INSERT INTO .. SELECT nextval() ORDER BY - returns unexpectedly ordered values - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

From Sjon Hortensius
Subject INSERT INTO .. SELECT nextval() ORDER BY - returns unexpectedly ordered values
Date
Msg-id CAK_tfuaVhgA-5=VRycf-P9p_GoU1KDpPikkQeDtojXU=MpGOew@mail.gmail.com
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Responses Re: INSERT INTO .. SELECT nextval() ORDER BY - returns unexpectedly ordered values  (Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>)
List pgsql-bugs
It seems I have found a bug in the way postgres combines sequences and
ORDER BY with internal data ordering.

I have a table that has an `id`, where values were inserted somewhat
randomly. I wanted to re-order the rows a assign a new `id`, so I created a
sequence and did INSERT INTO .. SELECT. What I didn't understand is the
rows came out ordered correctly, but the new id's didn't. Instead of
incrementing correctly they seemed to follow the original ordering of the
rows.

I have reduced this to the following testcase:

CREATE TABLE test (
    name character varying(4),
    id smallint NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE test2 (like test);
ALTER TABLE test2 ADD old_id smallint;

INSERT INTO test VALUES ('c', 13);
INSERT INTO test VALUES ('d', 14);
INSERT INTO test VALUES ('a', 11);
INSERT INTO test VALUES ('b', 12);

CREATE TEMPORARY SEQUENCE tmp START 1;
INSERT INTO test2 SELECT name, nextval('tmp'), id FROM test ORDER BY id ASC;

SELECT * FROM test2;

What I expected:

name  id  old_id
a    1    11
b    2    12
c    3    13
d    4    14

What I got:

name  id  old_id
a    3    11
b    4    12
c    1    13
d    2    14

I have worked around this by clustering the old table on the new id before
SELECTing but this behavior doesn't seem to be documented, is this a bug?

Thanks,
Sjon

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