Thread

  1. 7.1 features list

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2000-12-16T20:16:22Z

    Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
      pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
      +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
      +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    
  2. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-16T20:34:35Z

    We're working hardly on bugfixes for GiST (I've posted patch for 7.0.3)
    and probably could finish in 1-2 weeks.
    
    	regards,
    		Oleg
    On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 15:16:22 -0500 (EST)
    > From: Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
    > To: PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>,
    >     PostgreSQL-documentation <pgsql-docs@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list
    > 
    > Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    > -- 
    >   Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
    >   pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
    >   +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
    >   +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  3. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> — 2000-12-17T01:14:42Z

    At 3:16 PM -0500 12/16/00, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    >Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    >New Darwin/Mac OSX port (Bruce Hartzler)
    
    Not to be a snob, but I probably did 80% of this.
    
    (BTW- tons of stuff at www.postgresql.org is busted. Searching mailing list archives for example.)
    
    -pmb
    
    --
    "Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision.
     That means they will have to think about something and decide about it.
     It's not necessarily a bad thing, but, in general, you should always try to
     minimize the number of decisions that people have to make."
     http://joel.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$51
    
    
    
    
  4. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-17T02:46:50Z

    Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> writes:
    > At 3:16 PM -0500 12/16/00, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    >> Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    >> New Darwin/Mac OSX port (Bruce Hartzler)
    
    > Not to be a snob, but I probably did 80% of this.
    
    Bruce had submitted an earlier patch, but IIRC Peter's version was the
    one that got applied.  (Or was Peter doing mopup work on Bruce's first
    cut?  I forget.)  At the very least Peter should get 50% credit...
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  5. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-17T21:08:10Z

    Hi,
    
    I checked 7.1 feature list and didn't find any mention about GiST
    but there are changes in GiST code. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    We have several problems with GiSt and would like to communicate
    with somebody who understand these code.
    
    	Regards,
    		Oleg
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  6. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-17T22:53:37Z

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > I checked 7.1 feature list and didn't find any mention about GiST
    > but there are changes in GiST code. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    
    You are ;-).  If you expect to find someone who understands GiST better
    than you, you're probably out of luck.
    
    I recall having made a number of changes that applied to all of the
    index access methods, including GiST --- but I was just changing
    similar code in all the methods.  I don't claim to know anything
    about GiST in particular.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  7. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2000-12-18T01:43:15Z

    On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Peter Bierman wrote:
    
    > At 3:16 PM -0500 12/16/00, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > >Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    > >New Darwin/Mac OSX port (Bruce Hartzler)
    > 
    > Not to be a snob, but I probably did 80% of this.
    > 
    > (BTW- tons of stuff at www.postgresql.org is busted. Searching mailing
    > list archives for example.)
    
    Please provide URLs where you are trying to search ... we did extensive
    work over the past few weeks to speed up searching, and I tend randomly to
    make sure things are still running fine, and haven't had any problems with
    either speed or broken links ...
    
    its possible its one of the mirror sites?
    
    
    
  8. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> — 2000-12-18T02:11:09Z

    At 9:43 PM -0400 12/17/00, The Hermit Hacker wrote:
    >On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Peter Bierman wrote:
    >
    >> (BTW- tons of stuff at www.postgresql.org is busted. Searching mailing
    >> list archives for example.)
    >
    >Please provide URLs where you are trying to search ... we did extensive
    >work over the past few weeks to speed up searching, and I tend randomly to
    >make sure things are still running fine, and haven't had any problems with
    >either speed or broken links ...
    
    Clicking on the "search" pic/link at http://www.postgresql.org/ always brought up a dialog (IE5-Mac) that said "the attempt to load http://www.postgresql.org/search.mpl" failed.
    
    But just now I pasted that URL into the location, and it loads fine. And now the pic/link works fine too. I have no idea what's with that.
    
    
    Just now I went to http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/
    
    typed 'foo' in the search field, and I get a dialog a few seconds later:
    
    "The attempt to load:"Accessing URL: http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/search.mpl?<stuff>" (runs offscreen).
    
    Maybe it's some javascript that's trying to load a "still loading" page, and has a bogus URL with some explanatory text prepended? (Note the URL:"Accessing URL:http...")
    
    I loaded "http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/search.mpl?" by hand, and then went back and tried a search again, and now it works.
    
