Re: log_min_messages per backend type - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Tan Yang
Subject Re: log_min_messages per backend type
Date
Msg-id tencent_3A00C6E675F356FC8EA915E4C670ABDAD609@qq.com
Whole thread Raw
List pgsql-hackers
Hi,

I applied this patch, and I have a few thoughts.

=== Issue 1: Unhelpful error messages for typos ===

When users make typos in process types or log levels, the current error
messages don't provide helpful hints. For example:

```
    testdb=# SET log_min_messages TO 'autovacum:debug1, warning';
    ERROR:  invalid value for parameter "log_min_messages": "autovacum:debug1, warning"
    DETAIL:  Unrecognized process type: "autovacum".

    testdb=# SET log_min_messages TO 'autovacuum:debug1, warnong';
    ERROR:  invalid value for parameter "log_min_messages": "autovacuum:debug1, warnong"
    DETAIL:  Unrecognized log level: "warnong".
```

typed in a wrong process type or log level, I got stuck.
Where to find the right values? We can add HINT, to list all candidate values.
I have seen a similar change that lists all valid values in HINT. See [1].

=== Issue 2: Confusing error message for duplicate generic settings ===

The error message for duplicate generic log levels isn't immediately clear:

```
    testdb=# SET log_min_messages TO 'debug1, backend:error, fatal';
    ERROR:  invalid value for parameter "log_min_messages": "debug1, backend:error, fatal"
    DETAIL:  Generic log level was already assigned.
```

This DETAIL message is unclear. It leads to a misunderstanding that a previous SET had assigned the generic log level.
I think  "Only one default log level may be specified.” would be better.

=== Issue 3: Minor optimization for ptype allocation ===
In the following code snippet:

```
+ ptype = guc_malloc(LOG, (sep - tok) + 1);
+ if (!ptype)
+ {
+ guc_free(rawstring);
+ list_free(elemlist);
+ return false;
+ }
```

"ptype" is a temp buffer to store parsed process type, I think it can be allocated from stack. Because the valid values are not long
we could use like:
    char ptype[MAXNAMELEN];

This would eliminate the need for allocation failure handling and simplify
memory management, as we wouldn't need to worry about freeing it before
every return path.




------------------ 原始邮件 ------------------
发件人: "Alvaro Herrera" <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org>;
发送时间: 2025年12月10日(星期三) 凌晨2:24
收件人: "Euler Taveira"<euler@eulerto.com>;
抄送: "japin"<japinli@hotmail.com>;"Andres Freund"<andres@anarazel.de>;"pgsql-hackers"<pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>;"Chao Li"<li.evan.chao@gmail.com>;
主题: Re: log_min_messages per backend type

On 2025-Dec-09, Alvaro Herrera wrote:

> So here's your v6 again with those fixes as 0003 -- let's see what CI
> thinks of this.  I haven't looked at your doc changes yet.

This passed CI, so I have marked it as Ready for Committer.  Further
comments are still welcome, of course, but if there are none, I intend
to get it committed in a few days.


I'm not really happy with our usage of the translatable description
field for things such as %b in log_line_prefix or the ps display; I
think we should use the shorter names there instead.  Otherwise, you end
up with log lines that look something like this (visible in a server
with %b in log_line_prefix, which the TAP tests as well as pg_regress
have):

  2025-12-08 21:38:04.304 CET autovacuum launcher[2452437] DEBUG: autovacuum launcher started

where the bit before the PID is marked for translation.  I think it
should rather be

  2025-12-08 21:38:04.304 CET autovacuum[2452437] DEBUG: autovacuum launcher started

where that name (the same we'll use in log_min_messages) is not
translated.

However, this issue is rather independent of the patch in this thread,
so I'm going to discuss it in another thread; the name string though is
added by this patch.

--
Álvaro Herrera        Breisgau, Deutschland  —  https://www.EnterpriseDB.com/
"Java is clearly an example of money oriented programming"  (A. Stepanov)

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