postgres/HISTORY

2113 lines
92 KiB
Plaintext

PostgreSQL Release History
by The PostgreSQL Development Team
PostgreSQL is Copyright © 1996-9 by the Postgres Global Development Group.
Table of Contents
Release 6.5.3
Migration to v6.5.3
Detailed Change List
Release 6.5.2
Migration to v6.5.2
Detailed Change List
Release 6.5.1
Migration to v6.5.1
Detailed Change List
Release 6.5
Migration to v6.5
Multi-Version Concurrency Control
Detailed Change List
Release 6.4.2
Migration to v6.4.2
Detailed Change List
Release 6.4.1
Migration to v6.4.1
Detailed Change List
Release 6.4
Migration to v6.4
Detailed Change List
Release 6.3.2
Detailed Change List
Release 6.3.1
Detailed Change List
Release 6.3
Migration to v6.3
Detailed Change List
Release 6.2.1
Migration from v6.2 to v6.2.1
Detailed Change List
Release 6.2
Migration from v6.1 to v6.2
Migration from v1.x to v6.2
Detailed Change List
Release 6.1.1
Migration from v6.1 to v6.1.1
Detailed Change List
Release 6.1
Migration to v6.1
Detailed Change List
Release v6.0
Migration from v1.09 to v6.0
Migration from pre-v1.09 to v6.0
Detailed Change List
Release v1.09
Release v1.02
Migration from v1.02 to v1.02.1
Dump/Reload Procedure
Detailed Change List
Release v1.01
Migration from v1.0 to v1.01
Detailed Change List
Release v1.0
Detailed Change List
Postgres95 Beta 0.03
Detailed Change List
Postgres95 Beta 0.02
Detailed Change List
Postgres95 Beta 0.01
Release 6.5.3
This is basically a cleanup release for 6.5.2. We have added a
new pgaccess that was missing in 6.5.2, and installed an
NT-specific fix.
Migration to v6.5.3
A dump/restore is not required for those running 6.5.*.
Detailed Change List
Updated version of pgaccess 0.98
NT-specific patch
Release 6.5.2
This is basically a cleanup release for 6.5.1. We have fixed a
variety of problems reported by 6.5.1 users.
Migration to v6.5.2
A dump/restore is not required for those running 6.5 or 6.5.1.
Detailed Change List
subselect+CASE fixes(Tom)
Add SHLIB_LINK setting for solaris_i386 and solaris_sparc ports(Daren
Sefcik)
Fixes for CASE in WHERE join clauses(Tom)
Fix BTScan abort(Tom)
Repair the check for redundant UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY indices(Thomas)
Improve it so that it checks for multi-column constraints(Tom)
Fix for Win32 making problem with MB enabled(Hiroki Kataoka)
Allow BSD yacc and bison to compile pl code(Bruce)
Fix SET NAMES
int8 fixes(Thomas)
Fix vacuum's memory consumption(Hiroshi,Tatsuo)
Reduce the total memory consumption of vacuum(Tom)
Fix for timestamp(datetime)
Rule deparsing bugfixes(Tom)
Fix quoting problems in mkMakefile.tcldefs.sh.in and
mkMakefile.tkdefs.sh.in(Tom)
This is to re-use space on index pages freed by vacuum(Vadim)
document -x for pg_dump(Bruce)
Fix for unary operators in rule deparser(Tom)
Comment out FileUnlink of excess segments during mdtruncate()(Tom)
Irix linking fix from Yu Cao <yucao@falcon.kla-tencor.com>
Repair logic error in LIKE: should not return LIKE_ABORT
when reach end of pattern before end of text(Tom)
Repair incorrect cleanup of heap memory allocation during transaction
abort(Tom)
Updated version of pgaccess 0.98
Release 6.5.1
This is basically a cleanup release for 6.5. We have fixed a
variety of problems reported by 6.5 users.
Migration to v6.5.1
A dump/restore is not required for those running 6.5.
Detailed Change List
Fix for datetime constant problem on some platforms(Thomas)
Add NT README file
Portability fixes for linux_ppc, Irix, linux_alpha, OpenBSD, alpha
Remove QUERY_LIMIT, use SELECT...LIMIT
Fix for EXPLAIN on inheritance(Tom)
Patch to allow vacuum on multi-segment tables(Hiroshi)
R-Tree optimizer selectivity fix(Tom)
ACL file descriptor leak fix(Atsushi Ogawa)
New expresssion subtree code(Tom)
Avoid disk writes for read-only transactions(Vadim)
Fix for removal of temp tables if last transaction was aborted(Bruce)
Fix to prevent too large tuple from being created(Bruce)
plpgsql fixes
Allow port numbers 32k - 64k(Bruce)
Add ^ precedence(Bruce)
Rename sort files called pg_temp to pg_sorttemp(Bruce)
Fix for microseconds in time values(Tom)
Tutorial source cleanup
New linux_m68k port
Fix for sorting of NULL's in some cases(Tom)
Shared library dependencies fixed (Tom)
Fixed glitches affecting GROUP BY in subselects(Tom)
Fix some compiler warnings (Tomoaki Nishiyama)
Add Win1250 (Czech) support (Pavel Behal)
Release 6.5
This release marks a major step in the development team's mastery
of the source code we inherited from Berkeley. You will see we are
now easily adding major features, thanks to the increasing size and
experience of our world-wide development team.
