Horton

Thread

  1. RE: [HACKERS] Hi

    Michael Meskes <meskes@topsystem.de> — 1998-02-04T13:31:15Z

    Okay. Sounds good. :-)

How do I get the latest source tree and how is it synchronised?

Michael

--
Dr. Michael Meskes, Project-Manager    | topsystem Systemhaus GmbH
meskes@topsystem.de                    | Europark A2, Adenauerstr. 20
meskes@debian.org                      | 52146 Wuerselen
Go SF49ers! Go Rhein Fire!             | Tel: (+49) 2405/4670-44
Use Debian GNU/Linux!                  | Fax: (+49) 2405/4670-10

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	The Hermit Hacker [SMTP:scrappy@hub.org]
> Sent:	Wednesday, February 04, 1998 2:06 PM
> To:	Michael Meskes
> Cc:	pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org
> Subject:	Re: [HACKERS] Hi
> 
> On Wed, 4 Feb 1998, Michael Meskes wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > despite bein chronically short of time I'd like to be involved with
> some
> > database development in free software. It seems to me that
> postgresql is
> > the most complete package out there and it also has some nice
> features
> > like object identity. I consider myself fairly knowledgable when it
> > comes to databases (at least it brought me my Ph.D.) so I think I
> could
> > do some. But before I do so I'd like to ask some questions about the
> > status of development:
> 
> 	Welcome :)
> 
> > 2) How about ODBC? I know there is a driver but apparently I cannot
> use
> > all ODBC features. I have an application on Windows that I'd like to
> use
> > to stress test postgresql a little bit, but I get an SQLError -1
> > everytime I try to fetch a record. Is this a knwon bug?
> 
> 	Julie (maintainer of PostODBC(src/interfaces/odbc)) has just
> joined this list, and will hopefully be able to answer more
> completely,
> but the PostODBC driver is currently listed as v0.21, so is still
> young... 
> 
> 	Any aid you can provide in helping to mature it are most
> welcome,
> both on our part, and, I imagine, Julie's...
> 
> > 3) How would you describe the general goal of this project: Offer as
> > good a database system as you can create as free software? That is
> > should it be able to handle huge amounts of data, or is it seen more
> as
> > a tool for a private person/small business? 
> 
> 	Both...We have at least two ppl so far, that I'm aware of, that
> are dealing with systems of several GB of data through it, including
> one
> of the core developers...like *BSD/Linux "competing" with the more
> entrenched OSs like Solaris (and Microsloth), we're moving towards the
> concept of being a viable alternative to such monolithic RDBMS systems
> such as Oracle/Informix...but we are also working at making sure that
> we
> don't loss site of the majority of our users, which tend to be ppl
> using
> it for WWW based projects.
> 
> > 4) Are there areas/Which ares need help?
> 
> 	http://www.postgresql.org/docs/todo.shtml :)
> 
> 	There is a long list of things that are "Wish list" items...if
> you
> decide to dive into something, all we ask is that you post something
> here
> so that others know and to prevent "recreating the wheel"...just in
> case
> someone else is already working on it.
>

  2. RE: [HACKERS] Hi

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 1998-02-04T13:42:11Z

    On Wed, 4 Feb 1998, Meskes, Michael wrote:

> Okay. Sounds good. :-)
> 
> How do I get the latest source tree and how is it synchronised?

	We recommend that everyone doing development work use or grab
CVSup (see ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/CVSup for details and some
binaries), which is the fastest/most uptodate way of grabbing the sources.  

	Right now, being in beta mode, there is a daily snapshot being
made and placed in ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/postgresql.snapshot.tar.gz

