Re: Statistics Import and Export

Jeff Davis <pgsql@j-davis.com>

From: Jeff Davis <pgsql@j-davis.com>
To: Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>
Cc: Greg Sabino Mullane <htamfids@gmail.com>, Ashutosh Bapat <ashutosh.bapat.oss@gmail.com>, Corey Huinker <corey.huinker@gmail.com>, Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, Michael Paquier <michael@paquier.xyz>, Nathan Bossart <nathandbossart@gmail.com>, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>, Matthias van de Meent <boekewurm+postgres@gmail.com>, Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net>, Stephen Frost <sfrost@snowman.net>, Peter Smith <smithpb2250@gmail.com>, PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>, alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org, jian he <jian.universality@gmail.com>
Date: 2025-04-01T20:24:14Z
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. Change pg_dump default for statistics export.

  2. pg_dump: Adjust reltuples from 0 to -1 for dumps of older versions.

  3. vacuumdb: Don't skip empty relations in --missing-stats-only mode.

  4. pg_dump: Fix query for gathering attribute stats on older versions.

  5. Prevent redeclaration of typedef TocEntry.

  6. Remove unused function parameters in pg_backup_archiver.c.

  7. pg_dump: Retrieve attribute statistics in batches.

  8. pg_dump: Reduce memory usage of dumps with statistics.

  9. Skip second WriteToc() call for custom-format dumps without data.

  10. Add relallfrozen to pg_dump statistics.

  11. Matview statistics depend on matview data.

  12. Add pg_dump --with-{schema|data|statistics} options.

  13. Stats: use schemaname/relname instead of regclass.

  14. CREATE INDEX: do update index stats if autovacuum=off.

  15. Don't convert to and from floats in pg_dump.

  16. CREATE INDEX: don't update table stats if autovacuum=off.

  17. Organize and deduplicate statistics import tests.

  18. Address stats export review comments.

  19. Address stats import review comments.

  20. Add relallfrozen to pg_class

  21. Fix pg_strtof() to not crash on NULL endptr.

  22. Use attnum to identify index columns in pg_restore_attribute_stats().

  23. pg_dump: prepare attribute stats query.

  24. Avoid unnecessary relation stats query in pg_dump.

  25. Remove redundant pg_set_*_stats() variants.

  26. Do not use in-place updates for statistics import.

  27. Fix confusion about data type of pg_class.relpages and relallvisible.

  28. Documentation fixups for dumping statistics.

  29. Trial fix for old cross-version upgrades.

  30. Transfer statistics during pg_upgrade.

  31. Lock table in ShareUpdateExclusive when importing index stats.

  32. Use in-place updates for pg_restore_relation_stats().

  33. Improve error message for replication of generated columns.

  34. pg_dump: Add dumpSchema and dumpData derivative flags.

  35. Disallow modifying statistics on system columns.

  36. Add missing CommandCounterIncrement() in stats import functions.

  37. Add functions pg_restore_relation_stats(), pg_restore_attribute_stats().

  38. Documentation fixup.

  39. Add functions pg_set_attribute_stats() and pg_clear_attribute_stats().

  40. Change pg_*_relation_stats() functions to return type to void.

  41. Disable autovacuum for tables in stats import tests.

  42. Allow pg_set_relation_stats() to set relpages to -1.

  43. Fixup for pg_set_relation_stats().

  44. Create functions pg_set_relation_stats, pg_clear_relation_stats.

  45. Add memory/disk usage for Window aggregate nodes in EXPLAIN.

  46. Improve performance of dumpSequenceData().

  47. Add INJECTION_POINT_CACHED() to run injection points directly from cache

  48. Improve performance of binary_upgrade_set_pg_class_oids().

  49. Improve assertion in mdwritev()

  50. CREATE INDEX: do not update stats during binary upgrade.

  51. Redefine pg_class.reltuples to be -1 before the first VACUUM or ANALYZE.

On Tue, 2025-04-01 at 09:37 -0400, Robert Haas wrote:
> I don't think I was aware of the open item; I was just catching up on
> email.

I lean towards making it opt-in for pg_dump and opt-out for pg_upgrade.
But I think we should leave open the possibility for changing the
default to opt-out for pg_dump in the future.

My reasoning for pg_dump is that releasing with stats as opt-in doesn't
put us in a worse position for making it opt-out later, so long as we
have the right set of both positive and negative options. It may even
be a better position because people have time to make their scripts
future proof by using the right combination of options.

> But I also don't really see the value of waiting until beta to
> make this decision. I seriously doubt that my opinion is going to
> change. Maybe other people's will, though: I can only speak for
> myself.

I don't think the last week before feature freeze, deep in a 400-email
thread is the best way to make decisions like this. Let's at least have
a focused thread on this topic and see if we can solicit opinions from
both sides.

Also, waiting to see if the performance improvements make it in, or
waiting for beta reports, may yield some new information that could
change minds.

Mid-beta might be too long, but let's wait for the final CF to settle
and give people the chance to respond to a top-level thread?

Regards,
	Jeff Davis