v34-0009-Use-GlobalVisState-in-vacuum-to-determine-page-l.patch

From 8d350868206456f631883a40a955dff480e408d3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Melanie Plageman <melanieplageman@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:51:05 -0500
Subject: [PATCH v34 09/14] Use GlobalVisState in vacuum to determine page
 level visibility

During vacuum's first and third phases, we examine tuples' visibility
to determine if we can set the page all-visible in the visibility map.

Previously, this check compared tuple xmins against a single XID chosen at
the start of vacuum (OldestXmin). We now use GlobalVisState, which also
enables future work to set the VM during on-access pruning, since ordinary
queries have access to GlobalVisState but not OldestXmin.

This also benefits vacuum: in some cases, GlobalVisState may advance
during a vacuum, allowing more pages to become considered all-visible.
And, in the future, we could easily add a heuristic to update
GlobalVisState more frequently during vacuums of large tables.

OldestXmin is still used for freezing and as a backstop to ensure we
don't freeze a dead tuple that wasn't yet prunable according to
GlobalVisState in the rare occurrences where GlobalVisState moves
backwards.

Because comparing a transaction ID against GlobalVisState is more
expensive than comparing against a single XID, we defer this check until
after scanning all tuples on the page. If visibility_cutoff_xid was
maintained, we perform the GlobalVisState check only once per page.
This is safe because visibility_cutoff_xid records the newest xmin on
the page; if it is globally visible, then the entire page is all-visible.

This approach may result in examining more tuple xmins than before,
since with OldestXmin we could sometimes rule out the page being
all-visible earlier. However, profiling shows the additional cost is not
significant.

Reviewed-by: Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>
Reviewed-by: Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com>
---
 src/backend/access/heap/heapam_visibility.c | 22 ++++++++
 src/backend/access/heap/pruneheap.c         | 57 +++++++++++----------
 src/backend/access/heap/vacuumlazy.c        | 44 ++++++++++------
 src/include/access/heapam.h                 |  4 +-
 4 files changed, 85 insertions(+), 42 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/backend/access/heap/heapam_visibility.c b/src/backend/access/heap/heapam_visibility.c
index 75ae268d753..aee88947393 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/heap/heapam_visibility.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/heap/heapam_visibility.c
@@ -1060,6 +1060,28 @@ HeapTupleSatisfiesVacuum(HeapTuple htup, TransactionId OldestXmin,
 	return res;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Wrapper around GlobalVisTestIsRemovableXid() for use when examining live
+ * tuples. Returns true if the given XID may be considered running by at least
+ * one snapshot.
+ *
+ * This function alone is insufficient to determine tuple visibility; callers
+ * must also consider the XID's commit status. Its purpose is purely semantic:
+ * when applied to live tuples, GlobalVisTestIsRemovableXid() is checking
+ * whether the inserting transaction is still considered running, not whether
+ * the tuple is removable. Live tuples are, by definition, not removable, but
+ * the snapshot criteria for “transaction still running” are identical to
+ * those used for removal XIDs.
+ *
+ * See the comment above GlobalVisTestIsRemovable[Full]Xid() for details on the
+ * required preconditions for calling this function.
+ */
+bool
+GlobalVisTestXidMaybeRunning(GlobalVisState *state, TransactionId xid)
+{
+	return !GlobalVisTestIsRemovableXid(state, xid);
+}
+
 /*
  * Work horse for HeapTupleSatisfiesVacuum and similar routines.
  *
diff --git a/src/backend/access/heap/pruneheap.c b/src/backend/access/heap/pruneheap.c
index 2ba863be07c..c5bf0899c89 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/heap/pruneheap.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/heap/pruneheap.c
@@ -461,11 +461,12 @@ prune_freeze_setup(PruneFreezeParams *params,
 
 	/*
 	 * The visibility cutoff xid is the newest xmin of live, committed tuples
-	 * older than OldestXmin on the page. This field is only kept up-to-date
-	 * if the page is all-visible. As soon as a tuple is encountered that is
-	 * not visible to all, this field is unmaintained. As long as it is
-	 * maintained, it can be used to calculate the snapshot conflict horizon
-	 * when updating the VM and/or freezing all the tuples on the page.
+	 * on the page older than the visibility horizon represented in the
+	 * GlobalVisState. This field is only kept up-to-date if the page is
+	 * all-visible. It is invalid if there are any tuples on the page that are
+	 * not visible to all. As long as it is maintained, it can be used to
+	 * calculate the snapshot conflict horizon when updating the VM and/or
+	 * freezing all the tuples on the page.
 	 */
 	prstate->visibility_cutoff_xid = InvalidTransactionId;
 }
@@ -1077,6 +1078,24 @@ heap_page_prune_and_freeze(PruneFreezeParams *params,
 	prune_freeze_plan(RelationGetRelid(params->relation),
 					  buffer, &prstate, off_loc);
 