Here is a brief summary of the more notable changes:
Multi-version concurrency control(MVCC)
This removes our old table-level locking, and replaces it with a
locking system that is superior to most commercial database
systems. In a traditional system, each row that is modified is
locked until committed, preventing reads by other users. MVCC
uses the natural multi-version nature of PostgreSQL to allow
readers to continue reading consistent data during writer
activity. Writers continue to use the compact pg_log transaction
system. This is all performed without having to allocate a lock
for every row like traditional database systems. So, basically,
we no longer are restricted by simple table-level locking; we
have something better than row-level locking.
Hot backups from pg_dump
pg_dump takes advantage of the new MVCC features to give a
consistant database dump/backup while the database stays online
and available for queries.
Numeric data type
We now have a true numeric data type, with user-specified
precision.
Temporary tables
Temporary tables are guaranteed to have unique names within a
database session, and are destroyed on session exit.
New SQL features
We now have CASE, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT statement support. We
have new LIMIT/OFFSET, SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL, SELECT
... FOR UPDATE, and an improved LOCK TABLE command.
Speedups
We continue to speed up PostgreSQL, thanks to the variety of
talents within our team. We have sped up memory allocation,
optimization, table joins, and row transfer routines.
Ports
We continue to expand our port list, this time including
WinNT/ix86 and NetBSD/arm32.
Interfaces
Most interfaces have new versions, and existing functionality
has been improved.
Documentation
New and updated material is present throughout the
documentation. New FAQs have been contributed for SGI and AIX
platforms. The Tutorial has introductory information on SQL from
Stefan Simkovics. For the User's Guide, there are reference pages
covering the postmaster and more utility programs, and a new
appendix contains details on date/time behavior. The
Administrator's Guide has a new chapter on troubleshooting from
Tom Lane. And the Programmer's Guide has a description of query
processing, also from Stefan, and details on obtaining the
Postgres source tree via anonymous CVS and CVSup.
Migration to v6.5
A dump/restore using pg_dump is required for those wishing to
migrate data from any previous release of Postgres. pg_upgrade can
not be used to upgrade to this release because the on-disk structure
of the tables has changed compared to previous releases.
The new Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC) features can give
somewhat different behaviors in multi-user environments. Read and
understand the following section to ensure that your existing
applications will give you the behavior you need.
Multi-Version Concurrency Control
Because readers in 6.5 don't lock data, regardless of transaction
isolation level, data read by one transaction can be overwritten by
another. In other words, if a row is returned by SELECT it doesn't
mean that this row really exists at the time it is returned (i.e.
sometime after the statement or transaction began) nor that the row
is protected from being deleted or updated by concurrent
transactions before the current transaction does a commit or
rollback.
To ensure the actual existence of a row and protect it against
concurrent updates one must use SELECT FOR UPDATE or an appropriate
LOCK TABLE statement. This should be taken into account when porting
applications from previous releases of Postgres and other
environments.
Keep the above in mind if you are using contrib/refint.* triggers
for referential integrity. Additional technics are required now. One
way is to use LOCK parent_table IN SHARE ROW EXCLUSIVE MODE command
if a transaction is going to update/delete a primary key and use
LOCK parent_table IN SHARE MODE command if a transaction is going to
update/insert a foreign key.
Note: Note that if you run a transaction in SERIALIZABLE mode
then you must execute the LOCK commands above before execution of
any DML statement (SELECT/INSERT/DELETE/UPDATE/FETCH/COPY_TO) in
the transaction.
These inconveniences will disappear in the future when the ability
to read dirty (uncommitted) data (regardless of isolation level) and
true referential integrity will be implemented.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
Fix text<->float8 and text<->float4 conversion functions(Thomas)
Fix for creating tables with mixed-case constraints(Billy)
Change exp()/pow() behavior to generate error on
underflow/overflow(Jan)
Fix bug in pg_dump -z
Memory overrun cleanups(Tatsuo)
Fix for lo_import crash(Tatsuo)
Adjust handling of data type names to suppress double quotes(Thomas)
Use type coersion for matching columns and DEFAULT(Thomas)
Fix deadlock so it only checks once after one second of sleep(Bruce)
Fixes for aggregates and PL/pgsql(Hiroshi)
Fix for subquery crash(Vadim)
Fix for libpq function PQfnumber and case-insensitive names(Bahman
Rafatjoo)
Fix for large object write-in-middle, no extra block, memory
consumption(Tatsuo)
Fix for pg_dump -d or -D and quote special characters in INSERT
Repair serious problems with dynahash(Tom)
Fix INET/CIDR portability problems
Fix problem with selectivity error in ALTER TABLE ADD COLUMN(Bruce)
Fix executor so mergejoin of different column types works(Tom)
Fix for Alpha OR selectivity bug
Fix OR index selectivity problem(Bruce)
Fix so \d shows proper length for char()/varchar()(Ryan)
Fix tutorial code(Clark)
Improve destroyuser checking(Oliver)
Fix for Kerberos(Rodney McDuff)
Fix for dropping database while dirty buffers(Bruce)
Fix so sequence nextval() can be case-sensitive(Bruce)
Fix !!= operator
Drop buffers before destroying database files(Bruce)
Fix case where executor evaluates functions twice(Tatsuo)
Allow sequence nextval actions to be case-sensitive(Bruce)
Fix optimizer indexing not working for negative numbers(Bruce)
Fix for memory leak in executor with fjIsNull
Fix for aggregate memory leaks(Erik Riedel)