    Dunno what's going on here. Since it never worked for me, I never tried loading the URL by hand. Obviously it's more complicated than the outright broken link that I thought it was, sorry about that.
    
    -pmb
    
    --
    "Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision.
     That means they will have to think about something and decide about it.
     It's not necessarily a bad thing, but, in general, you should always try to
     minimize the number of decisions that people have to make."
     http://joel.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$51
    
    
    
    
  9. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T04:08:01Z

    Yes, I will take a pass over the logs before final.  As noted in the
    file, the list is accurate as of December 11.
    
    > We're working hardly on bugfixes for GiST (I've posted patch for 7.0.3)
    > and probably could finish in 1-2 weeks.
    > 
    > 	regards,
    > 		Oleg
    > On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > 
    > > Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 15:16:22 -0500 (EST)
    > > From: Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
    > > To: PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>,
    > >     PostgreSQL-documentation <pgsql-docs@postgresql.org>
    > > Subject: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list
    > > 
    > > Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    > > -- 
    > >   Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
    > >   pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
    > >   +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
    > >   +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    > > 
    > 
    > _____________________________________________________________
    > Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    > Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    > Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    > phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    > 
    > 
    
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
      pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
      +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
      +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    
    
  10. Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T04:09:18Z

    > Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> writes:
    > > At 3:16 PM -0500 12/16/00, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > >> Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    > >> New Darwin/Mac OSX port (Bruce Hartzler)
    > 
    > > Not to be a snob, but I probably did 80% of this.
    > 
    > Bruce had submitted an earlier patch, but IIRC Peter's version was the
    > one that got applied.  (Or was Peter doing mopup work on Bruce's first
    > cut?  I forget.)  At the very least Peter should get 50% credit...
    
    Modified entry.  Thanks for the correction:
    
    	New Darwin/Mac OSX port (Peter Bierman, Bruce Hartzler) 
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
      pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
      +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
      +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    
    
  11. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T04:23:32Z

    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > I checked 7.1 feature list and didn't find any mention about GiST
    > > but there are changes in GiST code. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > 
    > You are ;-).  If you expect to find someone who understands GiST better
    > than you, you're probably out of luck.
    > 
    > I recall having made a number of changes that applied to all of the
    > index access methods, including GiST --- but I was just changing
    > similar code in all the methods.  I don't claim to know anything
    > about GiST in particular.
    
    I know I met someone who said they invented Gist.  Tom, was that at the
    Database Summit?  I can't think of that person's name now.  I think
    there are some papers at Berkeley or a web site that goes into it in
    detail.
    
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
      pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
      +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
      +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    
    
  12. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T04:30:23Z

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
    > I think
    > there are some papers at Berkeley or a web site that goes into it in
    > detail.
    
    I imagine there's some GiST stuff at the Berkeley papers repository
    http://s2k-ftp.CS.Berkeley.EDU:8000/postgres/papers/
    but I'd be surprised if it's more than an overview...
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  13. Re: Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T18:03:34Z

    Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> writes:
    > Just now I went to http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/
    
    > typed 'foo' in the search field, and I get a dialog a few seconds later:
    
    > "The attempt to load:"Accessing URL: http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/search.mpl?<stuff>" (runs offscreen).
    
    Odd, the same experiment seems to work fine for me.  Maybe a browser
    dependency?  I'm using Netscape 4.75 on HPUX ...
    
    > Maybe it's some javascript
    
    I don't see any javascript on the loaded page.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  14. Re: Re: [HACKERS] 7.1 features list

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2000-12-18T19:11:52Z

    On Mon, 18 Dec 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
    
    > Peter Bierman <bierman@apple.com> writes:
    > > Just now I went to http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/
    > 
    > > typed 'foo' in the search field, and I get a dialog a few seconds later:
    > 
    > > "The attempt to load:"Accessing URL: http://www.postgresql.org/mhonarc/pgsql-hackers/search.mpl?<stuff>" (runs offscreen).
    > 
    > Odd, the same experiment seems to work fine for me.  Maybe a browser
    > dependency?  I'm using Netscape 4.75 on HPUX ...
    
    Just went to the above URL using IE 5.5, types in 'foo' and it came back
    with 909 matches found ...
    
    > > Maybe it's some javascript
    > 
    > I don't see any javascript on the loaded page.
    
    none used that I'm aware of either ...
    
