Teach planner to transform "x IS [NOT] DISTINCT FROM NULL" to a NullTest
Richard Guo <rguo@postgresql.org>
Teach planner to transform "x IS [NOT] DISTINCT FROM NULL" to a NullTest In the spirit of 8d19d0e13, this patch teaches the planner about the principle that NullTest with !argisrow is fully equivalent to SQL's IS [NOT] DISTINCT FROM NULL. The parser already performs this transformation for literal NULLs. However, a DistinctExpr expression with one input evaluating to NULL during planning (e.g., via const-folding of "1 + NULL" or parameter substitution in custom plans) currently remains as a DistinctExpr node. This patch closes the gap for const-folded NULLs. It specifically targets the case where one input is a constant NULL and the other is a nullable non-constant expression. (If the other input were otherwise, the DistinctExpr node would have already been simplified to a constant TRUE or FALSE.) This transformation can be beneficial because NullTest is much more amenable to optimization than DistinctExpr, since the planner knows a good deal about the former and next to nothing about the latter. Author: Richard Guo <guofenglinux@gmail.com> Reviewed-by: Tender Wang <tndrwang@gmail.com> Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CAMbWs49BMAOWvkdSHxpUDnniqJcEcGq3_8dd_5wTR4xrQY8urA@mail.gmail.com
Files
| Path | Change | +/− |
|---|---|---|
| src/backend/optimizer/util/clauses.c | modified | +24 −0 |
| src/test/regress/expected/predicate.out | modified | +68 −1 |
| src/test/regress/sql/predicate.sql | modified | +26 −1 |
Discussion
- Optimize IS DISTINCT FROM with non-nullable inputs 9 messages · 2026-01-23 → 2026-02-10