Fix corner-case loss of precision in numeric_power().
Dean Rasheed <dean.a.rasheed@gmail.com>
Fix corner-case loss of precision in numeric_power(). This fixes a loss of precision that occurs when the first input is very close to 1, so that its logarithm is very small. Formerly, during the initial low-precision calculation to estimate the result weight, the logarithm was computed to a local rscale that was capped to NUMERIC_MAX_DISPLAY_SCALE (1000). However, the base may be as close as 1e-16383 to 1, hence its logarithm may be as small as 1e-16383, and so the local rscale needs to be allowed to exceed 16383, otherwise all precision is lost, leading to a poor choice of rscale for the full-precision calculation. Fix this by removing the cap on the local rscale during the initial low-precision calculation, as we already do in the full-precision calculation. This doesn't change the fact that the initial calculation is a low-precision approximation, computing the logarithm to around 8 significant digits, which is very fast, especially when the base is very close to 1. Patch by me, reviewed by Alvaro Herrera. Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CAEZATCV-Ceu%2BHpRMf416yUe4KKFv%3DtdgXQAe5-7S9tD%3D5E-T1g%40mail.gmail.com
Files
| Path | Change | +/− |
|---|---|---|
| src/backend/utils/adt/numeric.c | modified | +5 −1 |
| src/test/regress/expected/numeric.out | modified | +6 −0 |
| src/test/regress/sql/numeric.sql | modified | +1 −0 |
Discussion
- Numeric x^y for negative x 27 messages · 2021-06-29 → 2021-10-01