Re: heap_tuple_needs_freeze false positive - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Robert Haas
Subject Re: heap_tuple_needs_freeze false positive
Date
Msg-id CA+TgmoZJSv3F=6KpmLCe6rPrbu5WygL=S_tkOmiDV_pG_t=MpA@mail.gmail.com
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In response to heap_tuple_needs_freeze false positive  (Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org>)
Responses Re: heap_tuple_needs_freeze false positive  (Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>)
List pgsql-hackers
On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 8:01 PM, Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org> wrote:
> Suggested patch attached.  I'd backpatch this as far as it applies
> cleanly.

This is new code in 9.2, but it's modelled on heap_freeze_tuple(), which is old.

I'm not convinced that it's a bug.  Suppose that xmax is set but is
hinted as invalid.  We process the table and advanced relfrozenxid;
then, we crash.  After recovery, it's possible that the hint bit is
gone (after all, setting hint bits isn't WAL-logged).  Now we're in
big trouble, because the next CLOG lookup on that xmax value might not
happen until it's been reused, and we might get a different answer
than before.

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company


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