remove the use of the flat files pg_auth and + Remove the use of the flat files pg_auth and pg_database in order to improve performance. (Warning: pgbouncer and possibly other tools currently suggest referring to the pg_auth - file for its user database. Such schemes will no longer work.) + file for its user database. Such schemes will no longer work.) @@ -235,35 +305,79 @@ - Add a Boolean server configuration parameter + Provide a parenthesized-options syntax for VACUUM, analogous to + that recently adopted for EXPLAIN. This will allow additional + options to be implemented in future without having to make them + fully-reserved keywords. The old syntax remains available for + existing options, however. + + + + + Add support for an application_name parameter, which is displayed + in pg_stat_activity and recorded in log entries. + + + + + Fix longstanding problems in VACUUM caused by untimely + interruptions. + + + + + Error when a specified connection service is not found in + pg_service.conf, instead of ignoring it. + + + + + Add YAML to list of EXPLAIN formats. + + + + + Add an EXPLAIN (BUFFERS) option to show buffer-usage statistics. + + + + + Add a hook to let loadable modules get control at ProcessUtility + execution, and use it to extend contrib/pg_stat_statements to track + utility commands. + + + + + Add a Boolean server configuration parameter "bonjour" to control whether a Bonjour-enabled - build actually attempts to advertise itself via Bonjour. + build actually attempts to advertise itself via Bonjour. - When reloading postgresql.conf, log what parameters actually - changed. + When reloading postgresql.conf, log what parameters actually + changed. - Make it possibly to specify server configuration parameters + Make it possibly to specify server configuration parameters per user-database combination. Add a \drds command to psql to - display the settings. + display the settings. - Allow the collection of statistics on sequences. + Allow the collection of statistics on sequences. - Increase the maximum value of extra_float_digits to + Increase the maximum value of extra_float_digits to 3, and have pg_dump use that value when the backend is new enough to allow it, because it is possible to need 3 extra - digits for float4 values (but not for float8 values). + digits for float4 values (but not for float8 values). @@ -287,22 +401,55 @@ - Add ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES command, which allows + When querying a table with child tables, do not check permissions + on the child tables, only on the parent table. The old behavior was + found to be useless and confusing in virtually all cases, and also + contrary to the SQL standard. + + + + + Add a hook to CREATE/ALTER ROLE to allow an external module to + check the strength of database passwords, and create a sample + implementation of such a hook as a new contrib module + "passwordcheck". + + + + + Add large object access control. + + + + + Allow LDAP authentication to operate in search+bind + mode, meaning it does a search for the user in the directory + first, and then binds with the DN found for this user. This + allows for LDAP logins in scenarios where the DN of the user + cannot be determined simply by prefix and suffix, such as the + case where different users are located in different + containers. The old way of authentication can be + significantly faster, so it's kept as an option. + + + + + Add ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES command, which allows users to adjust the privileges that will be applied to - subsequently-created objects. + subsequently-created objects. - Add GRANT/REVOKE ON ALL TABLES/SEQUENCES/FUNCTIONS IN SCHEMA. - This makes it easier to manage permissions on database objects. + Add GRANT/REVOKE ON ALL TABLES/SEQUENCES/FUNCTIONS IN SCHEMA. + This makes it easier to manage permissions on database objects. - Support "samehost" and "samenet" specifications + Support "samehost" and "samenet" specifications in pg_hba.conf. This allows users with dynamic server addresses to run - PostgreSQL without frequently modifying pg_hba.conf + PostgreSQL without frequently modifying pg_hba.conf. @@ -318,8 +465,23 @@ - Support POSIX-compatible interpretation of ? as well as {m,n} - and related constructs in SIMILAR TO, per SQL:2008. + Remove configuration parameter regex_flavor. It is now always + "advanced". + + + + + Teach the regular expression functions to do case-insensitive + matching and locale-dependent character