F.38. pageinspect — low-level inspection of database pages #
The pageinspect
module provides functions that allow you to inspect the contents of database pages at a low level, which is useful for debugging purposes. All of these functions may be used only by superusers.
F.38.1. General Functions #
-
get_raw_page(relname text, fork text, blkno bigint) returns bytea
get_raw_page
reads the specified block of the named relation and returns a copy as abytea
value. This allows a single time-consistent copy of the block to be obtained.fork
should be'main'
for the main data fork,'fsm'
for the free space map,'vm'
for the visibility map, or'init'
for the initialization fork.-
get_raw_page(relname text, blkno bigint) returns bytea
A shorthand version of
get_raw_page
, for reading from the main fork. Equivalent toget_raw_page(relname, 'main', blkno)
-
page_header(page bytea) returns record
page_header
shows fields that are common to all Postgres Pro heap and index pages.A page image obtained with
get_raw_page
should be passed as argument. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM page_header(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0)); lsn | checksum | flags | lower | upper | special | pagesize | version | xid_base | multi_base | prune_xid -----------+----------+--------+-------+-------+---------+----------+---------+----------+------------+---------- 0/24A1B50 | 0 | 1 | 232 | 368 | 8192 | 8192 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0
The returned columns correspond to the fields in the
PageHeaderData
struct.The
checksum
field is the checksum stored in the page, which might be incorrect if the page is somehow corrupted. If data checksums are not enabled for this instance, then the value stored is meaningless.-
page_checksum(page bytea, blkno bigint) returns smallint
page_checksum
computes the checksum for the page, as if it was located at the given block.A page image obtained with
get_raw_page
should be passed as argument. For example:test=# SELECT page_checksum(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0), 0); page_checksum --------------- 13443
Note that the checksum depends on the block number, so matching block numbers should be passed (except when doing esoteric debugging).
The checksum computed with this function can be compared with the
checksum
result field of the functionpage_header
. If data checksums are enabled for this instance, then the two values should be equal.-
fsm_page_contents(page bytea) returns text
fsm_page_contents
shows the internal node structure of an FSM page. For example:test=# SELECT fsm_page_contents(get_raw_page('pg_class', 'fsm', 0));
The output is a multiline string, with one line per node in the binary tree within the page. Only those nodes that are not zero are printed. The so-called "next" pointer, which points to the next slot to be returned from the page, is also printed.
F.38.2. Heap Functions #
-
heap_page_items(page bytea) returns setof record
heap_page_items
shows all line pointers on a heap page. For those line pointers that are in use, tuple headers as well as tuple raw data are also shown. All tuples are shown, whether or not the tuples were visible to an MVCC snapshot at the time the raw page was copied.A heap page image obtained with
get_raw_page
should be passed as argument. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM heap_page_items(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0));
The
heap_tuple_infomask_flags
function can be used to unpack the flag bits oft_infomask
andt_infomask2
for heap tuples.-
tuple_data_split(rel_oid oid, t_data bytea, t_infomask integer, t_infomask2 integer, t_bits text [, do_detoast bool]) returns bytea[]
tuple_data_split
splits tuple data into attributes in the same way as backend internals.test=# SELECT tuple_data_split('pg_class'::regclass, t_data, t_infomask, t_infomask2, t_bits) FROM heap_page_items(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0));
This function should be called with the same arguments as the return attributes of
heap_page_items
.If
do_detoast
istrue
, attributes will be detoasted as needed. Default value isfalse
.-
heap_page_item_attrs(page bytea, rel_oid regclass [, do_detoast bool]) returns setof record
heap_page_item_attrs
is equivalent toheap_page_items
except that it returns tuple raw data as an array of attributes that can optionally be detoasted bydo_detoast
which isfalse
by default.A heap page image obtained with
get_raw_page
should be passed as argument. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM heap_page_item_attrs(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0), 'pg_class'::regclass);
-
heap_tuple_infomask_flags(t_infomask integer, t_infomask2 integer) returns record
heap_tuple_infomask_flags
decodes thet_infomask
andt_infomask2
returned byheap_page_items
into a human-readable set of arrays made of flag names, with one column for all the flags and one column for combined flags. For example:test=# SELECT t_ctid, raw_flags, combined_flags FROM heap_page_items(get_raw_page('pg_class', 0)), LATERAL heap_tuple_infomask_flags(t_infomask, t_infomask2) WHERE t_infomask IS NOT NULL OR t_infomask2 IS NOT NULL;
This function should be called with the same arguments as the return attributes of
heap_page_items
.Combined flags are displayed for source-level macros that take into account the value of more than one raw bit, such as
HEAP_XMIN_FROZEN
.
