1010alink ="#0000ff ">
1111< H1 > Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL</ H1 >
1212
13- < P > Last updated:Mon Nov21 16:01:05 EST 2005</ P >
13+ < P > Last updated:Tue Nov22 10:04:06 EST 2005</ P >
1414
1515< P > Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (< A href =
1616 "mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us "> pgman@candle.pha.pa.us</ A > )
@@ -145,6 +145,18 @@ <H3><A name="1.1">1.1</A>) What is PostgreSQL? How is it pronounced?</H3>
145145 http://www.postgresql.org/files/documentation/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html</ A >
146146</ P >
147147
148+ < H3 > < A name ="1.2 "> 1.2</ A > ) Who controls PostgreSQL?< BR > </ H3 >
149+
150+ < P > If you are looking for a PostgreSQL gatekeeper, central committee,
151+ or controlling company, give up --- there isn't one. We do have a
152+ core committee and CVS committers, but these groups are more for
153+ administrative purposes than control. The project is directed by
154+ the community of developers and users, which anyone can join. All
155+ you need to do is subscribe to the mailing lists and participate in the
156+ discussions. (See the< a href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_DEV.html ">
157+ Developer's FAQ</ A > for information on how to get involved in PostgreSQL
158+ development.)</ P >
159+
148160< H3 > < A name ="1.3 "> 1.3</ A > ) What is the copyright of
149161 PostgreSQL?</ H3 >
150162
@@ -205,6 +217,13 @@ <H3><A name="1.5">1.5</A>) Where can I get PostgreSQL?</H3>
205217< A href ="ftp://ftp.PostgreSQL.org/pub/ ">
206218 ftp://ftp.PostgreSQL.org/pub/</ A > .</ P >
207219
220+ < H3 > < A name ="1.6 "> 1.6</ A > ) What is the latest release?</ H3 >
221+
222+ < P > The latest release of PostgreSQL is version 8.1.1</ P >
223+
224+ < P > We plan to have a major release every year, with minor releases
225+ every few months.</ P >
226+
208227< H3 > < A name ="1.7 "> 1.7</ A > ) Where can I get support?</ H3 >
209228
210229< P > The PostgreSQL community provides assistance to many of its users
@@ -234,13 +253,65 @@ <H3><A name="1.8">1.8</A>) How do I submit a bug report?</H3>
234253 "ftp://ftp.PostgreSQL.org/pub/ "> ftp://ftp.PostgreSQL.org/pub/</ A > to
235254 see if there is a more recent PostgreSQL version.</ P >
236255
237- < H3 > < A name ="1.6 "> 1.6</ A > ) What is the latest release?</ H3 >
238-
239- < P > The latest release of PostgreSQL is version 8.1.1</ P >
256+ < P > Bugs submitted using the bug form or posted to any PostgreSQL mailing
257+ list typically generates one of the following replies:</ P >
258+ < ul >
259+ < li > It is not a bug, and why</ li >
260+ < li > It is a known bug and is known already on the TODO list</ li >
261+ < li > The bug has been fixed in the current release</ li >
262+ < li > The bug has been fixed but is not packaged yet in an official
263+ release</ li >
264+ < li > A request is made for more detailed information:
265+ < ul >
266+ < li > Operating system</ li >
267+ < li > PostgreSQL version</ li >
268+ < li > Reproducible test case</ li >
269+ < li > Debugging information</ li >
270+ < li > Debugger backtrace output</ li >
271+ </ ul >
272+ </ li >
273+ < li > The bug is new. The following might happen:
274+ < ul >
275+ < li > A patch has been created and will be included in the next major
276+ or minor release</ li >
277+ < li > The bug cannot be fixed immediately and is added
278+ to the TODO list</ li >
279+ </ ul >
280+ </ li >
281+ </ ul >
282+
283+ < H3 > < A name ="1.9 "> 1.9</ A > ) How do I find out about known bugs or
284+ missing features?</ H3 >
240285
241- < P > We plan to have a major release every year, with minor releases
242- every few months.</ P >
286+ < P > PostgreSQL supports an extended subset of< SMALL > SQL:2003</ SMALL > .