Allow username containing a dash GRANT permissions
Cleanup of NULL in inet types
Clean up system table bugs(Tom)
Fix problems of PAGER and \? command(Masaaki Sakaida)
Reduce default multi-segment file size limit to 1GB(Peter)
Fix for dumping of CREATE OPERATOR(Tom)
Fix for backward scanning of cursors(Hiroshi Inoue)
Fix for COPY FROM STDIN when using \i(Tom)
Fix for subselect is compared inside an expression(Jan)
Fix handling of error reporting while returning rows(Tom)
Fix problems with reference to array types(Tom,Jan)
Prevent UPDATE SET oid(Jan)
Fix pg_dump so -t option can handle case-sensitive tablenames
Fixes for GROUP BY in special cases(Tom, Jan)
Fix for memory leak in failed queries(Tom)
DEFAULT now supports mixed-case identifiers(Tom)
Fix for multi-segment uses of DROP/RENAME table, indexes(Ole Gjerde)
Disable use of pg_dump with both -o and -d options(Bruce)
Allow pg_dump to properly dump GROUP permissions(Bruce)
Fix GROUP BY in INSERT INTO table SELECT * FROM table2(Jan)
Fix for computations in views(Jan)
Fix for aggregates on array indexes(Tom)
Fix for DEFAULT handles single quotes in value requiring too many
quotes
Fix security problem with non-super users importing/exporting large
objects(Tom)
Rollback of transaction that creates table cleaned up properly(Tom)
Fix to allow long table and column names to generate proper serial
names(Tom)
Enhancements
------------
Add "vacuumdb" utility
Speed up libpq by allocating memory better(Tom)
EXPLAIN all indices used(Tom)
Implement CASE, COALESCE, NULLIF expression(Thomas)
New pg_dump table output format(Constantin)
Add string min()/max() functions(Thomas)
Extend new type coersion techniques to aggregates(Thomas)
New moddatetime contrib(Terry)
Update to pgaccess 0.96(Constantin)
Add routines for single-byte "char" type(Thomas)
Improved substr() function(Thomas)
Improved multi-byte handling(Tatsuo)
Multi-version concurrency control/MVCC(Vadim)
New Serialized mode(Vadim)
Fix for tables over 2gigs(Peter)
New SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL(Vadim)
New LOCK TABLE IN ... MODE(Vadim)
Update ODBC driver(Byron)
New NUMERIC data type(Jan)
New SELECT FOR UPDATE(Vadim)
Handle "NaN" and "Infinity" for input values(Jan)
Improved date/year handling(Thomas)
Improved handling of backend connections(Magnus)
New options ELOG_TIMESTAMPS and USE_SYSLOG options for log
files(Massimo)
New TCL_ARRAYS option(Massimo)
New INTERSECT and EXCEPT(Stefan)
New pg_index.indisprimary for primary key tracking(D'Arcy)
New pg_dump option to allow dropping of tables before
creation(Brook)
Speedup of row output routines(Tom)
New READ COMMITTED isolation level(Vadim)
New TEMP tables/indexes(Bruce)
Prevent sorting if result is already sorted(Jan)
New memory allocation optimization(Jan)
Allow psql to do \p\g(Bruce)
Allow multiple rule actions(Jan)
Added LIMIT/OFFSET functionality(Jan)
Improve optimizer when joining a large number of tables(Bruce)
New intro to SQL from S. Simkovics' Master's Thesis (Stefan, Thomas)
New intro to backend processing from S. Simkovics' Master's Thesis
(Stefan)
Improved int8 support(Ryan Bradetich, Thomas, Tom)
New routines to convert between int8 and text/varchar types(Thomas)
New bushy plans, where meta-tables are joined(Bruce)
Enable right-hand queries by default(Bruce)
Allow reliable maximum number of backends to be set at configure
time
(--with-maxbackends and postmaster switch (-N backends))(Tom)
GEQO default now 10 tables because of optimizer speedups(Tom)
Allow NULL=Var for MS-SQL portability(Michael, Bruce)
Modify contrib check_primary_key() so either "automatic" or
"dependent"(Anand)
Allow psql \d on a view show query(Ryan)
Speedup for LIKE(Bruce)
Ecpg fixes/features, see src/interfaces/ecpg/ChangeLog file(Michael)
JDBC fixes/features, see src/interfaces/jdbc/CHANGELOG(Peter)
Make % operator have precedence like /(Bruce)
Add new postgres -O option to allow system table structure
changes(Bruce)
Update contrib/pginterface/findoidjoins script(Tom)
Major speedup in vacuum of deleted rows with indexes(Vadim)
Allow non-SQL functions to run different versions based on
arguments(Tom)
Add -E option that shows actual queries sent by \dt and
friends(Masaaki Sakaida)
Add version number in startup banners for psql(Masaaki Sakaida)
New contrib/vacuumlo removes large objects not referenced(Peter)
New initialization for table sizes so non-vacuumed tables perform
better(Tom)
Improve error messages when a connection is rejected(Tom)
Support for arrays of char() and varchar() fields(Massimo)
Overhaul of hash code to increase reliability and performance(Tom)
Update to PyGreSQL 2.4(D'Arcy)
Changed debug options so -d4 and -d5 produce different node
displays(Jan)
New pg_options: pretty_plan, pretty_parse, pretty_rewritten(Jan)
Better optimization statistics for system table access(Tom)
Better handling of non-default block sizes(Massimo)
Improve GEQO optimizer memory consumption(Tom)
UNION now suppports ORDER BY of columns not in target list(Jan)
Major libpq++ improvements(Vince Vielhaber)
pg_dump now uses -z(ACL's) as default(Bruce)
backend cache, memory speedups(Tom)
have pg_dump do everything in one snapshot transaction(Vadim)
fix for large object memory leakage, fix for pg_dumping(Tom)
INET type now respects netmask for comparisons
Make VACUUM ANALYZE only use a readlock(Vadim)
Allow VIEWs on UNIONS(Jan)
pg_dump now can generate consistent snapshots on active
databases(Vadim)
Source Tree Changes
-------------------
Improve port matching(Tom)
Portability fixes for SunOS
Add NT/Win32 backend port and enable dynamic loading(Magnus and
Daniel Horak)
New port to Cobalt Qube(Mips) running Linux(Tatsuo)
Port to NetBSD/m68k(Mr. Mutsuki Nakajima)
Port to NetBSD/sun3(Mr. Mutsuki Nakajima)
Port to NetBSD/macppc(Toshimi Aoki)
Fix for tcl/tk configuration(Vince)
Removed CURRENT keyword for rule queries(Jan)
NT dynamic loading now works(Daniel Horak)
Add ARM32 support(Andrew McMurry)
Better support for HPUX 11 and Unixware
Improve file handling to be more uniform, prevent file descriptor
leak(Tom)
New install commands for plpgsql(Jan)
Release 6.4.2
The 6.4.1 release was improperly packaged. This also has one
additional bug fix.