F.38.3. B-Tree Functions #
-
bt_metap(relname text) returns record
bt_metap
returns information about a B-tree index's metapage. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM bt_metap('pg_cast_oid_index'); -[ RECORD 1 ]-------------+------- magic | 340322 version | 4 root | 1 level | 0 fastroot | 1 fastlevel | 0 last_cleanup_num_delpages | 0 last_cleanup_num_tuples | 230 allequalimage | f
-
bt_page_stats(relname text, blkno bigint) returns record
bt_page_stats
returns summary information about a data page of a B-tree index. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM bt_page_stats('pg_cast_oid_index', 1); -[ RECORD 1 ]-+----- blkno | 1 type | l live_items | 224 dead_items | 0 avg_item_size | 16 page_size | 8192 free_size | 3668 btpo_prev | 0 btpo_next | 0 btpo_level | 0 btpo_flags | 3
-
bt_multi_page_stats(relname text, blkno bigint, blk_count bigint) returns setof record
bt_multi_page_stats
returns the same information asbt_page_stats
, but does so for each page of the range of pages beginning atblkno
and extending forblk_count
pages. Ifblk_count
is negative, all pages fromblkno
to the end of the index are reported on. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM bt_multi_page_stats('pg_proc_oid_index', 5, 2); -[ RECORD 1 ]-+----- blkno | 5 type | l live_items | 367 dead_items | 0 avg_item_size | 16 page_size | 8192 free_size | 808 btpo_prev | 4 btpo_next | 6 btpo_level | 0 btpo_flags | 1 -[ RECORD 2 ]-+----- blkno | 6 type | l live_items | 367 dead_items | 0 avg_item_size | 16 page_size | 8192 free_size | 808 btpo_prev | 5 btpo_next | 7 btpo_level | 0 btpo_flags | 1
-
bt_page_items(relname text, blkno bigint) returns setof record
bt_page_items
returns detailed information about all of the items on a B-tree index page. For example:test=# SELECT itemoffset, ctid, itemlen, nulls, vars, data, dead, htid, tids[0:2] AS some_tids FROM bt_page_items('tenk2_hundred', 5); itemoffset | ctid | itemlen | nulls | vars | data | dead | htid | some_tids ------------+-----------+---------+-------+------+-------------------------+------+--------+--------------------- 1 | (16,1) | 16 | f | f | 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | | | 2 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 24 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,6) | {"(1,6)","(10,22)"} 3 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,18) | {"(1,18)","(4,22)"} 4 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (4,18) | {"(4,18)","(6,17)"} 5 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,2) | {"(1,2)","(1,19)"} 6 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (2,24) | {"(2,24)","(4,11)"} 7 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 29 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (2,17) | {"(2,17)","(11,2)"} 8 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,25) | {"(0,25)","(3,20)"} 9 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,10) | {"(0,10)","(0,14)"} 10 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,3) | {"(1,3)","(3,9)"} 11 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2d 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (6,28) | {"(6,28)","(11,1)"} 12 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,27) | {"(0,27)","(1,13)"} 13 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (4,17) | {"(4,17)","(4,21)"} (13 rows)
This is a B-tree leaf page. All tuples that point to the table happen to be posting list tuples (all of which store a total of 100 6 byte TIDs). There is also a “high key” tuple at
itemoffset
number 1.ctid
is used to store encoded information about each tuple in this example, though leaf page tuples often store a heap TID directly in thectid
field instead.tids
is the list of TIDs stored as a posting list.In an internal page (not shown), the block number part of
ctid
is a “downlink”, which is a block number of another page in the index itself. The offset part (the second number) ofctid
stores encoded information about the tuple, such as the number of columns present (suffix truncation may have removed unneeded suffix columns). Truncated columns are treated as having the value “minus infinity”.htid
shows a heap TID for the tuple, regardless of the underlying tuple representation. This value may matchctid
, or may be decoded from the alternative representations used by posting list tuples and tuples from internal pages. Tuples in internal pages usually have the implementation level heap TID column truncated away, which is represented as a NULLhtid
value.Note that the first item on any non-rightmost page (any page with a non-zero value in the
btpo_next
field) is the page's “high key”, meaning itsdata
serves as an upper bound on all items appearing on the page, while itsctid
field does not point to another block. Also, on internal pages, the first real data item (the first item that is not a high key) reliably has every column truncated away, leaving no actual value in itsdata
field. Such an item does have a valid downlink in itsctid
field, however.For more details about the structure of B-tree indexes, see Section 66.4.1. For more details about deduplication and posting lists, see Section 66.4.3.
