Re: stupid question - Mailing list pgsql-novice

On Jan 1, 2004, at 11:37 AM, rhkelly wrote:

> Michael Glaesemann wrote:
>
>> Hello, fellow myrealbox user!
>> ...rhkelly wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Maybe this sounds stupid, but, where is the actual database file?
>>>>> I'm sure there's a file that is the actual DB, but what/where?
>>>>
>
>>> Is there a Postgress documentation section somewhere that
>>> would tell me the following:
>>>
>>> 1) the exact correspondence of the files and tables, indices etc.
>>>
>>> 2) what are the safe filesystem operations on those files
>>> (individual file backup/recovery, moving of files
>>> between different postgress computers/installations etc.?
>> Not to be contrary, but why would you want to know this?
>
> Thanks for your comments Michael;

No problem. I hope you found them helpful.

> to answer your question:
>
> So that I can put the system into some 'partial/previous'
> state in a manner which Postgress itself does not support
> and with a high degree of confidence that my actions had
> the desired effect (and no catastrophic side-effects :).
> I felt it would be a misappropriation of the attention and
> patience of the list to get into details;

I've found these lists very helpful in the past. Often list members
will ask for additional information to hopes of finding a solution. I
can't recall any complaints of boredom or posts wasting people's time.
I don't think you have anything to fear :) On the contrary, developers
in particular and members in general like to hear about how people are
using PostgreSQL, what they'd like to do with PostgreSQL, and what
people are doing to accomplish what they want. If you were to go into
details, you'd probably find people giving you additional help. As for
myself, I probably won't be able to help, but I'm definitely curious as
to what you're working on. Care to share? :)

>  I only humbly
> asked for help with the documentation in a thread that was
> 'on topic' ;) i.e., something I thought *ought to be*
> documented (and - at least as fas as item '1' above is
> concerned - for puposes other than mine!), but was unable
> to find. I'll keep looking.

What you're looking to do is much more developer level than user level.
I'm guessing you're going to get pretty deep into the code, much
further than I have any experience with. In another post, it looks like
Tom Lane pointed you towards the relevant files, or at least a place
where you can get your feet wet.

Good luck!

Michael Glaesemann
grzm myrealbox com