Migration to v6.4.2
A dump/restore is not required for those running 6.4.*.
Detailed Change List
Fix for datetime constant problem on some platforms(Thomas)
Release 6.4.1
This is basically a cleanup release for 6.4. We have fixed a variety
of problems reported by 6.4 users.
Migration to v6.4.1
A dump/restore is not required for those running 6.4.
Detailed Change List
Add pg_dump -N flag to force double quotes around identifiers. This
is
the default(Thomas)
Fix for NOT in where clause causing crash(Bruce)
EXPLAIN VERBOSE coredump fix(Vadim)
Fix shared-library problems on Linux
Fix test for table existance to allow mixed-case and whitespace in
the table name(Thomas)
Fix a couple of pg_dump bugs
Configure matches template/.similar entries better(Tom)
Change builtin function names from SPI_* to spi_*
OR WHERE clause fix(Vadim)
Fixes for mixed-case table names(Billy)
contrib/linux/postgres.init.csh/sh fix(Thomas)
libpq memory overrun fix
SunOS fixes(Tom)
Change exp() behavior to generate error on underflow(Thomas)
pg_dump fixes for memory leak, inheritance constraints, layout
change
update pgaccess to 0.93
Fix prototype for 64-bit platforms
Multi-byte fixes(Tatsuo)
New ecpg man page
Fix memory overruns(Tatsuo)
Fix for lo_import() crash(Bruce)
Better search for install program(Tom)
Timezone fixes(Tom)
HPUX fixes(Tom)
Use implicit type coersion for matching DEFAULT values(Thomas)
Add routines to help with single-byte (internal) character
type(Thomas)
Compilation of libpq for Win32 fixes(Magnus)
Upgrade to PyGreSQL 2.2(D'Arcy)
Release 6.4
There are many new features and improvements in this release. Thanks
to our developers and maintainers, nearly every aspect of the system
has received some attention since the previous release. Here is a
brief, incomplete summary:
o Views and rules are now functional thanks to extensive new code in
the rewrite rules system from Jan Wieck. He also wrote a chapter
on it for the Programmer's Guide.
o Jan also contributed a second procedural language, PL/pgSQL, to go
with the original PL/pgTCL procedural language he contributed last
release.
o We have optional multiple-byte character set support from Tatsuo
Iishi to complement our existing locale support.
o Client/server communications has been cleaned up, with better
support for asynchronous messages and interrupts thanks to Tom
Lane.
o The parser will now perform automatic type coersion to match
arguments to available operators and functions, and to match
columns and expressions with target columns. This uses a generic
mechanism which supports the type extensibility features of
Postgres. There is a new chapter in the User's Guide which covers
this topic.
o Three new data types have been added. Two types, inet and cidr,
support various forms of IP network, subnet, and machine
addressing. There is now an 8-byte integer type available on some
platforms. See the chapter on data types in the User's Guide for
details. A fourth type, serial, is now supported by the parser as
an amalgam of the int4 type, a sequence, and a unique index.
o Several more SQL92-compatible syntax features have been added,
including INSERT DEFAULT VALUES
o The automatic configuration and installation system has received
some attention, and should be more robust for more platforms than
it has ever been.