-
bt_page_items(page bytea) returns setof record
It is also possible to pass a page to
bt_page_items
as abytea
value. A page image obtained withget_raw_page
should be passed as argument. So the last example could also be rewritten like this:test=# SELECT itemoffset, ctid, itemlen, nulls, vars, data, dead, htid, tids[0:2] AS some_tids FROM bt_page_items(get_raw_page('tenk2_hundred', 5)); itemoffset | ctid | itemlen | nulls | vars | data | dead | htid | some_tids ------------+-----------+---------+-------+------+-------------------------+------+--------+--------------------- 1 | (16,1) | 16 | f | f | 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | | | 2 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 24 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,6) | {"(1,6)","(10,22)"} 3 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,18) | {"(1,18)","(4,22)"} 4 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (4,18) | {"(4,18)","(6,17)"} 5 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,2) | {"(1,2)","(1,19)"} 6 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (2,24) | {"(2,24)","(4,11)"} 7 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 29 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (2,17) | {"(2,17)","(11,2)"} 8 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,25) | {"(0,25)","(3,20)"} 9 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,10) | {"(0,10)","(0,14)"} 10 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (1,3) | {"(1,3)","(3,9)"} 11 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2d 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (6,28) | {"(6,28)","(11,1)"} 12 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (0,27) | {"(0,27)","(1,13)"} 13 | (16,8292) | 616 | f | f | 2f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | f | (4,17) | {"(4,17)","(4,21)"} (13 rows)
All the other details are the same as explained in the previous item.
F.38.4. BRIN Functions #
-
brin_page_type(page bytea) returns text
brin_page_type
returns the page type of the given BRIN index page, or throws an error if the page is not a valid BRIN page. For example:test=# SELECT brin_page_type(get_raw_page('brinidx', 0)); brin_page_type ---------------- meta
-
brin_metapage_info(page bytea) returns record
brin_metapage_info
returns assorted information about a BRIN index metapage. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM brin_metapage_info(get_raw_page('brinidx', 0)); magic | version | pagesperrange | lastrevmappage ------------+---------+---------------+---------------- 0xA8109CFA | 1 | 4 | 2
-
brin_revmap_data(page bytea) returns setof tid
brin_revmap_data
returns the list of tuple identifiers in a BRIN index range map page. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM brin_revmap_data(get_raw_page('brinidx', 2)) LIMIT 5; pages --------- (6,137) (6,138) (6,139) (6,140) (6,141)
-
brin_page_items(page bytea, index oid) returns setof record
brin_page_items
returns the data stored in the BRIN data page. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM brin_page_items(get_raw_page('brinidx', 5), 'brinidx') ORDER BY blknum, attnum LIMIT 6; itemoffset | blknum | attnum | allnulls | hasnulls | placeholder | empty | value ------------+--------+--------+----------+----------+-------------+-------+-------------- 137 | 0 | 1 | t | f | f | f | 137 | 0 | 2 | f | f | f | f | {1 .. 88} 138 | 4 | 1 | t | f | f | f | 138 | 4 | 2 | f | f | f | f | {89 .. 176} 139 | 8 | 1 | t | f | f | f | 139 | 8 | 2 | f | f | f | f | {177 .. 264}
The returned columns correspond to the fields in the
BrinMemTuple
andBrinValues
structs.
F.38.5. GIN Functions #
-
gin_metapage_info(page bytea) returns record
gin_metapage_info
returns information about a GIN index metapage. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM gin_metapage_info(get_raw_page('gin_index', 0)); -[ RECORD 1 ]----+----------- pending_head | 4294967295 pending_tail | 4294967295 tail_free_size | 0 n_pending_pages | 0 n_pending_tuples | 0 n_total_pages | 7 n_entry_pages | 6 n_data_pages | 0 n_entries | 693 version | 2
-
gin_page_opaque_info(page bytea) returns record
gin_page_opaque_info
returns information about a GIN index opaque area, like the page type. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM gin_page_opaque_info(get_raw_page('gin_index', 2)); rightlink | maxoff | flags -----------+--------+------------------------ 5 | 0 | {data,leaf,compressed} (1 row)
-
gin_leafpage_items(page bytea) returns setof record
gin_leafpage_items
returns information about the data stored in a GIN leaf page. For example:test=# SELECT first_tid, nbytes, tids[0:5] AS some_tids FROM gin_leafpage_items(get_raw_page('gin_test_idx', 2)); first_tid | nbytes | some_tids -----------+--------+---------------------------------------------------------- (8,41) | 244 | {"(8,41)","(8,43)","(8,44)","(8,45)","(8,46)"} (10,45) | 248 | {"(10,45)","(10,46)","(10,47)","(10,48)","(10,49)"} (12,52) | 248 | {"(12,52)","(12,53)","(12,54)","(12,55)","(12,56)"} (14,59) | 320 | {"(14,59)","(14,60)","(14,61)","(14,62)","(14,63)"} (167,16) | 376 | {"(167,16)","(167,17)","(167,18)","(167,19)","(167,20)"} (170,30) | 376 | {"(170,30)","(170,31)","(170,32)","(170,33)","(170,34)"} (173,44) | 197 | {"(173,44)","(173,45)","(173,46)","(173,47)","(173,48)"} (7 rows)