classification properly + when the database encoding is UTF8. This previously only worked + correct for single-byte encodings and is still broken for other + multibyte encodings. + + + + + Support POSIX-compatible interpretation of ? as well as {m,n} + and related constructs in SIMILAR TO, per SQL:2008. @@ -349,13 +511,27 @@ - Fix encoding handling in binary input function of xml type. + When doing "ARRAY[...]::domain", where domain is a domain + over an array type, we need to check domain constraints. Regression + introduced in 8.4. + + + + + Fix integer-to-bit-string conversions to handle the first + fractional byte correctly when the output bit width is wider than + the given integer by something other than a multiple of 8 bits. - Tighten binary receive functions so that they reject values - that the text input functions don't accept either. + Fix encoding handling in binary input function of xml type. + + + + + Tighten binary receive functions so that they reject values + that the text input functions don't accept either. @@ -379,8 +555,19 @@ - It is now reasonably safe to use pg_ctl to start - the postmaster from a boot-time script. + initdb now selects the encoding SQL_ASCII when the locale specifies + US-ASCII. This case previously failed. + + + + + Add init[db] option to pg_ctl. + + + + + It is now reasonably safe to use pg_ctl to start + the postmaster from a boot-time script. @@ -401,16 +588,42 @@ - Implement significantly saner behavior when two or - more psql sessions overlap in their use of the history file. + In psql, show view definition only with \d+, not with \d. + + + + + In psql, ignore UTF-8-encoded Unicode byte-order mark at the + beginning of a file if the client encoding is UTF-8. + + + + + Improve psql's tabular display of wrapped-around data by inserting + markers in the formerly-always-blank columns just to left and right + of the data. "pset linestyle old-ascii" is added to make + the previous behavior available if anyone really wants it. + + + + + Simplify psql's new linestyle behavior to default to + linestyle=ascii all the time, rather than hoping we can tell + whether the terminal supports UTF-8 characters. + + + + + Implement significantly saner behavior when two or + more psql sessions overlap in their use of the history file. - Add "pset linestyle ascii/unicode" option to psql, + Add "pset linestyle ascii/unicode" option to psql, allowing our traditional ASCII-art style of table output to be upgraded to use Unicode box drawing characters if - desired. + desired. @@ -430,56 +643,114 @@ - Add DO statement to support execution of procedural language - code without having to create a function for it. + PL/pgSQL is installed by default. - Support use of function argument names to identify which + Remove PL/pgSQL's RENAME declaration, which has + bizarre and mostly nonfunctional behavior, and is so little + used that no one has been interested in fixing it. To ensure + that possible uses are covered, remove the ALIAS declaration's + arbitrary restriction that only $n identifiers can be + aliased. + + + + + The PL/pgSQL parser and scanner were reworked to behave much more + sanely: + + + A variable reference will only be recognized where it can validly + go, ie, a place where a column value or parameter would be legal, + instead of the former behavior that would replace any textual match + including table names and column aliases (leading to syntax errors + later on). PL/pgSQL variable names that match fully-reserved words + will now need to be quoted. An the other hand, a number of + PL/pgSQL-specific words were de-reserved. + + + The variable resolution behavior is by default not backward + compatible, but can be configured; see documentation. + + + Error reporting is much nicer and accurate. + + + The argument of WHERE CURRENT OF can be a PL/pgSQL cursor variable. + + + + + Add support for anonymous code blocks (DO blocks) to PL/Perl. + + + + + Support arrays as parameters and return values of PL/Python + functions. + + + + + Python 3 support in PL/Python; behaves more or less unchanged + compared to Python 2, but the new language variant is called + plpython3u. + + + + + Add DO statement to support execution of procedural language + code without having to create a function for it. + + + + + Support use of function argument names to identify which actual arguments match which function parameters. The syntax uses AS, for example funcname(value AS arg1, anothervalue AS - arg2). + arg2). - Fix/improve bytea