Migration to v6.4
A dump/restore using pg_dump or pg_dumpall is required for those
wishing to migrate data from any previous release of Postgres.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
Fix for a tiny memory leak in PQsetdb/PQfinish(Bryan)
Remove char2-16 data types, use char/varchar(Darren)
Pqfn not handles a NOTICE message(Anders)
Reduced busywaiting overhead for spinlocks with many backends (dg)
Stuck spinlock detection (dg)
Fix up "ISO-style" timespan decoding and encoding(Thomas)
Fix problem with table drop after rollback of transaction(Vadim)
Change error message and remove non-functional update message(Vadim)
Fix for COPY array checking
Fix for SELECT 1 UNION SELECT NULL
Fix for buffer leaks in large object calls(Pascal)
Change owner from oid to int4 type(Bruce)
Fix a bug in the oracle compatibility functions btrim() ltrim() and
rtrim()
Fix for shared invalidation cache overflow(Massimo)
Prevent file descriptor leaks in failed COPY's(Bruce)
Fix memory leak in libpgtcl's pg_select(Constantin)
Fix problems with username/passwords over 8 characters(Tom)
Fix problems with handling of asynchronous NOTIFY in backend(Tom)
Fix of many bad system table entries(Tom)
Enhancements
------------
Upgrade ecpg and ecpglib,see src/interfaces/ecpc/ChangeLog(Michael)
Show the index used in an EXPLAIN(Zeugswetter)
EXPLAIN invokes rule system and shows plan(s) for rewritten
queries(Jan)
Multi-byte awareness of many data types and functions, via
configure(Tatsuo)
New configure --with-mb option(Tatsuo)
New initdb --pgencoding option(Tatsuo)
New createdb -E multibyte option(Tatsuo)
Select version(); now returns PostgreSQL version(Jeroen)
Libpq now allows asynchronous clients(Tom)
Allow cancel from client of backend query(Tom)
Psql now cancels query with Control-C(Tom)
Libpq users need not issue dummy queries to get NOTIFY messages(Tom)
NOTIFY now sends sender's PID, so you can tell whether it was your
own(Tom)
PGresult struct now includes associated error message, if any(Tom)
Define "tz_hour" and "tz_minute" arguments to date_part()(Thomas)
Add routines to convert between varchar and bpchar(Thomas)
Add routines to allow sizing of varchar and bpchar into target
columns(Thomas)
Add bit flags to support timezonehour and minute in data
retrieval(Thomas)
Allow more variations on valid floating point numbers (e.g. ".1",
"1e6")(Thomas)
Fixes for unary minus parsing with leading spaces(Thomas)
Implement TIMEZONE_HOUR, TIMEZONE_MINUTE per SQL92 specs(Thomas)
Check for and properly ignore FOREIGN KEY column constraints(Thomas)
Define USER as synonym for CURRENT_USER per SQL92 specs(Thomas)
Enable HAVING clause but no fixes elsewhere yet.
Make "char" type a synonym for "char(1)" (actually implemented as
bpchar)(Thomas)
Save string type if specified for DEFAULT clause handling(Thomas)
Coerce operations involving different data types(Thomas)
Allow some index use for columns of different types(Thomas)
Add capabilities for automatic type conversion(Thomas)
Cleanups for large objects, so file is truncated on open(Peter)
Readline cleanups(Tom)
Allow psql \f \ to make spaces as delimiter(Bruce)
Pass pg_attribute.atttypmod to the frontend for column field
lengths(Tom,Bruce)
Msql compatibility library in /contrib(Aldrin)
Remove the requirement that ORDER/GROUP BY clause identifiers be
included in the target list(David)
Convert columns to match columns in UNION clauses(Thomas)
Remove fork()/exec() and only do fork()(Bruce)
Jdbc cleanups(Peter)
Show backend status on ps command line(only works on some
platforms)(Bruce)
Pg_hba.conf now has a sameuser option in the database field
Make lo_unlink take oid param, not int4
New DISABLE_COMPLEX_MACRO for compilers that can't handle our
macros(Bruce)
Libpgtcl now handles NOTIFY as a Tcl event, need not send dummy
queries(Tom)
libpgtcl cleanups(Tom)
Add -error option to libpgtcl's pg_result command(Tom)
New locale patch, see docs/README/locale(Oleg)
Fix for pg_dump so CONSTRAINT and CHECK syntax is correct(ccb)
New contrib/lo code for large object orphan removal(Peter)
New psql command "SET CLIENT_ENCODING TO 'encoding'" for multi-bytes
feature, see /doc/README.mb(Tatsuo)
/contrib/noupdate code to revoke update permission on a column
Libpq can now be compiled on win32(Magnus)
Add PQsetdbLogin() in libpq
New 8-byte integer type, checked by configure for OS support(Thomas)
Better support for quoted table/column names(Thomas)
Surround table and column names with double-quotes in
pg_dump(Thomas)
PQreset() now works with passwords(Tom)
Handle case of GROUP BY target list column number out of
range(David)
Allow UNION in subselects
Add auto-size to screen to \d? commands(Bruce)
Use UNION to show all \d? results in one query(Bruce)
Add \d? field search feature(Bruce)
Pg_dump issues fewer \connect requests(Tom)
Make pg_dump -z flag work better, document it in manual page(Tom)
Add HAVING clause with full support for subselects and
unions(Stephan)
Full text indexing routines in contrib/fulltextindex(Maarten)
Transaction ids now stored in shared memory(Vadim)
New PGCLIENTENCODING when issuing COPY command(Tatsuo)
Support for SQL92 syntax "SET NAMES"(Tatsuo)
Support for LATIN2-5(Tatsuo)
Add UNICODE regression test case(Tatsuo)
Lock manager cleanup, new locking modes for LLL(Vadim)
Allow index use with OR clauses(Bruce)
Allows "SELECT NULL ORDER BY 1;"
Explain VERBOSE prints the plan, and now pretty-prints the plan to
the postmaster log file(Bruce)
Add Indices display to \d command(Bruce)
Allow GROUP BY on functions(David)
New pg_class.relkind for large objects(Bruce)
New way to send libpq NOTICE messages to a different location(Tom)