287+ See our< A href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.TODO.html "> TODO</ A >
288+ list for known bugs, missing features, and future plans.</ P >
243289
290+ < P > A feature request usually results in one of the following
291+ replies:</ P >
292+ < ul >
293+ < li > The feature is already on the TODO list</ li >
294+ < li > The feature is not desired because:
295+ < ul >
296+ < li > It duplicates existing functionality that already
297+ follows the SQL standard</ li >
298+ < li > The feature would increase code complexity but add little
299+ benefit</ li >
300+ < li > The feature would be insecure or unreliable</ li >
301+ </ ul >
302+ </ li >
303+ < li > The new feature is added to the TODO list</ li >
304+ </ ul >
305+
306+ < P > PostgreSQL does not use a bug tracking system because we find
307+ it more efficient to respond directly to email and keep the TODO
308+ list up-to-date. In practice, bugs don't last very long in the
309+ software, and bugs that affect a large number of users are fixed
310+ rapidly. The only single place to find all changes, improvements,
311+ and fixes in a PostgreSQL release is to read our CVS logs messages.
312+ Even the release notes do not contain every change made to the
313+ software.</ P >
314+
244315< H3 > < A name ="1.10 "> 1.10</ A > ) What documentation is available?</ H3 >
245316
246317< P > PostgreSQL includes extensive documentation, including a large
@@ -267,13 +338,6 @@ <H3><A name="1.10">1.10</A>) What documentation is available?</H3>
267338
268339< P > Our web site contains even more documentation.</ P >
269340
270- < H3 > < A name ="1.9 "> 1.9</ A > ) How do I find out about known bugs or
271- missing features?</ H3 >
272-
273- < P > PostgreSQL supports an extended subset of< SMALL > SQL:2003</ SMALL > .
274- See our< A href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.TODO.html "> TODO</ A >
275- list for known bugs, missing features, and future plans.</ P >
276-
277341< H3 > < A name ="1.11 "> 1.11</ A > ) How can I learn
278342< SMALL > SQL</ SMALL > ?</ H3 >
279343
@@ -359,18 +423,6 @@ <H3><A name="1.13">1.13</A>) How does PostgreSQL compare to other
359423</ DD >
360424</ DL >
361425
362- < H3 > < A name ="1.2 "> 1.2</ A > ) Who controls PostgreSQL?< BR >
363-
364- < P > If you are looking for a PostgreSQL gatekeeper, central committee,
365- or controlling company, give up --- there isn't one. We do have a
366- core committee and CVS committers, but these groups are more for
367- administrative purposes than control. The project is directed by
368- the community of developers and users, which anyone can join. All
369- you need to do is subscribe to the mailing lists and participate in the
370- discussions. (See the< a href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_DEV.html ">
371- Developer's FAQ</ A > for information on how to get involved in PostgreSQL
372- development.)</ P >
373-
374426< HR >
375427
376428< H2 align ="center "> User Client Questions</ H2 >
@@ -1023,11 +1075,11 @@ <H3><A name="4.21">4.21</A>) Why are my table and column names not
10231075< P > The most common cause is the use of double-quotes around table or
10241076 column names during table creation. When double-quotes are used,
10251077 table and column names (called identifiers) are stored< a
1026- href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/static/sql-syntax.html#SQL-
1027- SYNTAX-IDENTIFIERS " > case-sensitive</ a > , meaning you must use
1028- double-quotes when referencing the names in a query. Some interfaces,
1029- like pgAdmin, automatically double-quote identifiers during table
1030- creation. So, for identifiers to be recognized, you must either:
1078+ href ="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/static/sql-syntax.html#SQL-SYNTAX-IDENTIFIERS " >
1079+ case-sensitive</ a > , meaning you must use double-quotes when
1080+ referencing the names in a query. Some interfaces, like pgAdmin ,
1081+ automatically double-quote identifiers during table creation. So,
1082+ for identifiers to be recognized, you must either:
10311083< UL >
10321084< LI > Avoid double-quoting identifiers when creating tables</ LI >
10331085< LI > Use only lowercase characters in identifiers</ LI >