Re: Faster distinct query?

> On Sep 23, 2021, at 8:33 AM, Rob Sargent <robjsargent@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On 9/23/21 10:16 AM, Israel Brewster wrote:
>>> On Sep 23, 2021, at 4:34 AM, Ryan Booz <ryan@timescale.com <mailto:ryan@timescale.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Heh, I honestly forgot about the recursive CTE. Certainly worth a try and wouldn't require installing other extensions.
>>> 
>>> This is what depesz is referring to: https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Loose_indexscan <https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Loose_indexscan>
>> Thanks for the pointer. Will definitely have to spend some time wrapping my brain around that one - I’ve done some CTE’s before, but not recursive that I can recall. Should be fun!
>> 
>> If it helps matters any, my structure is currently the following:
>> 
>> table “stations” listing station details (name, latitude, longitude, etc) with a smallint primary key “id"
>> table “data” with many (many!) data columns (mostly doubles), a station column that is a smallint referencing the stations table, and a channel column which is a varchar containing the *name* of the channel the data came in on.
>> 
>> I will readily accept that this may not be the best structure for the DB. For example, perhaps the channel column should be normalized out as has been mentioned a couple of times as an option. This would make sense, and would certainly simplify this portion of the project.
>> 
>> If I do go with a lookup table updated by a trigger, what would be the best option for the query the trigger runs - an upset (ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING)? Or a query followed by an insert if needed? The normal case would be that the entry already exists (millions of hits vs only the occasional insert needed).
>> 
>> 
> I would look into pre-loading the lookup table (and pre-emptive maintenance).  Add the foreign key, but not the trigger.

That makes sense. Thanks!

---
Israel Brewster
Software Engineer
Alaska Volcano Observatory 
Geophysical Institute - UAF 
2156 Koyukuk Drive 
Fairbanks AK 99775-7320
Work: 907-474-5172
cell:  907-328-9145