New \w write command to psql(Bruce)
New /contrib/findoidjoins scans oid columns to find join
relationships(Bruce)
Allow binary-compatible indices to be considered when checking for
valid
indices for restriction clauses containing a constant(Thomas)
New ISBN/ISSN code in /contrib/isbn_issn
Allow NOT LIKE, IN, NOT IN, BETWEEN, and NOT BETWEEN
constraint(Thomas)
New rewrite system fixes many problems with rules and views(Jan)
* Rules on relations work
* Event qualifications on insert/update/delete work
* New OLD variable to reference CURRENT, CURRENT will be
remove in future
* Update rules can reference NEW and OLD in rule
qualifications/actions
* Insert/update/delete rules on views work
* Multiple rule actions are now supported, surrounded by
parentheses
* Regular users can create views/rules on tables they have
RULE permits
* Rules and views inherit the permissions on the creator
* No rules at the column level
* No UPDATE NEW/OLD rules
* New pg_tables, pg_indexes, pg_rules and pg_views system
views
* Only a single action on SELECT rules
* Total rewrite overhaul, perhaps for 6.5
* handle subselects
* handle aggregates on views
* handle insert into select from view works
System indexes are now multi-key(Bruce)
Oidint2, oidint4, and oidname types are removed(Bruce)
Use system cache for more system table lookups(Bruce)
New backend programming language PL/pgSQL in backend/pl(Jan)
New SERIAL data type, auto-creates sequence/index(Thomas)
Enable assert checking without a recompile(Massimo)
User lock enhancements(Massimo)
New setval() command to set sequence value(Massimo)
Auto-remove unix socket file on startup if no postmaster
running(Massimo)
Conditional trace package(Massimo)
New UNLISTEN command(Massimo)
Psql and libpq now compile under win32 using win32.mak(Magnus)
Lo_read no longer stores trailing NULL(Bruce)
Identifiers are now truncated to 31 characters internally(Bruce)
Createuser options now availble on the command line
Code for 64-bit integer supported added, configure tested, int8
type(Thomas)
Prevent file descriptor leaf from failed COPY(Bruce)
New pg_upgrade command(Bruce)
Updated /contrib directories(Massimo)
New CREATE TABLE DEFAULT VALUES statement available(Thomas)
New INSERT INTO TABLE DEFAULT VALUES statement available(Thomas)
New DECLARE and FETCH feature(Thomas)
libpq's internal structures now not exported(Tom)
Allow up to 8 key indexes(Bruce)
Remove ARCHIVE keyword, that is no longer used(Thomas)
pg_dump -n flag to supress quotes around indentifiers
disable system columns for views(Jan)
new INET and CIDR types for network addresses(TomH, Paul)
no more double quotes in psql output
pg_dump now dumps views(Terry)
new SET QUERY_LIMIT(Tatsuo,Jan)
Source Tree Changes
-------------------
/contrib cleanup(Jun)
Inline some small functions called for every row(Bruce)
Alpha/linux fixes
Hp/UX cleanups(Tom)
Multi-byte regression tests(Soonmyung.)
Remove --disabled options from configure
Define PGDOC to use POSTGRESDIR by default
Make regression optional
Remove extra braces code to pgindent(Bruce)
Add bsdi shared library support(Bruce)
New --without-CXX support configure option(Brook)
New FAQ_CVS
Update backend flowchart in tools/backend(Bruce)
Change atttypmod from int16 to int32(Bruce, Tom)
Getrusage() fix for platforms that do not have it(Tom)
Add PQconnectdb, PGUSER, PGPASSWORD to libpq man page
NS32K platform fixes(Phil Nelson, John Buller)
Sco 7/UnixWare 2.x fixes(Billy,others)
Sparc/Solaris 2.5 fixes(Ryan)
Pgbuiltin.3 is obsolete, move to doc files(Thomas)
Even more documention(Thomas)
Nextstep support(Jacek)
Aix support(David)
pginterface manual page(Bruce)
shared libraries all have version numbers
merged all OS-specific shared library defines into one file
smarter TCL/TK configuration checking(Billy)
smarter perl configuration(Brook)
configure uses supplied install-sh if no install script found(Tom)
new Makefile.shlib for shared library configuration(Tom)
Release 6.3.2
This is a bugfix release for 6.3.x. Refer to the release notes for
v6.3 for a more complete summary of new features.
Summary:
o Repairs automatic configuration support for some platforms,
including Linux, from breakage inadvertently introduced in v6.3.1.
o Correctly handles function calls on the left side of BETWEEN and
LIKE clauses.
A dump/restore is NOT required for those running 6.3 or 6.3.1. A
'make distclean', 'make', and 'make install' is all that is
required. This last step should be performed while the postmaster is
not running. You should re-link any custom applications that use
Postgres libraries.
For upgrades from pre-v6.3 installations, refer to the installation
and migration instructions for v6.3.
Detailed Change List
Changes
-------
Configure detection improvements for tcl/tk(Brook Milligan, Alvin)
Manual page improvements(Bruce)
BETWEEN and LIKE fix(Thomas)
fix for psql \connect used by pg_dump(Oliver Elphick)
New odbc driver
pgaccess, version 0.86
qsort removed, now uses libc version, cleanups(Jeroen)
fix for buffer over-runs detected(Maurice Gittens)
fix for buffer overrun in libpgtcl(Randy Kunkee)
fix for UNION with DISTINCT or ORDER BY(Bruce)
gettimeofday configure check(Doug Winterburn)
Fix "indexes not used" bug(Vadim)
docs additions(Thomas)
Fix for backend memory leak(Bruce)
libreadline cleanup(Erwan MAS)
Remove DISTDIR(Bruce)
Makefile dependency cleanup(Jeroen van Vianen)
ASSERT fixes(Bruce)
Release 6.3.1
Summary:
o Additional support for multi-byte character sets.
o Repair byte ordering for mixed-endian clients and servers.
o Minor updates to allowed SQL syntax.
o Improvements to the configuration autodetection for installation.