F.38.6. GiST Functions #
-
gist_page_opaque_info(page bytea) returns record
gist_page_opaque_info
returns information from a GiST index page's opaque area, such as the NSN, rightlink and page type. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM gist_page_opaque_info(get_raw_page('test_gist_idx', 2)); lsn | nsn | rightlink | flags -----+-----+-----------+-------- 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | {leaf} (1 row)
-
gist_page_items(page bytea, index_oid regclass) returns setof record
gist_page_items
returns information about the data stored in a page of a GiST index. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM gist_page_items(get_raw_page('test_gist_idx', 0), 'test_gist_idx'); itemoffset | ctid | itemlen | dead | keys ------------+-----------+---------+------+------------------------------- 1 | (1,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(185,185),(1,1)") 2 | (2,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(370,370),(186,186)") 3 | (3,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(555,555),(371,371)") 4 | (4,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(740,740),(556,556)") 5 | (5,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(870,870),(741,741)") 6 | (6,65535) | 40 | f | (p)=("(1000,1000),(871,871)") (6 rows)
-
gist_page_items_bytea(page bytea) returns setof record
Same as
gist_page_items
, but returns the key data as a rawbytea
blob. Since it does not attempt to decode the key, it does not need to know which index is involved. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM gist_page_items_bytea(get_raw_page('test_gist_idx', 0)); itemoffset | ctid | itemlen | dead | key_data ------------+-----------+---------+------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 | (1,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000100ffff28000000000000c064400000000000c06440000000000000f03f000000000000f03f 2 | (2,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000200ffff28000000000000c074400000000000c074400000000000e064400000000000e06440 3 | (3,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000300ffff28000000000000207f400000000000207f400000000000d074400000000000d07440 4 | (4,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000400ffff28000000000000c084400000000000c084400000000000307f400000000000307f40 5 | (5,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000500ffff28000000000000f089400000000000f089400000000000c884400000000000c88440 6 | (6,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000600ffff28000000000000208f400000000000208f400000000000f889400000000000f88940 7 | (7,65535) | 40 | f | \x00000700ffff28000000000000408f400000000000408f400000000000288f400000000000288f40 (7 rows)
F.38.7. Hash Functions #
-
hash_page_type(page bytea) returns text
hash_page_type
returns page type of the given HASH index page. For example:test=# SELECT hash_page_type(get_raw_page('con_hash_index', 0)); hash_page_type ---------------- metapage
-
hash_page_stats(page bytea) returns setof record
hash_page_stats
returns information about a bucket or overflow page of a HASH index. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM hash_page_stats(get_raw_page('con_hash_index', 1)); -[ RECORD 1 ]---+----------- live_items | 407 dead_items | 0 page_size | 8192 free_size | 8 hasho_prevblkno | 4096 hasho_nextblkno | 8474 hasho_bucket | 0 hasho_flag | 66 hasho_page_id | 65408
-
hash_page_items(page bytea) returns setof record
hash_page_items
returns information about the data stored in a bucket or overflow page of a HASH index page. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM hash_page_items(get_raw_page('con_hash_index', 1)) LIMIT 5; itemoffset | ctid | data ------------+-----------+------------ 1 | (899,77) | 1053474816 2 | (897,29) | 1053474816 3 | (894,207) | 1053474816 4 | (892,159) | 1053474816 5 | (890,111) | 1053474816
-
hash_bitmap_info(index oid, blkno bigint) returns record
hash_bitmap_info
shows the status of a bit in the bitmap page for a particular overflow page of HASH index. For example:test=# SELECT * FROM hash_bitmap_info('con_hash_index', 2052); bitmapblkno | bitmapbit | bitstatus -------------+-----------+----------- 65 | 3 | t
-
hash_metapage_info(page bytea) returns record
hash_metapage_info
returns information stored in the meta page of a HASH index. For example:test=# SELECT magic, version, ntuples, ffactor, bsize, bmsize, bmshift, test-# maxbucket, highmask, lowmask, ovflpoint, firstfree, nmaps, procid, test-# regexp_replace(spares::text, '(,0)*}', '}') as spares, test-# regexp_replace(mapp::text, '(,0)*}', '}') as mapp test-# FROM hash_metapage_info(get_raw_page('con_hash_index', 0)); -[ RECORD 1 ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------- magic | 105121344 version | 4 ntuples | 500500 ffactor | 40 bsize | 8152 bmsize | 4096 bmshift | 15 maxbucket | 12512 highmask | 16383 lowmask | 8191 ovflpoint | 28 firstfree | 1204 nmaps | 1 procid | 450 spares | {0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,4,4,4,45,55,58,59,508,567,628,704,1193,1202,1204} mapp | {65}