Re: Show VIRTUAL keyword for virtual generated columns in pg_dump and psql

Lakshmi N <lakshmin.jhs@gmail.com>

From: Lakshmi N <lakshmin.jhs@gmail.com>

To: "David G. Johnston" <david.g.johnston@gmail.com>

Cc: "pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org" <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>, "dean.a.rasheed@gmail.com" <dean.a.rasheed@gmail.com>, "peter@eisentraut.org" <peter@eisentraut.org>

Date: 2026-04-13T20:49:12Z

Lists: pgsql-hackers

Attachments

0001-Fix-psql-d-to-show-VIRTUAL-keyword-for-generated-col.patch (application/octet-stream) patch 0001

Hi,

On Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 5:27 AM David G. Johnston <
david.g.johnston@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Monday, April 13, 2026, Lakshmi N <lakshmin.jhs@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> pg_dump and psql's \d currently display stored and virtual generated
>> columns asymmetrically:
>>
>
>>
>>     s_total integer GENERATED ALWAYS AS ((a + b)) STORED
>>     v_total integer GENERATED ALWAYS AS ((a + b))
>>
>> Since VIRTUAL is default most likely this was omitted but with this
>>
> puts the burden on the reader to identify whether it is STORED or
>> VIRTUAL since both kinds coexist in v19.
>>
>
> The output follows existing conventions of not printing extraneous text.
> Additionally, storage itself is non-standard so the absence of a modifier
> is producing standard-compliant output.  I would -1 changing pg_dump on
> this basis.  I’d be inclined to go with the symmetry/readability argument
> for psql \d though.
>

Thank you for the feedback! Updated the patch for psql \d only.

 Regards,
Lakshmi