A dump/restore is NOT required for those running 6.3. A 'make
distclean', 'make', and 'make install' is all that is required. This
last step should be performed while the postmaster is not running.
You should re-link any custom applications that use Postgres
libraries.
For upgrades from pre-v6.3 installations, refer to the installation
and migration instructions for v6.3.
Detailed Change List
Changes
-------
ecpg cleanup/fixes, now version 1.1(Michael Meskes)
pg_user cleanup(Bruce)
large object fix for pg_dump and tclsh (alvin)
LIKE fix for multiple adjacent underscores
fix for redefining builtin functions(Thomas)
ultrix4 cleanup
upgrade to pg_access 0.83
updated CLUSTER manual page
multi-byte character set support, see doc/README.mb(Tatsuo)
configure --with-pgport fix
pg_ident fix
big-endian fix for backend communications(Kataoka)
SUBSTR() and substring() fix(Jan)
several jdbc fixes(Peter)
libpgtcl improvements, see libptcl/README(Randy Kunkee)
Fix for "Datasize = 0" error(Vadim)
Prevent \do from wrapping(Bruce)
Remove duplicate Russian character set entries
Sunos4 cleanup
Allow optional TABLE keyword in LOCK and SELECT INTO(Thomas)
CREATE SEQUENCE options to allow a negative integer(Thomas)
Add "PASSWORD" as an allowed column identifier(Thomas)
Add checks for UNION target fields(Bruce)
Fix Alpha port(Dwayne Bailey)
Fix for text arrays containing quotes(Doug Gibson)
Solaris compile fix(Albert Chin-A-Young)
Better identify tcl and tk libs and includes(Bruce)
Release 6.3
There are many new features and improvements in this release. Here
is a brief, incomplete summary:
o Many new SQL features, including full SQL92 subselect capability
(everything is here but target-list subselects).
o Support for client-side environment variables to specify time zone
and date style.
o Socket interface for client/server connection. This is the default
now so you may need to start postmaster with the ?-i? flag.
o Better password authorization mechanisms. Default table
permissions have changed.
o Old-style ?time travel? has been removed. Performance has been
improved.
Note: Bruce Momjian wrote the following notes to introduce the
new release.
There are some general 6.3 issues that I want to mention. These are
only the big items that can not be described in one sentence. A
review of the detailed changes list is still needed.
First, we now have subselects. Now that we have them, I would like
to mention that without subselects, SQL is a very limited language.
Subselects are a major feature, and you should review your code for
places where subselects provide a better solution for your queries.
I think you will find that there are more uses for subselects than
you may think. Vadim has put us on the big SQL map with subselects,
and fully functional ones too. The only thing you can't do with
subselects is to use them in the target list.
Second, 6.3 uses unix domain sockets rather than TCP/IP by default.
To enable connections from other machines, you have to use the new
postmaster -i option, and of course edit pg_hba.conf. Also, for this
reason, the format of pg_hba.conf has changed.
Third, char() fields will now allow faster access than varchar() or
text. Specifically, the text and varchar() have a penalty for access
to any columns after the first column of this type. char() used to
also have this access penalty, but it no longer does. This may
suggest that you redesign some of your tables, especially if you
have short character columns that you have defined as varchar() or
text. This and other changes make 6.3 even faster than earlier
releases.
We now have passwords definable independent of any Unix file. There
are new SQL USER commands. See the pg_hba.conf manual page for more
information. There is a new table, pg_shadow, which is used to store
user information and user passwords, and it by default only
SELECT-able by the postgres super-user. pg_user is now a view of
pg_shadow, and is SELECT-able by PUBLIC. You should keep using
pg_user in your application without changes.
User-created tables now no longer have SELECT permission to PUBLIC
by default. This was done because the ANSI standard requires it. You
can of course GRANT any permissions you want after the table is
created. System tables continue to be SELECT-able by PUBLIC.
We also have real deadlock detection code. No more sixty-second
timeouts. And the new locking code implements a FIFO better, so
there should be less resource starvation during heavy use.
Many complaints have been made about inadequate documenation in
previous releases. Thomas has put much effort into many new manuals
for this release. Check out the doc/ directory.
For performance reasons, time travel is gone, but can be implemented
using triggers (see pgsql/contrib/spi/README). Please check out the
new \d command for types, operators, etc. Also, views have their own
permissions now, not based on the underlying tables, so permissions
on them have to be set separately. Check /pgsql/interfaces for some
new ways to talk to Postgres.
This is the first release that really required an explanation for
existing users. In many ways, this was necessary because the new
release removes many limitations, and the work-arounds people were
using are no longer needed.