    
    > 
    > 			regards, tom lane
    > 
    
    Marc G. Fournier                   ICQ#7615664               IRC Nick: Scrappy
    Systems Administrator @ hub.org 
    primary: scrappy@hub.org           secondary: scrappy@{freebsd|postgresql}.org 
    
    
    
  15. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-18T20:49:51Z

    OK, now I understand the situation. Another question:
    Who is a maintainer of Rtree code ? We have a problem with
    handling NULL values in GiST. Any thought how NULL values
    are handle in Rtree.
    
    	regards,
    		Oleg
    On Sun, 17 Dec 2000, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 23:23:32 -0500 (EST)
    > From: Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
    > To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
    > Cc: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>,
    >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > 
    > > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > > I checked 7.1 feature list and didn't find any mention about GiST
    > > > but there are changes in GiST code. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > > 
    > > You are ;-).  If you expect to find someone who understands GiST better
    > > than you, you're probably out of luck.
    > > 
    > > I recall having made a number of changes that applied to all of the
    > > index access methods, including GiST --- but I was just changing
    > > similar code in all the methods.  I don't claim to know anything
    > > about GiST in particular.
    > 
    > I know I met someone who said they invented Gist.  Tom, was that at the
    > Database Summit?  I can't think of that person's name now.  I think
    > there are some papers at Berkeley or a web site that goes into it in
    > detail.
    > 
    > 
    > -- 
    >   Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
    >   pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
    >   +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
    >   +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  16. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-18T21:10:13Z

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > We have a problem with
    > handling NULL values in GiST. Any thought how NULL values
    > are handle in Rtree.
    
    AFAIR, none of the index access methods except btree handle NULLs at
    all --- they just ignore NULL values and don't store them in the index.
    Feel free to improve on that ;-).  The physical representation of index
    tuples can handle NULLs, the problem is teaching the index logic where
    they should go in the index.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  17. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> — 2000-12-19T00:04:02Z

    Tom Lane wrote:
    > 
    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > We have a problem with
    > > handling NULL values in GiST. Any thought how NULL values
    > > are handle in Rtree.
    > 
    > AFAIR, none of the index access methods except btree handle NULLs at
    > all --- they just ignore NULL values and don't store them in the index.
    > Feel free to improve on that ;-).  The physical representation of index
    > tuples can handle NULLs, the problem is teaching the index logic where
    > they should go in the index.
    > 
    >                         regards, tom lane
    
    
    and I can't see why btree stores them (as it seems to do judging by the 
    index file size) - at least it does not use it for searching for "IS
    NULL"
    
    --8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<------
    
    hannu=# explain select * from nulltest where i is null;
    NOTICE:  QUERY PLAN:
    
    Seq Scan on nulltest  (cost=0.00..293.80 rows=5461 width=8)
    
    EXPLAIN
    hannu=# explain select * from nulltest where i =1;
    NOTICE:  QUERY PLAN:
    
    Index Scan using nulltest_i_ndx on nulltest  (cost=0.00..96.95 rows=164
    width=8)
    
    --8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<------
    
    nulltest is a 16k record table with numbers 1 to 16384 in field i
    
    If it just ignored them we would have a nice way to fake partial indexes
    - 
    just define a function that returns field value or null and then index
    on that ;)
    
    -----------
    Hannu
    
    
  18. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-19T00:25:38Z

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> writes:
    > and I can't see why btree stores them (as it seems to do judging by the 
    > index file size) - at least it does not use it for searching for "IS
    > NULL"
    
    That's another thing that needs improvement ;-).  Seems to me it should
    be able to do that.
    
    The reason why btree *has* to be able to deal with null entries is to
    cope with multi-column indexes; you don't want it refusing to index a
    row at all just because some of the columns are null.  The others don't
    currently handle multi-column indexes, so they're not really forced
    to deal with that issue.
    
