Excerpts from David E. Wheeler's message of lun jun 13 17:44:05 -0400 2011:
> I was reading the partitioning docs when I spotted this. I think it means to highlight the advantages of DROP TABLE
overDELETE rather than ALTER TABLE.
I think the point of the existing wording is to point out
ALTER TABLE / NO INHERIT. I wonder if it's worth expanding the text to
mention both, such as
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ddl.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ddl.sgml
@@ -2320,7 +2320,9 @@ VALUES ('New York', NULL, NULL, 'NY'); <para> Bulk loads and deletes can be accomplished
byadding or removing partitions, if that requirement is planned into the partitioning design.
- <command>ALTER TABLE</> is far faster than a bulk operation.
+ <command>ALTER TABLE</> (to split out a sub-table from the partitioned
+ table) and <command>DROP TABLE</> (to remove a partition altogether) are
+ both far faster than a bulk operation. It also entirely avoids the <command>VACUUM</command> overhead
causedby a bulk <command>DELETE</>. </para>
However, this introductory text is supposed to be very brief; maybe we
should remove mention of specific commands here.
--
Álvaro Herrera <alvherre@commandprompt.com>
The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc.
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