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TODO list (FAQ) for PostgreSQL

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last updated:Fri Oct 17 08:18:16 EDT 1997

TODO list for PostgreSQL

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Last updated:Fri Oct 17 08:18:16 EDT 1997

current maintainer:Bruce Momjian (maillist@candle.pha.pa.us)

Current maintainer:Bruce Momjian (maillist@candle.pha.pa.us)

The most recent version of this document can be viewed at

thepostgreSQL WWW site, http://www.postgreSQL.org.

thePostgreSQL WWW site, http://www.postgreSQL.org.

THE CHANGES FOR 6.2and 6.2.1 APPEAR AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT

THE CHANGES FOR 6.2AND 6.2.1 APPEAR AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT

Developers who have claimed items are:

Bruce is Bruce Momjian<maillist@candle.pha.pa.us>

Bryan is Bryan Henderson<bryanh@giraffe.netgate.net>

Dan is Dan McGuirk <mcguirk@indirect.com>

Daniel is Daniel Kalchev <daniel@digsys.bg>

Darren is Darren King <darrenk@insightdist.com>

Edmund is Edmund Mergl <E.Mergl@bawue.de>

Erich Stamberger <eberger@gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at>

Gerhard is Gerhard Reithofer <gerhardr@tech-edv.co.at>

Igor is Igor <igor@sba.miami.edu>

Jun is Jun Kuwamura <juk@rccm.co.jp>

Kurt is "Kurt J. Lidl" <lidl@va.pubnix.com>

Martin is Martin S. Utesch <utesch@aut.tu-freiberg.de>

Oleg is Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>

Paul is Paul M. Aoki <aoki@CS.Berkeley.EDU>

Patrick is Patrick van Kleef <pvk@pobox.com>

Raymond is Raymond Toy <toy@rtp.ericsson.se>

Soo-Ho Ok <shok@detc.dongeui-tc.ac.kr>

Stefan Simkovics <ssimkovi@rainbow.studorg.tuwien.ac.at>

Sven is Sven Verdoolaege <skimo@breughel.ufsia.ac.be>

Tatsuo is Tatsuo Ishii <t-ishii@sra.co.jp>

Thomas is Thomas Lockhart <tgl@mythos.jpl.nasa.gov>

Vadim is "Vadim B. Mikheev" <vadim@sable.krasnoyarsk.su>

Vivek is Vivek Khera <khera@kci.kciLink.com>

-------------------------------------

* Bruce is Bruce Momjian<maillist@candle.pha.pa.us>

* Bryan is Bryan Henderson<bryanh@giraffe.netgate.net>

* Dan is Dan McGuirk <mcguirk@indirect.com>

* Daniel is Daniel Kalchev <daniel@digsys.bg>

* Darren is Darren King <darrenk@insightdist.com>

* Edmund is Edmund Mergl <E.Mergl@bawue.de>

* Erich Stamberger <eberger@gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at>

* Gerhard is Gerhard Reithofer <gerhardr@tech-edv.co.at>

* Igor is Igor <igor@sba.miami.edu>

* Jun is Jun Kuwamura <juk@rccm.co.jp>

* Kurt is "Kurt J. Lidl" <lidl@va.pubnix.com>

* Martin is Martin S. Utesch <utesch@aut.tu-freiberg.de>

* Oleg is Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>

* Paul is Paul M. Aoki <aoki@CS.Berkeley.EDU>

* Patrick is Patrick van Kleef <pvk@pobox.com>

* Raymond is Raymond Toy <toy@rtp.ericsson.se>

* Soo-Ho Ok <shok@detc.dongeui-tc.ac.kr>

* Stefan Simkovics <ssimkovi@rainbow.studorg.tuwien.ac.at>

* Sven is Sven Verdoolaege <skimo@breughel.ufsia.ac.be>

* Tatsuo is Tatsuo Ishii <t-ishii@sra.co.jp>

* Thomas is Thomas Lockhart <tgl@mythos.jpl.nasa.gov>

* Vadim is "Vadim B. Mikheev" <vadim@sable.krasnoyarsk.su>

* Vivek is Vivek Khera <khera@kci.kciLink.com>

RELIABILITY

-----------

-Overhaul mdmgr/smgr to fix double unlinking and double opens, cleanup(Erich)

-Overhaul bufmgr/lockmgr/transaction manager(Vadim)

Fix CLUSTER

Remove EXTEND?

Fix all NULL features

allow psql to print nulls meaningfully

Fix compile and security of Kerberos/GSSAPI code (Daniel Kalchev?)

COUNT on VIEW always returns zero (maybe because there is no oid for views?)

CREATE VIEW requires super-user priviledge

can lo_export()/lo_import() read/write anywhere, causing a security problem?

Tables that start with xinv confused to be large objects

Two and three dimmensional arrays display improperly, missing {}

Add GROUP BY and HAVING to INSERT INTO table SELECT * FROM table2

lo_unlink() crashes server

Allow variable casts with BETWEEN 'today'::asbtime AND 'today'::abstime

Prevent auto-table reference, like SELECT table.col WHERE col = 3 (?)

Remove un-needed malloc() calls and replace with palloc().

SELECT * FROM table WHERE int4_column = '1' fails

SELECT a[1] FROM test fails, it needs test.a[1]

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM TAB1, TAB2 fails

SELECT SUM(2+2) FROM table dumps core

UPDATE table SET table.value = 3 fails

UPDATE key_table SET keyval=max(reftab.NUM)+1 WHERE tblname='reftab' fails

INSERT INTO ... SELECT DISTINCT ... generates error on DISTINCT

INSERT INTO table SELECT id, count(*) FROM table2 GROUP BY id generate error

* -Overhaul mdmgr/smgr to fix double unlinking and double opens, cleanup(Erich)

* -Overhaul bufmgr/lockmgr/transaction manager(Vadim)

* Fix CLUSTER

* Remove EXTEND?

* Fix all NULL features, allow psql to print nulls meaningfully

* Fix compile and security of Kerberos/GSSAPI code (Daniel Kalchev?)

* COUNT on VIEW always returns zero (maybe because there is no oid for views?)

* CREATE VIEW requires super-user priviledge

* can lo_export()/lo_import() read/write anywhere, causing a security problem?

* Tables that start with xinv confused to be large objects

* Two and three dimmensional arrays display improperly, missing {}

* Add GROUP BY and HAVING to INSERT INTO table SELECT * FROM table2

* lo_unlink() crashes server

* Allow variable casts with BETWEEN 'today'::asbtime AND 'today'::abstime

* Prevent auto-table reference, like SELECT table.col WHERE col = 3 (?)

* Remove un-needed malloc() calls and replace with palloc().

* SELECT * FROM table WHERE int4_column = '1' fails

* SELECT a[1] FROM test fails, it needs test.a[1]

* SELECT COUNT(*) FROM TAB1, TAB2 fails

* SELECT SUM(2+2) FROM table dumps core

* UPDATE table SET table.value = 3 fails

* UPDATE key_table SET keyval=max(reftab.NUM)+1 WHERE tblname='reftab' fails

* INSERT INTO ... SELECT DISTINCT ... generates error on DISTINCT

* INSERT INTO table SELECT id, count(*) FROM table2 GROUP BY id generate error

ENHANCEMENTS

------------

Replace table-level locking with row or page-level locking(Vadim)

PRIMARY KEY during table creation

Add SERIAL type

Preserve GRANT/REVOKE/pg_group in pg_dump

Transaction log

More access control over who can create tables and access the database

Add full ANSI SQL capabilities (Stefan)

add subselects, possibility using temporary SQL functions

Implement HAVING clause

Implement EXISTS qualifier

report "Not implemented" if valid syntax is supplied

add OUTER joins, left and right (Thomas)

make VIEWs updateable where possible

add UNIONS, INTERSECTS, SUBTRACTS

add temporary tables

add sql3 recursive unions

add the concept of dataspaces

allow conversion type casts on SELECT target fields

add DECIMAL, NUMERIC, DOUBLE PRECISION, BIT, BIT VARYING

NCHAR (as distinguished from ordinary varchar),

Allow compression of large fields or a compressed field type

Fix the rules system(Jan?,Soo-Ho)

robust

making INSTEAD rules work

add CONSTRAINT

Full set of text operations and functions

word searches, concat,max() on text, char

Large objects

overwriting blocks has problems

there are other problems, too.

Fix large object mapping scheme

not to stuff everything as files in a single directory

Better interface for adding to pg_group

Make MONEY/DECIMAL have a defined precision

Add support for tables >2G, or test current version

Threaded version of the server or libpq

Allow libpq to cancel query requests

Add REGEX internationalization

Add other language types for built-in functions

expand to allow tcl, perl, java,

generalize the function manager switch to pass

function sources to interpreter engines.

remove time-travel feature(Vadim)

reduce system column overhead(Vadmin)

remove pg_time table(Vadim)

allow row re-use without vacuum, maybe?(Vadim)

can't vacuum large objects

can't reduce index file size with vacuum

Remove restriction that ORDER BY field must be in SELECT list(?)

Allow queries about owner of tables, like:

SELECT u.usesysid FROM postgres.pg_user u;

Add word index for text fields, maybe with trigrams, i.e.:

' (cat | dog) & ! fox ' meaning text has cat or dog, but not fox

Allow readline-type or editor command editing of multi-line SQL commands

Populate backend status area and write program to dump status data

Add ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN feature

Remove stale files upon startup(Vivek)

Add command to show privileges

Allow INSERT INTO ... SELECT to convert column types

Add syslog functionality

Add STDDEV/VARIANCE() function for standard deviation computation/variance

Add table/column/function discription table indexed by oid

add pg_type attribute to identify types that need length (bpchar, varchar)

add UNIQUE capability to non-btree indexes

make large objects have their own reltype

make number of backends a config parameter, storage/sinvaladt.h:MaxBackendId

certain indexes will not shrink, i.e. oid indexes with many inserts

make NULL's come out at the beginning or end depending on the ORDER BY direction

change the library/backend interface to use network byte order

allow unix domain sockets for local connections for performance and security

Add PAGER for psql's \dt and \d tablename

Make timezone set-able by client applications(Thomas)