+	/*
+	 * After processing all the live tuples on the page, if the newest xmin
+	 * amongst them may be considered running by any snapshot, the page cannot
+	 * be all-visible.
+	 */
+	if (prstate.all_visible &&
+		TransactionIdIsNormal(prstate.visibility_cutoff_xid) &&
+		GlobalVisTestXidMaybeRunning(prstate.vistest, prstate.visibility_cutoff_xid))
+	{
+		prstate.all_visible = prstate.all_frozen = false;
+
+		/*
+		 * We won't try to use this if all_visible is false, but better to be
+		 * safe and invalidate it.
+		 */
+		prstate.visibility_cutoff_xid = InvalidTransactionId;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * If checksums are enabled, calling heap_prune_satisfies_vacuum() while
 	 * checking tuple visibility information in prune_freeze_plan() may have
@@ -1259,10 +1278,9 @@ heap_page_prune_and_freeze(PruneFreezeParams *params,
 		bool		debug_all_frozen;
 
 		Assert(prstate.lpdead_items == 0);
-		Assert(prstate.cutoffs);
 
 		Assert(heap_page_is_all_visible(params->relation, buffer,
-										prstate.cutoffs->OldestXmin,
+										prstate.vistest,
 										&debug_all_frozen,
 										&debug_cutoff, off_loc));
 
@@ -1794,28 +1812,15 @@ heap_prune_record_unchanged_lp_normal(Page page, PruneState *prstate, OffsetNumb
 				}
 
 				/*
-				 * The inserter definitely committed.  But is it old enough
-				 * that everyone sees it as committed?  A FrozenTransactionId
-				 * is seen as committed to everyone.  Otherwise, we check if
-				 * there is a snapshot that considers this xid to still be
-				 * running, and if so, we don't consider the page all-visible.
+				 * The inserter definitely committed. But we don't know if it
+				 * is old enough that everyone sees it as committed. Later,
+				 * after processing all the tuples on the page, we'll check if
+				 * there is any snapshot that still considers the newest xid
+				 * on the page to be running. If so, we don't consider the
+				 * page all-visible.
 				 */
 				xmin = HeapTupleHeaderGetXmin(htup);
 
-				/*
-				 * For now always use prstate->cutoffs for this test, because
-				 * we only update 'all_visible' and 'all_frozen' when freezing
-				 * is requested. We could use GlobalVisTestIsRemovableXid
-				 * instead, if a non-freezing caller wanted to set the VM bit.
-				 */
-				Assert(prstate->cutoffs);
-				if (!TransactionIdPrecedes(xmin, prstate->cutoffs->OldestXmin))
-				{
-					prstate->all_visible = false;
-					prstate->all_frozen = false;
-					break;
-				}
-
 				/* Track newest xmin on page. */
 				if (TransactionIdFollows(xmin, prstate->visibility_cutoff_xid) &&
 					TransactionIdIsNormal(xmin))
diff --git a/src/backend/access/heap/vacuumlazy.c b/src/backend/access/heap/vacuumlazy.c
index 5d7ec5c0240..96ed31c9570 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/heap/vacuumlazy.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/heap/vacuumlazy.c
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ static void dead_items_reset(LVRelState *vacrel);
 static void dead_items_cleanup(LVRelState *vacrel);
 
 static bool heap_page_would_be_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
-										   TransactionId OldestXmin,
+										   GlobalVisState *vistest,
 										   OffsetNumber *deadoffsets,
 										   int ndeadoffsets,
 										   bool *all_frozen,
@@ -2743,7 +2743,7 @@ lazy_vacuum_heap_page(LVRelState *vacrel, BlockNumber blkno, Buffer buffer,
 	 * done outside the critical section.
 	 */
 	if (heap_page_would_be_all_visible(vacrel->rel, buffer,
-									   vacrel->cutoffs.OldestXmin,
+									   vacrel->vistest,
 									   deadoffsets, num_offsets,
 									   &all_frozen, &visibility_cutoff_xid,
 									   &vacrel->offnum))
@@ -3503,14 +3503,14 @@ dead_items_cleanup(LVRelState *vacrel)
  */
 bool
 heap_page_is_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
-						 TransactionId OldestXmin,
+						 GlobalVisState *vistest,
 						 bool *all_frozen,
 						 TransactionId *visibility_cutoff_xid,
 						 OffsetNumber *logging_offnum)
 {
 