    From a purely semantic point of view I'm not sure why Oleg is worried
    about being able to store nulls in a GiST index ... seems like leaving
    them out is OK, modulo the occasional complaint from VACUUM's
    insufficiently intelligent tuple-count comparison ...
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  19. Re: 7.1 features list

    Ryan Kirkpatrick <pgsql@rkirkpat.net> — 2000-12-19T01:59:34Z

    On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    
    	One thing that I think ought to be added is that with 7.1,
    PostgreSQL will compile out of the box (i.e. without any extra patches)
    for Linux/Alpha. This might not be a big deal for most people, but for
    those of who run pgsql on Linux/Alpha, it is, and I feel it at least
    deserves a mention in the 7.1 feature list.
    	I looked for it (i.e. grep -i alpha) in the list, but did not see
    it. Your choice which heading it goes under.
    	Also, I have not tested any recent snapshots or betas on
    Linux/Alpha lately, but I plan to shortly and will let the hackers list
    know of any problems. I have every intention of making sure the 7.1
    release does indeed work out of box on Linux/Alpha. Thanks, TTYL.
    
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."                    |
    |                                            --- Philippians 1:21 (KJV)   |
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |   Ryan Kirkpatrick  |  Boulder, Colorado  |  http://www.rkirkpat.net/   |
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    
    
  20. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Christopher Masto <chris@netmonger.net> — 2000-12-19T18:33:58Z

    On Sun, Dec 17, 2000 at 11:30:23PM -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
    > Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
    > > I think
    > > there are some papers at Berkeley or a web site that goes into it in
    > > detail.
    > 
    > I imagine there's some GiST stuff at the Berkeley papers repository
    > http://s2k-ftp.CS.Berkeley.EDU:8000/postgres/papers/
    > but I'd be surprised if it's more than an overview...
    
    Well, there's this: http://gist.cs.berkeley.edu/
    and this: http://gist.cs.berkeley.edu/pggist/
    -- 
    Christopher Masto         Senior Network Monkey      NetMonger Communications
    chris@netmonger.net        info@netmonger.net        http://www.netmonger.net
    
    Free yourself, free your machine, free the daemon -- http://www.freebsd.org/
    
    
  21. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-19T19:25:21Z

    On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, Hannu Krosing wrote:
    
    > Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 02:04:02 +0200
    > From: Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee>
    > To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
    > Cc: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>,
    >     Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>,
    >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > 
    > Tom Lane wrote:
    > > 
    > > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > > We have a problem with
    > > > handling NULL values in GiST. Any thought how NULL values
    > > > are handle in Rtree.
    > > 
    > > AFAIR, none of the index access methods except btree handle NULLs at
    > > all --- they just ignore NULL values and don't store them in the index.
    > > Feel free to improve on that ;-).  The physical representation of index
    > > tuples can handle NULLs, the problem is teaching the index logic where
    > > they should go in the index.
    > > 
    > >                         regards, tom lane
    > 
    > 
    > and I can't see why btree stores them (as it seems to do judging by the 
    > index file size) - at least it does not use it for searching for "IS
    > NULL"
    
    
    and what does this error means ?
    
    create table rtree_test ( r box );
    copy rtree_test from stdin;
    \N
    \N
    \N
    \N
    ........ total 10,000 NULLS
    \.
    
    create index rtree_test_idx on rtree_test using rtree ( r );
    --ERROR:  floating point exception! The last floating point operation either exceeded legal ranges or was a divide by zero
    
    seems rtree doesn't ignore NULL ?
    
    
    	Regards,
    		Oleg
    
    
    > 
    > --8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<------
    > 
    > hannu=# explain select * from nulltest where i is null;
    > NOTICE:  QUERY PLAN:
    > 
    > Seq Scan on nulltest  (cost=0.00..293.80 rows=5461 width=8)
    > 
    > EXPLAIN
    > hannu=# explain select * from nulltest where i =1;
    > NOTICE:  QUERY PLAN:
    > 
    > Index Scan using nulltest_i_ndx on nulltest  (cost=0.00..96.95 rows=164
    > width=8)
    > 
    > --8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<------
    > 
    > nulltest is a 16k record table with numbers 1 to 16384 in field i
    > 
    > If it just ignored them we would have a nice way to fake partial indexes
    > - 
    > just define a function that returns field value or null and then index
    > on that ;)
    > 
    > -----------
    > Hannu
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  22. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-19T20:26:25Z

    On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, Christopher Masto wrote:
    
    > Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:33:58 -0500
    > From: Christopher Masto <chris@netmonger.net>
    > To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
    > Cc: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>,
    >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > 
    > On Sun, Dec 17, 2000 at 11:30:23PM -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
    > > Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
    > > > I think
    > > > there are some papers at Berkeley or a web site that goes into it in
    > > > detail.
    > > 
    > > I imagine there's some GiST stuff at the Berkeley papers repository
    > > http://s2k-ftp.CS.Berkeley.EDU:8000/postgres/papers/
    > > but I'd be surprised if it's more than an overview...
    > 
    > Well, there's this: http://gist.cs.berkeley.edu/
    > and this: http://gist.cs.berkeley.edu/pggist/
    
    Thanks,
    
    we do know this sites. We're working on implementation of
    RD (Russian Doll) Tree using GiST interface. Current GiST sources
    have some bugs, some of them we already fixed and currently we're a 
    working with handling of NULL values. We're getting broken index for
    data with NULLs. btw, how many people use GiST ? It would be nice
    to test our changes after we solve our problems.
    
    	Regards,
    
    		Oleg
    
    > -- 
    > Christopher Masto         Senior Network Monkey      NetMonger Communications
    > chris@netmonger.net        info@netmonger.net        http://www.netmonger.net
    > 
    > Free yourself, free your machine, free the daemon -- http://www.freebsd.org/
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  23. Re: [HACKERS] Re: 7.1 features list

    Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2000-12-20T03:03:15Z

    I added (Alpha) next to the mention of 64-bit CPUs on the Function
    Manager section at the top.
    
    > On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > 
    > > Here is the list of features in 7.1.
    > 
    > 	One thing that I think ought to be added is that with 7.1,
    > PostgreSQL will compile out of the box (i.e. without any extra patches)
    > for Linux/Alpha. This might not be a big deal for most people, but for
    > those of who run pgsql on Linux/Alpha, it is, and I feel it at least
    > deserves a mention in the 7.1 feature list.
    > 	I looked for it (i.e. grep -i alpha) in the list, but did not see
    > it. Your choice which heading it goes under.
    > 	Also, I have not tested any recent snapshots or betas on
    > Linux/Alpha lately, but I plan to shortly and will let the hackers list
    > know of any problems. I have every intention of making sure the 7.1
    > release does indeed work out of box on Linux/Alpha. Thanks, TTYL.
    > 
    > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > |   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."                    |
    > |                                            --- Philippians 1:21 (KJV)   |
    > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > |   Ryan Kirkpatrick  |  Boulder, Colorado  |  http://www.rkirkpat.net/   |
    > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > 
    > 
    
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
      pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
      +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
      +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
    
    
  24. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-20T20:00:21Z

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > seems rtree doesn't ignore NULL ?
    
    Hm, maybe not.  There are explicit tests to ignore null inputs in hash
    indexes (hash/hash.c), and I'd just sort of assumed that rtree and gist
    do the same.
    
    FWIW, your example doesn't seem to provoke an error in current sources;
    but it does take quite a long time (far longer than building a btree
    index on 10000 nulls).  That makes me think that indexing nulls in rtree
    might be a bad idea even if it works.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  25. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-20T20:42:36Z

    We finished (cross fingers) our changes in GiST code for 7.0.3
    and in next 2 days we plan to send patches for upcoming 7.1 release.
    Isn't this too late ? What else we need to submit ?
    We have int4array contribution package which added index support for
    integer arrays and it's probably should come to contrib directory.
    We got about 3 orders of magnitude speedup using RD-Tree.
    Probably we need to add regression test for GiST. 
    
    We have following fixes for GiST (7.0.3):
    1. indices now store on disk in  compressed form - was decompressed which
       causes broken index when using compression function
       (now compression of indices is really works)
    2. NULLs now don't broken index
    3. added support for keys with variable length - was fixed-length
    
    Patches and contribution package could be prepared in several days,
    documentation with some benchmarks and blurbs require more time.
    We plan to use these last changes to speedup our full-text-search
    ( killer application ) and write article to popularize GiST+Postgres.
    Any thoughts ?
    
    	Regards,
    		Oleg
    
    
    On Wed, 20 Dec 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
    
    > Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 15:00:21 -0500
    > From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
    > To: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>
    > Cc: Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee>, Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>,
    >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ? 
    > 
    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > seems rtree doesn't ignore NULL ?
    > 
    > Hm, maybe not.  There are explicit tests to ignore null inputs in hash
    > indexes (hash/hash.c), and I'd just sort of assumed that rtree and gist
    > do the same.
    > 
    > FWIW, your example doesn't seem to provoke an error in current sources;
    > but it does take quite a long time (far longer than building a btree
    > index on 10000 nulls).  That makes me think that indexing nulls in rtree
    > might be a bad idea even if it works.
    > 
    > 			regards, tom lane
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  26. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2000-12-20T20:51:12Z

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > Probably we need to add regression test for GiST. 
    
