Thread: PGADMIN default storage EXTENDED for Character fields

I am using PGADMIN III v1.1.0 Windows to set up PostgreSQL tables on a
Linux Server, RedHat 9. Every time I create a character field, even just
one character wide, the PGADMIN uses EXTENDED as the default storage type.
Is this normal? I can't find anything about why this would be done in the
PostgreSQL documentation or the Internet. It seems to me it will be very
messy if every character field is in a secondary table. I would have
thought the EXTENDED would only be for very large character fields.

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Margaret Gillon, IS Dept., Chromalloy Los Angeles, ext. 297

MargaretGillon@chromalloy.com writes:
> I am using PGADMIN III v1.1.0 Windows to set up PostgreSQL tables on a
> Linux Server, RedHat 9. Every time I create a character field, even just
> one character wide, the PGADMIN uses EXTENDED as the default storage type.
> Is this normal?

Yes, this is the standard behavior.

> It seems to me it will be very messy if every character field is in a
> secondary table. I would have thought the EXTENDED would only be for
> very large character fields.

No, you are misunderstanding.  EXTENDED storage *allows* Postgres to
move large field values out to a secondary table.  If a particular entry
is not large, then it won't be moved out.

Choosing one of the other storage options restricts Postgres from moving
data out, which can make things faster but also exposes you to a risk of
"row too large" errors.  So I'd not recommend doing it unless you are
quite sure you know what you're doing and what your data will look like.

            regards, tom lane