and boolean support in PL/Python. Data type + Fix/improve bytea and boolean support in PL/Python. Data type conversion into and out of PL/Python previously went through an intermediate string representation, which caused various discrepancies especially with bytea and boolean data. This is - now fixed by converting the values directly. + now fixed by converting the values directly. - PL/Python now accepts Unicode objects where it previously + PL/Python now accepts Unicode objects where it previously only accepted string objects (for example, as return value). Unicode objects are converted to the PostgreSQL - server encoding as necessary. + server encoding as necessary. - Improve error context reporting in PL/Perl, for - easier debugging. + Improve error context reporting in PL/Perl, for + easier debugging. - PL/pgSQL IN parameters now accept value assignments. + PL/pgSQL IN parameters now accept value assignments. - Convert a Perl array to a PostgreSQL array when returned by - set-returning functions as well as non-SRFs. + Convert a Perl array to a PostgreSQL array when returned by + set-returning functions as well as non-SRFs. - Allow cursor commands MOVE FORWARD n, MOVE BACKWARD n, - MOVE FORWARD ALL, MOVE BACKWARD ALL in PL/pgSQL. + Allow cursor commands MOVE FORWARD n, MOVE BACKWARD n, + MOVE FORWARD ALL, MOVE BACKWARD ALL in PL/pgSQL. @@ -506,9 +777,18 @@ - Multiple improvements in contrib/hstore, including + Add \shell and \setshell meta commands to pgbench. + + + \shell command runs an external shell command. \setshell also does + the same and sets the result to a variable. + + + + + Multiple improvements in contrib/hstore, including raising limits on keys and values, conversions to and from - records and arrays, and support for GROUP BY and DISTINCT. + records and arrays, and support for GROUP BY and DISTINCT. @@ -540,20 +820,32 @@ Development + + + Refactor ECPG grammar so that it uses the core grammar's + unreserved_keyword list, minus a few specific words that have to be + treated specially. This de-reserves a number of works in ECPG. + + + + + Added dynamic cursor names to ECPG. + + - Add ECPG function that returns the current transaction status. + Add ECPG function that returns the current transaction status. - Make ECPG more robust against applications freeing strings. + Make ECPG more robust against applications freeing strings. - Make libpq reject non-numeric and out-of-range port numbers with a - suitable error message. + Make libpq reject non-numeric and out-of-range port numbers with a + suitable error message. @@ -580,28 +872,28 @@ - Change the WIN32 API version to be 5.01 (Windows XP), to - bring in the proper IPv6 headers in newer SDKs. + Disable triggering failover with a signal in pg_standby on Windows. + It never really worked before anyway. - Write to the Windows eventlog in UTF-16, converting the - message encoding as necessary. + Change the WIN32 API version to be 5.01 (Windows XP), to + bring in the proper IPv6 headers in newer SDKs. - Replace use of the long-deprecated Bonjour API - DNSServiceRegistrationCreate with the not-so-deprecated - DNSServiceRegister. The new code will fail on Mac OS X - releases before 10.3. + Write to the Windows eventlog in UTF-16, converting the + message encoding as necessary. - Install a hopefully-temporary workaround for Mac OS X Snow Leopard - readdir() bug. + Replace use of the long-deprecated Bonjour API + DNSServiceRegistrationCreate with the not-so-deprecated + DNSServiceRegister. The new code will fail on Mac OS X + releases before 10.3. @@ -621,28 +913,34 @@ - Source code, build options + Source Code, Build Options - Fix inclusions of readline/editline header files so that we + configure --enable-thread-safety is now the default (but can still + be turned off). + + + + + Fix inclusions of readline/editline header files so that we only attempt to #include the version of history.h that is in the same directory as the readline.h we are using. This avoids problems in some scenarios where both readline and - editline are installed. + editline are installed. - Derived files that are shipped in the distribution used to be + Derived files that are shipped in the distribution used to be built in the source directory even for out-of-tree builds. They are now also built in the build tree. This - should be more convenient for certain developers' workflows. + should be more convenient for certain developers' workflows. - Translations were updated. + Translations were updated.