    That would be nice, but let's not hold up the patches for it.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  27. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Thomas Lockhart <lockhart@alumni.caltech.edu> — 2000-12-21T06:00:57Z

    > We finished (cross fingers) our changes in GiST code for 7.0.3
    > and in next 2 days we plan to send patches for upcoming 7.1 release.
    > Isn't this too late ? What else we need to submit ?
    
    Not too late, especially if it is fixing bugs. And even if not, anything
    we can do to encourage active development and use of GiST is worth the
    effort imho. I'll guess that unless we are talking about some extreme,
    far-reaching changes in the backend others will agree.
    
    > We have int4array contribution package which added index support for
    > integer arrays and it's probably should come to contrib directory.
    > We got about 3 orders of magnitude speedup using RD-Tree.
    > Probably we need to add regression test for GiST.
    > We have following fixes for GiST (7.0.3):
    > 1. indices now store on disk in  compressed form - was decompressed which
    >    causes broken index when using compression function
    >    (now compression of indices is really works)
    > 2. NULLs now don't broken index
    > 3. added support for keys with variable length - was fixed-length
    > Patches and contribution package could be prepared in several days,
    > documentation with some benchmarks and blurbs require more time.
    > We plan to use these last changes to speedup our full-text-search
    > ( killer application ) and write article to popularize GiST+Postgres.
    > Any thoughts ?
    
    Go go go !!! :)
    
                           - Thomas
    
    
  28. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> — 2000-12-21T09:05:47Z

    Tom Lane wrote:
    > 
    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > seems rtree doesn't ignore NULL ?
    > 
    > Hm, maybe not.  There are explicit tests to ignore null inputs in hash
    > indexes (hash/hash.c), and I'd just sort of assumed that rtree and gist
    > do the same.
    > 
    > FWIW, your example doesn't seem to provoke an error in current sources;
    > but it does take quite a long time (far longer than building a btree
    > index on 10000 nulls).  That makes me think that indexing nulls in rtree
    > might be a bad idea even if it works.
    
    Or maybe just some optimisations done for large number of similar keys (
    probabilistic page-splitting or some such ;) in btree are not done in
    rtree ?
    
    ----------
    Hannu
    
    
  29. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> — 2000-12-21T09:12:41Z

    Oleg Bartunov wrote:
    > 
    > We finished (cross fingers) our changes in GiST code for 7.0.3
    
    Are tha patches for 7.0.3 already available ?
    
    > and in next 2 days we plan to send patches for upcoming 7.1 release.
    > Isn't this too late ? What else we need to submit ?
    > We have int4array contribution package which added index support for
    > integer arrays 
    
    what exactly does it mean ?
    
    can i now query for an int4array which contains number 42 or just 
    an int array that = '{1,2,3}' with index support ?
    
    > and it's probably should come to contrib directory.
    > We got about 3 orders of magnitude speedup using RD-Tree.
    > Probably we need to add regression test for GiST.
    
    Some samples will do fine for start ;)
    
    > We have following fixes for GiST (7.0.3):
    > 1. indices now store on disk in  compressed form - was decompressed which
    >    causes broken index when using compression function
    >    (now compression of indices is really works)
    > 2. NULLs now don't broken index
    > 3. added support for keys with variable length - was fixed-length
    > 
    > Patches and contribution package could be prepared in several days,
    > documentation with some benchmarks and blurbs require more time.
    > We plan to use these last changes to speedup our full-text-search
    > ( killer application ) and write article to popularize GiST+Postgres.
    > Any thoughts ?
    
    Great!
    
