Fix corner-case loss of precision in numeric_power().

This fixes a loss of precision that occurs when the first input is
very close to 1, so that its logarithm is very small.

Formerly, during the initial low-precision calculation to estimate the
result weight, the logarithm was computed to a local rscale that was
capped to NUMERIC_MAX_DISPLAY_SCALE (1000). However, the base may be
as close as 1e-16383 to 1, hence its logarithm may be as small as
1e-16383, and so the local rscale needs to be allowed to exceed 16383,
otherwise all precision is lost, leading to a poor choice of rscale
for the full-precision calculation.

Fix this by removing the cap on the local rscale during the initial
low-precision calculation, as we already do in the full-precision
calculation. This doesn't change the fact that the initial calculation
is a low-precision approximation, computing the logarithm to around 8
significant digits, which is very fast, especially when the base is
very close to 1.

Patch by me, reviewed by Alvaro Herrera.

Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CAEZATCV-Ceu%2BHpRMf416yUe4KKFv%3DtdgXQAe5-7S9tD%3D5E-T1g%40mail.gmail.com
This commit is contained in:
Dean Rasheed 2021-10-06 13:24:22 +01:00
parent 086cda1d98
commit 0de8f9bc86
3 changed files with 12 additions and 1 deletions

View File

@ -8050,9 +8050,13 @@ power_var(NumericVar *base, NumericVar *exp, NumericVar *result)
*/ */
ln_dweight = estimate_ln_dweight(base); ln_dweight = estimate_ln_dweight(base);
/*
* Set the scale for the low-precision calculation, computing ln(base) to
* around 8 significant digits. Note that ln_dweight may be as small as
* -SHRT_MAX, so the scale may exceed NUMERIC_MAX_DISPLAY_SCALE here.
*/
local_rscale = 8 - ln_dweight; local_rscale = 8 - ln_dweight;
local_rscale = Max(local_rscale, NUMERIC_MIN_DISPLAY_SCALE); local_rscale = Max(local_rscale, NUMERIC_MIN_DISPLAY_SCALE);
local_rscale = Min(local_rscale, NUMERIC_MAX_DISPLAY_SCALE);
ln_var(base, &ln_base, local_rscale); ln_var(base, &ln_base, local_rscale);

View File

@ -1606,6 +1606,12 @@ select coalesce(nullif(0.9999999999 ^ 23300000000000, 0), 0) as rounds_to_zero;
0 0
(1 row) (1 row)
select round(((1 - 1.500012345678e-1000) ^ 1.45e1003) * 1e1000);
round
----------------------------------------------------------
25218976308958387188077465658068501556514992509509282366
(1 row)
-- cases that used to error out -- cases that used to error out
select 0.12 ^ (-25); select 0.12 ^ (-25);
?column? ?column?

View File

@ -899,6 +899,7 @@ select 1.2 ^ 345;
select 0.12 ^ (-20); select 0.12 ^ (-20);
select 1.000000000123 ^ (-2147483648); select 1.000000000123 ^ (-2147483648);
select coalesce(nullif(0.9999999999 ^ 23300000000000, 0), 0) as rounds_to_zero; select coalesce(nullif(0.9999999999 ^ 23300000000000, 0), 0) as rounds_to_zero;
select round(((1 - 1.500012345678e-1000) ^ 1.45e1003) * 1e1000);
-- cases that used to error out -- cases that used to error out
select 0.12 ^ (-25); select 0.12 ^ (-25);