Restore unused oid's on backend exit if no one else has gotten oids

*Replace table-level locking with row or page-level locking(Vadim)

*PRIMARY KEY during table creation

*Add SERIAL type

*Preserve GRANT/REVOKE/pg_group in pg_dump

*Transaction log

*More access control over who can create tables and access the database

*Add full ANSI SQL capabilities (Stefan)

*add subselects, possibility using temporary SQL functions

*Implement HAVING clause

*Implement EXISTS qualifier

*report "Not implemented" if valid syntax is supplied

*add OUTER joins, left and right (Thomas)

*make VIEWs updateable where possible

*add UNIONS, INTERSECTS, SUBTRACTS

*add temporary tables

*add sql3 recursive unions

*add the concept of dataspaces

*allow conversion type casts on SELECT target fields

*add DECIMAL, NUMERIC, DOUBLE PRECISION, BIT, BIT VARYING

*NCHAR (as distinguished from ordinary varchar),

*Allow compression of large fields or a compressed field type

*Fix the rules system(Jan?,Soo-Ho)

*robust

*making INSTEAD rules work

*add CONSTRAINT

*Full set of text operations and functions

*word searches, concat,max() on text, char

*Large objects

*overwriting blocks has problems

*there are other problems, too.

*Fix large object mapping scheme

*not to stuff everything as files in a single directory

*Better interface for adding to pg_group

*Make MONEY/DECIMAL have a defined precision

*Add support for tables >2G, or test current version

*Threaded version of the server or libpq

*Allow libpq to cancel query requests

*Add REGEX internationalization

*Add other language types for built-in functions

*expand to allow tcl, perl, java,

*generalize the function manager switch to pass

*function sources to interpreter engines.

*remove time-travel feature(Vadim)

*reduce system column overhead(Vadmin)

*remove pg_time table(Vadim)

*allow row re-use without vacuum, maybe?(Vadim)

*can't vacuum large objects

*can't reduce index file size with vacuum

*Remove restriction that ORDER BY field must be in SELECT list(?)

*Allow queries about owner of tables, like:

*SELECT u.usesysid FROM postgres.pg_user u;

*Add word index for text fields, maybe with trigrams, i.e.:

*' (cat | dog) & ! fox ' meaning text has cat or dog, but not fox

*Allow readline-type or editor command editing of multi-line SQL commands

*Populate backend status area and write program to dump status data

*Add ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN feature

*Remove stale files upon startup(Vivek)

*Add command to show privileges

*Allow INSERT INTO ... SELECT to convert column types

*Add syslog functionality

*Add STDDEV/VARIANCE() function for standard deviation computation/variance

*Add table/column/function discription table indexed by oid

*add pg_type attribute to identify types that need length (bpchar, varchar)

*add UNIQUE capability to non-btree indexes

*make large objects have their own reltype

*make number of backends a config parameter, storage/sinvaladt.h:MaxBackendId

*certain indexes will not shrink, i.e. oid indexes with many inserts

*make NULL's come out at the beginning or end depending on the ORDER BY direction

*change the library/backend interface to use network byte order

*allow unix domain sockets for local connections for performance and security

*Add PAGER for psql's \dt and \d tablename

*Make timezone set-able by client applications(Thomas)

*Restore unused oid's on backend exit if no one else has gotten oids

PERFORMANCE

-----------

Use indexes in ORDER BY

Allow LIKE/wildcard matches to use indexes if the wildcard character is not first

Optimizing disjunctive queries

Fix bushy-plans (Martin)

Other optimizer bugs

Is fsync use optimized?

Cache most recent query plan(s?)

Shared catalog cache, reduce lseek()'s by caching table size in shared area

Allow compression of log and meta data

Add FILLFACTOR to index creation

Allow indexes to be used with OR clauses(Vadim)

update pg_statistic table to remove operator column

*Use indexes in ORDER BY

*Allow LIKE/wildcard matches to use indexes if the wildcard character is not first

*Optimizing disjunctive queries

*Fix bushy-plans (Martin)

*Other optimizer bugs

*Is fsync use optimized?

*Cache most recent query plan(s?)

*Shared catalog cache, reduce lseek()'s by caching table size in shared area

*Allow compression of log and meta data

*Add FILLFACTOR to index creation

*Allow indexes to be used with OR clauses(Vadim)

*update pg_statistic table to remove operator column

DOCUMENTATION

-------------

Update usermanual source(many)

remove time-travel in documentation(Bruce)

added features used in grammer but not in docs, like :: and CAST

update libpq++ manual page

*Update usermanual source(many)

*remove time-travel in documentation(Bruce)

*added features used in grammer but not in docs, like :: and CAST

*update libpq++ manual page

PORTABILITY

-----------