    -------
    Hannu
    
    
  30. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2000-12-21T11:45:10Z

    On Thu, 21 Dec 2000, Hannu Krosing wrote:
    
    > Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 11:12:41 +0200
    > From: Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee>
    > To: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>
    > Cc: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>,
    >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > 
    > Oleg Bartunov wrote:
    > > 
    > > We finished (cross fingers) our changes in GiST code for 7.0.3
    > 
    > Are tha patches for 7.0.3 already available ?
    > 
    
    yes, we could post it right now
    
    > > and in next 2 days we plan to send patches for upcoming 7.1 release.
    > > Isn't this too late ? What else we need to submit ?
    > > We have int4array contribution package which added index support for
    > > integer arrays 
    > 
    > what exactly does it mean ?
    > 
    > can i now query for an int4array which contains number 42 or just 
    > an int array that = '{1,2,3}' with index support ?
    > 
    
    yes, you need to apply out patch to GiST and functions for
    RD-tree. I'll send you in private mail to conserve bandwidth.
    It would be great if you test our code in your application.
    
    
    	Regards,
    
    		Oleg
    > -------
    > Hannu
    > 
    
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  31. Re: Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> — 2000-12-21T20:05:40Z

    Oleg Bartunov wrote:
    > 
    > On Thu, 21 Dec 2000, Hannu Krosing wrote:
    > 
    > > Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 11:12:41 +0200
    > > From: Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee>
    > > To: Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su>
    > > Cc: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>,
    > >     PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
    > > Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    > >
    > > Oleg Bartunov wrote:
    > > >
    > > > We finished (cross fingers) our changes in GiST code for 7.0.3
    > >
    > > Are tha patches for 7.0.3 already available ?
    > 
    > yes, we could post it right now
    
    Great!
    
    > > > and in next 2 days we plan to send patches for upcoming 7.1 release.
    > > > Isn't this too late ? What else we need to submit ?
    > > > We have int4array contribution package which added index support for
    > > > integer arrays
    > >
    > > what exactly does it mean ?
    > >
    > > can i now query for an int4array which contains number 42 or just
    > > an int array that = '{1,2,3}' with index support ?
    > >
    > 
    > yes, you need to apply out patch to GiST and functions for
    > RD-tree. I'll send you in private mail to conserve bandwidth.
    > It would be great if you test our code in your application.
    
    Thanks, I'm looking forwad to testing it.
    
    ---------------
    Hannu
    
    
  32. GiST for 7.1 !!

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2001-01-10T12:06:00Z

    Hi,
    
    we've almost totally rewrite gist.c because old code and algorithm
    were not suitable for variable size keys. I think it might be
    submitted into 7.1 beta source tree. We have fixed several bugs and
    memory leaks. Version for 7.0.3 is also available.
    Sampe application for contrib area - implementation RD-Tree and index support
    for int arrays I'll submit later (Need some documentation).
    
    	Regards,
    
    		Oleg
    
    
    Here is a README.gist
    --------------------------------
    New version of gist.c for PostgreSQL 7.1
    
    New feature:
       1. Support of variable size keys - new algorithm of insertion to tree
          (GLI - gist layrered insertion). Previous algorithm was implemented
          as described in paper by Joseph M. Hellerstein et.al
          "Generalized Search Trees for Database Systems".  This (old)
          algorithm was not suitable for variable size keys and could be
          not effective ( walking up-down ) in case of multiple levels split
    Bug fixed:
       1. fixed bug in gistPageAddItem - key values were written to disk
          uncompressed. This caused failure if decompression function
          does real job.
       2. NULLs handling - we keep NULLs in tree. Right way is to remove them,
          but we don't know how to inform vacuum about index statistics. This is
          just cosmetic warning message (like in case with R-Tree),
          but I'm not sure how to recognize real problem if we remove NULLs
          and suppress this warning as Tom suggested.
       3. various memory leaks
    
    All our tests and Gene Selcov's regression tests passed ok.
    We have version also for 7.0.3
    Sample application which utilize RD-Tree for index support of
    int arrays is in contrib/intarray (will be submitted separately).
    
    TODO:
    
    1. Description of GLI algorithm
    2. regression test for GiST (based on RD-Tree)
    
    This work was done by Teodor Sigaev (teodor@stack.net) and
    Oleg Bartunov (oleg@sai.msu.su).
    
    
    
    On Sun, 17 Dec 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
    
    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > I checked 7.1 feature list and didn't find any mention about GiST
    > > but there are changes in GiST code. Who is a maintainer of GiST code ?
    >
    > You are ;-).  If you expect to find someone who understands GiST better
    > than you, you're probably out of luck.
    >
    > I recall having made a number of changes that applied to all of the
    > index access methods, including GiST --- but I was just changing
    > similar code in all the methods.  I don't claim to know anything
    > about GiST in particular.
    >
    > 			regards, tom lane
    >
    
    	Regards,
    		Oleg
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
  33. Re: GiST for 7.1 !!

