Re: BUG #19086: pg_dump --data-only selects and do not uses index definitions for the dumped tables. - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 08:13:52AM +0000, PG Bug reporting form wrote:
> In case of system indexes corruption the collecting of index definitions can
> take a really long time.

I don't think this qualifies as a bug, but avoiding pg_dump queries when
possible seems like a good idea.  Is this a hypothetical problem or
something you've experienced?

> -       pg_log_info("reading indexes");
> -       getIndexes(fout, tblinfo, numTables);
> +       if (!dataOnly)
> +       {
> +               pg_log_info("reading indexes");
> +               getIndexes(fout, tblinfo, numTables);
> 
> -       pg_log_info("flagging indexes in partitioned tables");
> -       flagInhIndexes(fout, tblinfo, numTables);
> +               pg_log_info("flagging indexes in partitioned tables");
> +               flagInhIndexes(fout, tblinfo, numTables);
> +       }

I think we ordinarily leave it up to the get*() functions to return early.
For example, getPartitioningInfo() has this near the top:

    /* needn't bother if not dumping data */
    if (!fout->dopt->dumpData)
        return;

Also, we need to be certain that nothing getIndexes() gathers is ever used
for --data-only dumps.  That seems plausible, but I haven't looked closely.

-- 
nathan