	After v6.4 is released, that will go back down to weekly snapshots
vs daily



 > 
> Michael
> 
> --
> Dr. Michael Meskes, Project-Manager    | topsystem Systemhaus GmbH
> meskes@topsystem.de                    | Europark A2, Adenauerstr. 20
> meskes@debian.org                      | 52146 Wuerselen
> Go SF49ers! Go Rhein Fire!             | Tel: (+49) 2405/4670-44
> Use Debian GNU/Linux!                  | Fax: (+49) 2405/4670-10
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	The Hermit Hacker [SMTP:scrappy@hub.org]
> > Sent:	Wednesday, February 04, 1998 2:06 PM
> > To:	Michael Meskes
> > Cc:	pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org
> > Subject:	Re: [HACKERS] Hi
> > 
> > On Wed, 4 Feb 1998, Michael Meskes wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > despite bein chronically short of time I'd like to be involved with
> > some
> > > database development in free software. It seems to me that
> > postgresql is
> > > the most complete package out there and it also has some nice
> > features
> > > like object identity. I consider myself fairly knowledgable when it
> > > comes to databases (at least it brought me my Ph.D.) so I think I
> > could
> > > do some. But before I do so I'd like to ask some questions about the
> > > status of development:
> > 
> > 	Welcome :)
> > 
> > > 2) How about ODBC? I know there is a driver but apparently I cannot
> > use
> > > all ODBC features. I have an application on Windows that I'd like to
> > use
> > > to stress test postgresql a little bit, but I get an SQLError -1
> > > everytime I try to fetch a record. Is this a knwon bug?
> > 
> > 	Julie (maintainer of PostODBC(src/interfaces/odbc)) has just
> > joined this list, and will hopefully be able to answer more
> > completely,
> > but the PostODBC driver is currently listed as v0.21, so is still
> > young... 
> > 
> > 	Any aid you can provide in helping to mature it are most
> > welcome,
> > both on our part, and, I imagine, Julie's...
> > 
> > > 3) How would you describe the general goal of this project: Offer as
> > > good a database system as you can create as free software? That is
> > > should it be able to handle huge amounts of data, or is it seen more
> > as
> > > a tool for a private person/small business? 
> > 
> > 	Both...We have at least two ppl so far, that I'm aware of, that
> > are dealing with systems of several GB of data through it, including
> > one
> > of the core developers...like *BSD/Linux "competing" with the more
> > entrenched OSs like Solaris (and Microsloth), we're moving towards the
> > concept of being a viable alternative to such monolithic RDBMS systems
> > such as Oracle/Informix...but we are also working at making sure that
> > we
> > don't loss site of the majority of our users, which tend to be ppl
> > using
> > it for WWW based projects.
> > 
> > > 4) Are there areas/Which ares need help?
> > 
> > 	http://www.postgresql.org/docs/todo.shtml :)
> > 
> > 	There is a long list of things that are "Wish list" items...if
> > you
> > decide to dive into something, all we ask is that you post something
> > here
> > so that others know and to prevent "recreating the wheel"...just in
> > case
> > someone else is already working on it.
> > 
>

  3. Re: [HACKERS] Hi

    Bruce Momjian <maillist@candle.pha.pa.us> — 1998-02-04T17:47:32Z

    > 
> Okay. Sounds good. :-)
> 
> How do I get the latest source tree and how is it synchronised?
> 

Here is the developers FAQ.  It will be on our web page soon, too.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Developers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL

Last updated: Wed Feb 4 12:43:43 EST 1998

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

The most recent version of this document can be viewed at the postgreSQL Web
site, http://postgreSQL.org.

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

Questions answered:

1) What tools are available for developers?
2) What books are good for developers?
3) Why do we use palloc() and pfree() to allocate memory?
4) Why do we use Node and List to make data structures?
5) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?
6) How do I download/update the current source tree?
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) What tools are available for developers?

Aside from the User documentation mentioned in the regular FAQ, there are
several development tools available. First, all the files in the /tools
directory are designed for developers.

        RELEASE_CHANGES         changes we have to make for each release
        SQL_keywords            standard SQL'92 keywords
        backend                 web flowchart of the backend directories
        ccsym                   find standard defines made by your compiler
        entab                   converts tabs to spaces, used by pgindent
        find_static             finds functions that could be made static
        find_typedef            get a list of typedefs in the source code
        make_ctags              make vi 'tags' file in each directory
        make_diff               make *.orig and diffs of source
        make_etags              make emacs 'etags' files
        make_keywords.README    make comparison of our keywords and SQL'92
        make_mkid               make mkid ID files
        mkldexport              create AIX exports file
        pgindent                indents C source files

Let me note some of these. If you point your browser at the tools/backend
directory, you will see all the backend components in a flow chart. You can
click on any one to see a description. If you then click on the directory
name, you will be taken to the source directory, to browse the actual source
code behind it. We also have several README files in some source directories
to describe the function of the module. The browser will display these when
you enter the directory also. The tools/backend directory is also contained
on our web page under the title Backend Flowchart.

Second, you really should have an editor that can handle tags, so you can
tag a function call to see the function definition, and then tag inside that
function to see an even lower-level function, and then back out twice to
return to the original function. Most editors support this via tags or etags
files.

Third, you need to get mkid from ftp.postgresql.org. By running
tools/make_mkid, an archive of source symbols can be created that can be
rapidly queried like grep or edited.

make_diff has tools to create patch diff files that can be applied to the
distribution.

pgindent will format source files to match our standard format, which has
four-space tabs, and an indenting format specified by flags to the your
operating system's utility indent.

2) What books are good for developers?

I have two good books, An Introduction to Database Systems, by C.J. Date,
Addison, Wesley and A Guide to the SQL Standard, by C.J. Date, et. al,
Addison, Wesley.

3) Why do we use palloc() and pfree() to allocate memory?

palloc() and pfree() are used in place of malloc() and free() because we
automatically free all memory allocated when a transaction completes. This
makes it easier to make sure we free memory that gets allocated in one
place, but only freed much later. There are several contexts that memory can
be allocated in, and this controls when the allocated memory is
automatically freed by the backend.

4) Why do we use Node and List to make data structures?

We do this because this allows a consistent way to pass data inside the
backend in a flexible way. Every node has a NodeTag which specifies what
type of data is inside the Node. Lists are lists of Nodes. lfirst(),
lnext(), and foreach() are used to get, skip, and traverse through Lists.

5) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?

The source code is over 250,000 lines. Many problems/features are isolated
to one specific area of the code. Others require knowledge of much of the
source. If you are confused about where to start, ask the hackers list, and
they will be glad to assess the complexity and give pointers on where to
start.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many fixes and features can be added
with surprisingly little code. I often start by adding code, then looking at
other areas in the code where similar things are done, and by the time I am
finished, the patch is quite small and compact.

When adding code, keep in mind that it should use the existing facilities in
the source, for performance reasons and for simplicity. Often a review of
existing code doing similar things is helpful.

6) How do I download/update the current source tree?

There are several ways to obtain the source tree. Occasional developers can
just get the most recent source tree snapshot from ftp.postgresql.org. For
regular developers, you can get cvsup, which is available from
ftp.postgresql.org too. cvsup allows you to download the source tree, then
occasionally update your copy of the source tree with any new changes. Using
cvsup, you don't have to download the entire source each time, only the
changed files. cvsup does not allow developers to update the source tree.

To update the source tree, there are two ways. You can generate a patch
against your current source tree, perhaps using the make_diff tools
mentioned above, and send them to the patches list. They will be reviewed,
and applied in a timely manner. If the patch is major, and we are in beta
testing, the developers may wait for the final release before applying your
patches.

For hard-core developers, Marc(scrappy@postgresql.org) will give you a Unix
shell account on postgresql.org, and you can ftp your files into your
account, patch, and cvs install the changes directly in the source tree.

-- 
Bruce Momjian
maillist@candle.pha.pa.us

  4. Re: [HACKERS] Hi

    Bruce Momjian <maillist@candle.pha.pa.us> — 1998-02-04T17:58:37Z

    Thanks to Neil, our webman, this is now on the web page, and will be
updated regularly.

> 
> > 
> > Okay. Sounds good. :-)
> > 
> > How do I get the latest source tree and how is it synchronised?
> > 
> 
> Here is the developers FAQ.  It will be on our web page soon, too.
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Developers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL
> 
> Last updated: Wed Feb 4 12:43:43 EST 1998
> 
> Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (maillist@candle.pha.pa.us)
> 
> The most recent version of this document can be viewed at the postgreSQL Web
> site, http://postgreSQL.org.
> 
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------


-- 
Bruce Momjian
maillist@candle.pha.pa.us