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2001-01-11T02:49:14Z

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > we've almost totally rewrite gist.c because old code and algorithm
    > were not suitable for variable size keys. I think it might be
    > submitted into 7.1 beta source tree.
    
    Urgh.  Dropping in a total rewrite when we're already past beta3 doesn't
    strike me as good project management practice --- especially if the
    rewrite was done to add features (ie variable-size keys) not merely
    fix bugs.  I think it might be more prudent to hold this for 7.2.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  34. Re: Re: GiST for 7.1 !!

    Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> — 2001-01-11T10:09:19Z

    On Wed, 10 Jan 2001, Tom Lane wrote:
    
    > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > we've almost totally rewrite gist.c because old code and algorithm
    > > were not suitable for variable size keys. I think it might be
    > > submitted into 7.1 beta source tree.
    >
    > Urgh.  Dropping in a total rewrite when we're already past beta3 doesn't
    > strike me as good project management practice --- especially if the
    > rewrite was done to add features (ie variable-size keys) not merely
    > fix bugs.  I think it might be more prudent to hold this for 7.2.
    
    OK. If our changes will not go to 7.1, is't possible to create
    feature archive and announce it somewhere. It would be  nice if
    people could test it. Anyway, I'll create web page with all
    docs and patches. I'm afraid one more year to 7.2 is enough for
    GiST to die :-)
    
    >
    > 			regards, tom lane
    >
    
    	Regards,
    		Oleg
    _____________________________________________________________
    Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    
    
    
  35. Re: Re: GiST for 7.1 !!

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2001-01-11T13:50:16Z

    Oleg ... how about a contrib/patches directory that we put this into for
    v7.1 release, so that ppl have access to it, and then we apply the patch
    first thing for part of v7.2?
    
     On Thu, 11 Jan 2001, Oleg Bartunov wrote:
    
    > On Wed, 10 Jan 2001, Tom Lane wrote:
    >
    > > Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
    > > > we've almost totally rewrite gist.c because old code and algorithm
    > > > were not suitable for variable size keys. I think it might be
    > > > submitted into 7.1 beta source tree.
    > >
    > > Urgh.  Dropping in a total rewrite when we're already past beta3 doesn't
    > > strike me as good project management practice --- especially if the
    > > rewrite was done to add features (ie variable-size keys) not merely
    > > fix bugs.  I think it might be more prudent to hold this for 7.2.
    >
    > OK. If our changes will not go to 7.1, is't possible to create
    > feature archive and announce it somewhere. It would be  nice if
    > people could test it. Anyway, I'll create web page with all
    > docs and patches. I'm afraid one more year to 7.2 is enough for
    > GiST to die :-)
    >
    > >
    > > 			regards, tom lane
    > >
    >
    > 	Regards,
    > 		Oleg
    > _____________________________________________________________
    > Oleg Bartunov, sci.researcher, hostmaster of AstroNet,
    > Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University (Russia)
    > Internet: oleg@sai.msu.su, http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/
    > phone: +007(095)939-16-83, +007(095)939-23-83
    >
    >
    
    Marc G. Fournier                   ICQ#7615664               IRC Nick: Scrappy
    Systems Administrator @ hub.org
    primary: scrappy@hub.org           secondary: scrappy@{freebsd|postgresql}.org
    
    
    
  36. Re: Re: GiST for 7.1 !!

    Hannu Krosing <hannu@tm.ee> — 2001-01-11T16:26:52Z

    The Hermit Hacker wrote:
    > 
    > Oleg ... how about a contrib/patches directory that we put this into for
    > v7.1 release, so that ppl have access to it, and then we apply the patch
    > first thing for part of v7.2?
    
    And have Mandrake ship postgresql-v7.1-GiST-1mdk.rpm by default ;)
    
    I would  even vote for including the ability to index int(4) arrays in
    the 
    main distribution and not in contrib, similar to the current state of
    plpgsq 
    and other pl* - ie they are compiled by default but not "activated".
    
    Assumption that arrays are indexable seems to come up once or twice a 
    month on the mailing lists. 
    
    -------------------
    Hannu