Re: Fast default stuff versus pg_upgrade

On 2018-06-21 13:44:19 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Andrew Dunstan <andrew.dunstan@2ndquadrant.com> writes:
> > On 06/21/2018 01:18 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
> >> I might be OK with a patch that converts *all* of pg_dump's cross-version
> >> difference handling code to depend on PQfnumber silently returning -1
> >> rather than failing, but I don't want to see it done like that in just
> >> one or two places.
> 
> > I don't mind changing it. But please note that I wouldn't have done it 
> > that way unless there were a precedent. I fully expected to add dummy 
> > values to all the previous queries, but when I couldn't find attidentity 
> > in them to put them next to I followed that example.
> 
> Actually, now that I think about it, there is a concrete reason for the
> historical pattern: it provides a cross-check that you did not fat-finger
> the query, ie misspell the column alias vs the PQfnumber parameter.  This
> gets more valuable the more per-version variants of the query there are.
> With the way the attidentity code does it, it would just silently act as
> though the column has its default value, which you might or might not
> notice in cursory testing.  Getting visible bleats about column number -1
> is much more likely to get your attention.

To me that benefit is far smaller than the increased likelihood of
screwing something up because you'd to touch pg_dump support for
postgres versions one likely doesn't readily have available for testing.

Greetings,

Andres Freund