Re: Ambiguous description on new columns - Mailing list pgsql-docs

From Guillaume Lelarge
Subject Re: Ambiguous description on new columns
Date
Msg-id CAECtzeWRtZTcXgyr19Zx6r9yPdQqw-_XbUXeJx6YppRNubPF8A@mail.gmail.com
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In response to Ambiguous description on new columns  (PG Doc comments form <noreply@postgresql.org>)
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Hi,

Le mar. 21 mai 2024 à 12:40, PG Doc comments form <noreply@postgresql.org> a écrit :
The following documentation comment has been logged on the website:

Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/logical-replication-col-lists.html
Description:

The documentation on this page mentions:

"If no column list is specified, any columns added later are automatically
replicated."

It feels ambiguous what this could mean. Does it mean:

1/ That if you alter the table on the publisher and add a new column, it
will be replicated

2/ If you add a column list later and add a column to it, it will be
replicated

In both cases, does the subscriber automatically create this column if it
wasn't there before? I recall reading that the initial data synchronization
requires the schema of the publisher database to be created on the
subscriber first. But then later updates sync newly created columns? I don't
recall any pages on logical replication mentioning this, up to this point.


It feels ambiguous. DDL commands are not replicated, so the new columns don't appear automagically on the subscriber. You have to add them to the subscriber. But values of new columns are replicated, whether or not you have added the new columns on the subscriber.

Regards.


--
Guillaume.

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