 	return heap_page_would_be_all_visible(rel, buf,
-										  OldestXmin,
+										  vistest,
 										  NULL, 0,
 										  all_frozen,
 										  visibility_cutoff_xid,
@@ -3531,7 +3531,7 @@ heap_page_is_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
  * Returns true if the page is all-visible other than the provided
  * deadoffsets and false otherwise.
  *
- * OldestXmin is used to determine visibility.
+ * vistest is used to determine visibility.
  *
  * Output parameters:
  *
@@ -3550,7 +3550,7 @@ heap_page_is_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
  */
 static bool
 heap_page_would_be_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
-							   TransactionId OldestXmin,
+							   GlobalVisState *vistest,
 							   OffsetNumber *deadoffsets,
 							   int ndeadoffsets,
 							   bool *all_frozen,
@@ -3631,7 +3631,7 @@ heap_page_would_be_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
 				{
 					TransactionId xmin;
 
-					/* Check comments in lazy_scan_prune. */
+					/* Check heap_prune_record_unchanged_lp_normal comments */
 					if (!HeapTupleHeaderXminCommitted(tuple.t_data))
 					{
 						all_visible = false;
@@ -3640,16 +3640,17 @@ heap_page_would_be_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
 					}
 
 					/*
-					 * The inserter definitely committed. But is it old enough
-					 * that everyone sees it as committed?
+					 * The inserter definitely committed. But we don't know if
+					 * it is old enough that everyone sees it as committed.
+					 * Don't check that now.
+					 *
+					 * If we scan all tuples without finding one that prevents
+					 * the page from being all-visible, we then check whether
+					 * any snapshot still considers the newest XID on the page
+					 * to be running. In that case, the page is not considered
+					 * all-visible.
 					 */
 					xmin = HeapTupleHeaderGetXmin(tuple.t_data);
-					if (!TransactionIdPrecedes(xmin, OldestXmin))
-					{
-						all_visible = false;
-						*all_frozen = false;
-						break;
-					}
 
 					/* Track newest xmin on page. */
 					if (TransactionIdFollows(xmin, *visibility_cutoff_xid) &&
@@ -3678,6 +3679,19 @@ heap_page_would_be_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
 		}
 	}							/* scan along page */
 
+	/*
+	 * After processing all the live tuples on the page, if the newest xmin
+	 * among them may still be considered running by any snapshot, the page
+	 * cannot be all-visible.
+	 */
+	if (all_visible &&
+		TransactionIdIsNormal(*visibility_cutoff_xid) &&
+		GlobalVisTestXidMaybeRunning(vistest, *visibility_cutoff_xid))
+	{
+		all_visible = false;
+		*all_frozen = false;
+	}
+
 	/* Clear the offset information once we have processed the given page. */
 	*logging_offnum = InvalidOffsetNumber;
 
diff --git a/src/include/access/heapam.h b/src/include/access/heapam.h
index a0f7974942e..05ef8d8cd5e 100644
--- a/src/include/access/heapam.h
+++ b/src/include/access/heapam.h
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ extern void heap_vacuum_rel(Relation rel,
 							const VacuumParams params, BufferAccessStrategy bstrategy);
 #ifdef USE_ASSERT_CHECKING
 extern bool heap_page_is_all_visible(Relation rel, Buffer buf,
-									 TransactionId OldestXmin,
+									 GlobalVisState *vistest,
 									 bool *all_frozen,
 									 TransactionId *visibility_cutoff_xid,
 									 OffsetNumber *logging_offnum);
@@ -451,6 +451,8 @@ extern TM_Result HeapTupleSatisfiesUpdate(HeapTuple htup, CommandId curcid,
 										  Buffer buffer);
 extern HTSV_Result HeapTupleSatisfiesVacuum(HeapTuple htup, TransactionId OldestXmin,
 											Buffer buffer);
+
+extern bool GlobalVisTestXidMaybeRunning(GlobalVisState *state, TransactionId xid);
 extern HTSV_Result HeapTupleSatisfiesVacuumHorizon(HeapTuple htup, Buffer buffer,
 												   TransactionId *dead_after);
 extern void HeapTupleSetHintBits(HeapTupleHeader tuple, Buffer buffer,
-- 
2.43.0