Thread: deferring ForeignKey checks when you didn't set a deferrable constraint ?

deferring ForeignKey checks when you didn't set a deferrable constraint ?

From
Jonathan Vanasco
Date:
I have a core table with tens-of-millions of rows, and need to delete about a million records.

There are 21 foreign key checks against this table.  Based on the current performance, it would take a few days to make
mydeletions. 

None of the constraints were defined as `DEFERRABLE INITIALLY IMMEDIATE', so I'm out of luck on deferring them.

Dropping/redefining constraints looks to be an ordeal --  and something I'm scared to make a mistake on.

i looked into disabling triggers on a table, but I couldn't find any info on how to trigger at the end of the
transactionso I can ensure integrity. 

does anyone have suggestions on things that might work?


Re: deferring ForeignKey checks when you didn't set a deferrable constraint ?

From
Melvin Davidson
Date:
Try the following queries. It will give you two .sql files (create_fkeys.sql & drop_fkeys.sql).


First review them to make sure they look ok.
Then execute the drop_fkeys.sql
ie: \i drop_fkeys.sql

Do your deletes, then rebuild your fk's with
\i create_fkeys.sql

Good luck.


==========================================================
-- CREATE STATEMENT FOR ALL FK's

\o create_fkeys.sql

SELECT E'\\timing';

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' || n.nspname || '.' || '"' || t.relname || '"'
       || ' ADD CONSTRAINT ' || '"' || c.conname || '"'
       || ' '
       || pg_get_constraintdef( c.oid)
       || ';'
  FROM pg_class t
  JOIN pg_constraint c ON ( c.conrelid = t.OID AND c.contype = 'f')
  JOIN pg_namespace n ON (n.oid = t.relnamespace)
  JOIN pg_class f ON (f.oid = c.confrelid)
 WHERE c.contype = 'f'
   AND t.relkind = 'r'
   AND t.relname NOT LIKE 'pg_%'
   AND t.relname NOT LIKE 'sql_%'
   ORDER BY n.nspname,
            t.relname;


-- DROP FK's

\o drop_fkeys.sql

SELECT E'\\timing';

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' || n.nspname || '.' || '"' || t.relname || '"'
       || ' DROP CONSTRAINT ' || '"' || c.conname || '"' || ' CASCADE;'
  FROM pg_class t
  JOIN pg_constraint c ON ( c.conrelid = t.OID AND c.contype = 'f')
  JOIN pg_namespace n ON (n.oid = t.relnamespace)
  JOIN pg_class f ON (f.oid = c.confrelid)
 WHERE c.contype = 'f'
   AND t.relkind = 'r'
   AND t.relname NOT LIKE 'pg_%'
   AND t.relname NOT LIKE 'sql_%'
   ORDER BY 1;


On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 5:13 PM, Jonathan Vanasco <postgres@2xlp.com> wrote:

I have a core table with tens-of-millions of rows, and need to delete about a million records.

There are 21 foreign key checks against this table.  Based on the current performance, it would take a few days to make my deletions.

None of the constraints were defined as `DEFERRABLE INITIALLY IMMEDIATE', so I'm out of luck on deferring them.

Dropping/redefining constraints looks to be an ordeal --  and something I'm scared to make a mistake on.

i looked into disabling triggers on a table, but I couldn't find any info on how to trigger at the end of the transaction so I can ensure integrity.

does anyone have suggestions on things that might work?


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--
Melvin Davidson
I reserve the right to fantasize.  Whether or not you
wish to share my fantasy is entirely up to you.

Re: deferring ForeignKey checks when you didn't set a deferrable constraint ?

From
Jonathan Vanasco
Date:
On Nov 20, 2014, at 6:00 PM, Melvin Davidson wrote:

> Try the following queries. It will give you two .sql files (create_fkeys.sql & drop_fkeys.sql).

Thanks!

I tried a variation of that to create DEFERRABLE constraints, and that was a mess.  It appears all the checks ran at
theend of the transaction individually – the process consumed 100% cpu overnight and was stuck on the 'commit' after 16
hours..

So I crossed my fingers and tried your code like this:

    BEGIN;
    DROP CONSTRAINT ..... x24;
    DELETE;
    ADD CONSTRAINT ..... x24;
    COMMIT;

And that took just over 24 seconds.