Thread: Runtime Configuration Docs

Runtime Configuration Docs

From
Josh Berkus
Date:
Folks,

Attached is my altered version of RUNTIME.SGML, per the discussions on
re-ordering the runtime options on HACKERS.

My apologies that half the below are "newbie" questions; I am new to Docbook
and this is my first attempt to modify the official docs.  In my favor, the
re-organizing took about 4.5 hours of cut-and-paste.

Questions:
1) Can someone check my SGML?   I am not familiar with Docbook, and I did this
using a simple text editor (there being no Docbook Gui that I could find).

2) If it parses, can someone recommend a docbook-to-html tool so I can read
the darn thing?  I tried one off freshmeat but it didn't seem to work.

3) two new options, ADD_MISSING_FROM and HAS_RENDEZVOUS have been left blank.
Who will be documenting those?  I can do the first, if wanted.

4) The Hackers list has generally (Tom, Jan, Bruce) indicated that the
"developer" options (TRACE_*, WAL_DEBUG, ZERO_DAMAGED_PAGES, etc.) should
*not* go on the RUNTIME.SGML page.  Any idea where we can put them instead?

--
-Josh Berkus
 Aglio Database Solutions
 San Francisco

Attachment

Re: Runtime Configuration Docs

From
Tom Lane
Date:
Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
> 1) Can someone check my SGML?   I am not familiar with Docbook, and I did t=
> his=20
> using a simple text editor (there being no Docbook Gui that I could find).
> 2) If it parses, can someone recommend a docbook-to-html tool so I can read=
> =20
> the darn thing?  I tried one off freshmeat but it didn't seem to work.

Given that you've installed all the tools mentioned in the docs section
on how to build the docs, a quick "make" in doc/src/sgml should do the
trick for both.

I fooled around making this happen on my Red Hat 8.0 box just recently.
My recollection is that all the tools were installed already (though I
may have made a point of selecting them when I installed the distro) ...
but I had to tweak a couple of symlinks that were pointing to the wrong
places before Postgres' configure would agree that I had a working doc
toolchain.

> 3) two new options, ADD_MISSING_FROM and HAS_RENDEZVOUS have been left blan=
> k.=20=20=20
> Who will be documenting those?  I can do the first, if wanted.

The docs for the former should have been in the commit that implemented
it ... how old is the checkout you started from?  As for the latter, I
think Bruce is presently claiming we don't need a GUC variable at all
for it.

> 4) The Hackers list has generally (Tom, Jan, Bruce) indicated that the=20
> "developer" options (TRACE_*, WAL_DEBUG, ZERO_DAMAGED_PAGES, etc.) should=
> =20
> *not* go on the RUNTIME.SGML page.  Any idea where we can put them instead?

If we're going to document them, then that's the file they belong in.
Just make a separate subsection with an appropriate title.

            regards, tom lane

Re: Runtime Configuration Docs

From
Bruce Momjian
Date:
Tom Lane wrote:
> Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
> > 1) Can someone check my SGML?   I am not familiar with Docbook, and I did t=
> > his=20
> > using a simple text editor (there being no Docbook Gui that I could find).
> > 2) If it parses, can someone recommend a docbook-to-html tool so I can read=
> > =20
> > the darn thing?  I tried one off freshmeat but it didn't seem to work.
>
> Given that you've installed all the tools mentioned in the docs section
> on how to build the docs, a quick "make" in doc/src/sgml should do the
> trick for both.
>
> I fooled around making this happen on my Red Hat 8.0 box just recently.
> My recollection is that all the tools were installed already (though I
> may have made a point of selecting them when I installed the distro) ...
> but I had to tweak a couple of symlinks that were pointing to the wrong
> places before Postgres' configure would agree that I had a working doc
> toolchain.
>
> > 3) two new options, ADD_MISSING_FROM and HAS_RENDEZVOUS have been left blan=
> > k.=20=20=20
> > Who will be documenting those?  I can do the first, if wanted.
>
> The docs for the former should have been in the commit that implemented
> it ... how old is the checkout you started from?  As for the latter, I
> think Bruce is presently claiming we don't need a GUC variable at all
> for it.

I got the email from Chris stating you do need unique service names to
allow two different postmasters to be seen via Rendezvous, so I do think
it is necessary --- I just haven't gotten to it --- and if not set, it
will default to the hostname, and people using two postmasters will have
to set it on at least on of them to be seen.

--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

Re: Runtime Configuration Docs

From
Josh Berkus
Date:
Tom,

> Given that you've installed all the tools mentioned in the docs section
> on how to build the docs, a quick "make" in doc/src/sgml should do the
> trick for both.

Yeah, I'm just having the same problem with the Docbook tools that I have with
other "old" Unix utilities like the Gnu tools and CVS; they've been around so
long that everyone assumes you know the commands, or at least the command
names ...

> The docs for the former should have been in the commit that implemented
> it ... how old is the checkout you started from?

Last Thursday or Friday.

> If we're going to document them, then that's the file they belong in.
> Just make a separate subsection with an appropriate title.

Will do.  How's "Source Development Options" strike you?

--
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco