Thread: Idea: Comments on system catalogs?
Hello. I think it could be a nice idea to put descriptions from http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/catalogs.html into system catalogs itself. I.e., make a bunch of COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relname IS 'Name of the table, index, view, etc.'; ... COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relkind IS 'r = ordinary table, i = index, S = sequence, v = view, c = composite type, t = TOAST table'; and so on. I think it could be helpful, when you're writing your own selects on system catalogs. Perhaps it could be optional (as a contrib .sql file). If you like the idea, I could prepare a script which will convert documentation into .sql file with series of COMMENT ON .. IS ...; Regards, Dawid
On Wed, Jul 04, 2007 at 01:03:20PM +0200, Dawid Kuroczko wrote: > Hello. > > I think it could be a nice idea to put descriptions from > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/catalogs.html > into system catalogs itself. I.e., make a bunch of > > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relname > IS 'Name of the table, index, view, etc.'; > ... > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relkind > IS 'r = ordinary table, i = index, S = sequence, v = view, c = > composite type, t = TOAST table'; > > and so on. > > I think it could be helpful, when you're writing your own selects > on system catalogs. > > Perhaps it could be optional (as a contrib .sql file). > > If you like the idea, I could prepare a script which will > convert documentation into .sql file with series of > COMMENT ON .. IS ...; Actually, this does exist for some things in the catalog; I suspect it just wasn't done in the past (perhaps Postgres didn't originally have comments). I think it would be a useful addition. But I think it'd need to be more than just a .sql file (initdb would probably need to be modified). Ideally, we'd be able to suck the info out of the appropriate .sgml files. -- Jim Nasby decibel@decibel.org EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com 512.569.9461 (cell)
Jim C. Nasby wrote: -- Start of PGP signed section. > On Wed, Jul 04, 2007 at 01:03:20PM +0200, Dawid Kuroczko wrote: > > Hello. > > > > I think it could be a nice idea to put descriptions from > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/catalogs.html > > into system catalogs itself. I.e., make a bunch of > > > > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relname > > IS 'Name of the table, index, view, etc.'; > > ... > > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relkind > > IS 'r = ordinary table, i = index, S = sequence, v = view, c = > > composite type, t = TOAST table'; > > > > and so on. > > > > I think it could be helpful, when you're writing your own selects > > on system catalogs. > > > > Perhaps it could be optional (as a contrib .sql file). > > > > If you like the idea, I could prepare a script which will > > convert documentation into .sql file with series of > > COMMENT ON .. IS ...; > > Actually, this does exist for some things in the catalog; I suspect it > just wasn't done in the past (perhaps Postgres didn't originally have > comments). I think it would be a useful addition. But I think it'd need > to be more than just a .sql file (initdb would probably need to be > modified). Ideally, we'd be able to suck the info out of the appropriate > .sgml files. Added to TODO: * Add comments on system tables/columns using the information in catalogs.sgml Ideally the information would be pulled from the SGML file automatically. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> http://momjian.us EnterpriseDB http://postgres.enterprisedb.com + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +
On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 3:51 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote: ~> Jim C. Nasby wrote: > > On Wed, Jul 04, 2007 at 01:03:20PM +0200, Dawid Kuroczko wrote: > > > Hello. > > > > > > I think it could be a nice idea to put descriptions from > > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/catalogs.html > > > into system catalogs itself. I.e., make a bunch of > > > > > > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relname > > > IS 'Name of the table, index, view, etc.'; > > > ... > > > COMMENT ON COLUMN pg_class.relkind > > > IS 'r = ordinary table, i = index, S = sequence, v = view, c = > > > composite type, t = TOAST table'; > > > > > Actually, this does exist for some things in the catalog; I suspect it > > just wasn't done in the past (perhaps Postgres didn't originally have > > comments). I think it would be a useful addition. But I think it'd need > > to be more than just a .sql file (initdb would probably need to be > > modified). Ideally, we'd be able to suck the info out of the appropriate > > .sgml files. > > Added to TODO: > > * Add comments on system tables/columns using the information in > catalogs.sgml > > Ideally the information would be pulled from the SGML file > automatically. Since I have raised the issue back then, I volunteer for doing this TODO. As I am lazy by nature, I am sure I will try to use SGML files instead of tediuos copy&paste routine. ;-) Regards, Dawid