Re: eliminate xl_heap_visible to reduce WAL (and eventually set VM on-access)

Melanie Plageman <melanieplageman@gmail.com>

From: Melanie Plageman <melanieplageman@gmail.com>
To: Andrey Borodin <x4mmm@yandex-team.ru>
Cc: PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>, Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>
Date: 2025-08-01T21:36:19Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers

Commits

Same data as JSON: GET /api/v1/messages/:b64id/commits the thread's linked commits as JSON, with link sources. API reference →
  1. Remove table_scan_analyze_next_tuple unneeded parameter OldestXmin

  2. Simplify visibility check in heap_page_would_be_all_visible()

  3. Eliminate use of cached VM value in lazy_scan_prune()

  4. Combine visibilitymap_set() cases in lazy_scan_prune()

  5. Fix const qualification in prune_freeze_setup()

  6. Simplify vacuum visibility assertion

  7. Split heap_page_prune_and_freeze() into helpers

  8. Assert that cutoffs are provided if freezing will be attempted

  9. Split PruneFreezeParams initializers to one field per line

  10. Refactor heap_page_prune_and_freeze() parameters into a struct

  11. Make heap_page_is_all_visible independent of LVRelState

  12. Inline TransactionIdFollows/Precedes[OrEquals]()

  13. Add helper for freeze determination to heap_page_prune_and_freeze

  14. Bump XLOG_PAGE_MAGIC after xl_heap_prune change

  15. Correct prune WAL record opcode name in comment

  16. Add error codes when vacuum discovers VM corruption

  17. Remove unused xl_heap_prune member, reason

  18. Remove unneeded VM pin from VM replay

  19. Add assert and log message to visibilitymap_set

  20. Add error codes to some corruption log messages

Attachments

On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 6:58 PM Melanie Plageman
<melanieplageman@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The patch "Set-pd_prune_xid-on-insert.txt" can be applied as the last
> patch in the set. It sets pd_prune_xid on insert (so pages filled by
> COPY or insert can also be set all-visible in the VM before they are
> vacuumed). I gave it a .txt extension because it currently fails
> 035_standby_logical_decoding due to a recovery conflict. I need to
> investigate more to see if this is a bug in my patch set or elsewhere
> in Postgres.

I figured out that if we set the VM on-access, we need to enable
hot_standby_feedback in more places in 035_standby_logical_decoding.pl
to avoid recovery conflicts. I've done that in the attached updated
version 6. There are a few other issues in
035_standby_logical_decoding.pl that I reported here [1]. With these
changes, setting pd_prune_xid on insert passes tests. Whether or not
we want to do it (and what the heuristic should be for deciding when
to do it) is another question.

- Melanie

[1] https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/CAAKRu_YO2mEm%3DZWZKPjTMU%3DgW5Y83_KMi_1cr51JwavH0ctd7w%40mail.gmail.com