Migration to v6.3
A dump/restore using pg_dump or pg_dumpall is required for those
wishing to migrate data from any previous release of Postgres.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
Fix binary cursors broken by MOVE implementation(Vadim)
Fix for tcl library crash(Jan)
Fix for array handling, from Gerhard Hintermayer
Fix acl error, and remove duplicate pqtrace(Bruce)
Fix psql \e for empty file(Bruce)
Fix for textcat on varchar() fields(Bruce)
Fix for DBT Sendproc (Zeugswetter Andres)
Fix vacuum analyze syntax problem(Bruce)
Fix for international identifiers(Tatsuo)
Fix aggregates on inherited tables(Bruce)
Fix substr() for out-of-bounds data
Fix for select 1=1 or 2=2, select 1=1 and 2=2, and select
sum(2+2)(Bruce)
Fix notty output to show status result. -q option still turns it
off(Bruce)
Fix for count(*), aggs with views and multiple tables and
sum(3)(Bruce)
Fix cluster(Bruce)
Fix for PQtrace start/stop several times(Bruce)
Fix a variety of locking problems like newer lock waiters getting
lock before older waiters, and having readlock people not
share
locks if a writer is waiting for a lock, and waiting writers
not
getting priority over waiting readers(Bruce)
Fix crashes in psql when executing queries from external
files(James)
Fix problem with multiple order by columns, with the first one
having
NULL values(Jeroen)
Use correct hash table support functions for float8 and int4(Thomas)
Re-enable JOIN= option in CREATE OPERATOR statement (Thomas)
Change precedence for boolean operators to match expected
behavior(Thomas)
Generate elog(ERROR) on over-large integer(Bruce)
Allow multiple-argument functions in constraint clauses(Thomas)
Check boolean input literals for 'true','false','yes','no','1','0'
and throw elog(ERROR) if unrecognized(Thomas)
Major large objects fix
Fix for GROUP BY showing duplicates(Vadim)
Fix for index scans in MergeJion(Vadim)
Enhancements
------------
Subselects with EXISTS, IN, ALL, ANY keywords (Vadim, Bruce, Thomas)
New User Manual(Thomas, others)
Speedup by inlining some frequently-called functions
Real deadlock detection, no more timeouts(Bruce)
Add SQL92 "constants" CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIME, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
CURRENT_USER(Thomas)
Modify constraint syntax to be SQL92-compliant(Thomas)
Implement SQL92 PRIMARY KEY and UNIQUE clauses using indices(Thomas)
Recognize SQL92 syntax for FOREIGN KEY. Throw elog notice(Thomas)
Allow NOT NULL UNIQUE constraint clause (each allowed separately
before)(Thomas)
Allow Postgres-style casting ("::") of non-constants(Thomas)
Add support for SQL3 TRUE and FALSE boolean constants(Thomas)
Support SQL92 syntax for IS TRUE/IS FALSE/IS NOT TRUE/IS NOT
FALSE(Thomas)
Allow shorter strings for boolean literals (e.g. "t", "tr",
"tru")(Thomas)
Allow SQL92 delimited identifiers(Thomas)
Implement SQL92 binary and hexadecimal string decoding (b'10' and
x'1F')(Thomas)
Support SQL92 syntax for type coercion of literal strings
(e.g. "DATETIME 'now'")(Thomas)
Add conversions for int2, int4, and OID types to and from
text(Thomas)
Use shared lock when building indices(Vadim)
Free memory allocated for an user query inside transaction block
after
this query is done, was turned off in <= 6.2.1(Vadim)
New SQL statement CREATE PROCEDURAL LANGUAGE(Jan)
New Postgres Procedural Language (PL) backend interface(Jan)
Rename pg_dump -H option to -h(Bruce)
Add Java support for passwords, European dates(Peter)
Use indices for LIKE and ~, !~ operations(Bruce)
Add hash functions for datetime and timespan(Thomas)
Time Travel removed(Vadim, Bruce)
Add paging for \d and \z, and fix \i(Bruce)
Add Unix domain socket support to backend and to frontend
library(Goran)
Implement CREATE DATABASE/WITH LOCATION and initlocation
utility(Thomas)
Allow more SQL92 and/or Postgres reserved words as column
identifiers(Thomas)
Augment support for SQL92 SET TIME ZONE...(Thomas)
SET/SHOW/RESET TIME ZONE uses TZ backend environment
variable(Thomas)
Implement SET keyword = DEFAULT and SET TIME ZONE DEFAULT(Thomas)
Enable SET TIME ZONE using TZ environment variable(Thomas)
Add PGDATESTYLE environment variable to frontend and backend
initialization(Thomas)
Add PGTZ, PGCOSTHEAP, PGCOSTINDEX, PGRPLANS, PGGEQO
frontend library initialization environment
variables(Thomas)
Regression tests time zone automatically set with "setenv PGTZ
PST8PDT"(Thomas)
Add pg_description table for info on tables, columns, operators,
types, and
aggregates(Bruce)
Increase 16 char limit on system table/index names to 32
characters(Bruce)
Rename system indices(Bruce)
Add 'GERMAN' option to SET DATESTYLE(Thomas)
Define an "ISO-style" timespan output format with "hh:mm:ss"
fields(Thomas)
Allow fractional values for delta times (e.g. '2.5 days')(Thomas)
Validate numeric input more carefully for delta times(Thomas)
Implement day of year as possible input to date_part()(Thomas)
Define timespan_finite() and text_timespan() functions(Thomas)
Remove archive stuff(Bruce)
Allow for a pg_password authentication database that is separate
from
the system password file(Todd)
Dump ACLs, GRANT, REVOKE permissions(Matt)
Define text, varchar, and bpchar string length functions(Thomas)
Fix Query handling for inheritance, and cost computations(Bruce)
Implement CREATE TABLE/AS SELECT (alternative to
SELECT/INTO)(Thomas)
Allow NOT, IS NULL, IS NOT NULL in constraints(Thomas)
Implement UNIONs for SELECT(Bruce)
Add UNION, GROUP, DISTINCT to INSERT(Bruce)
varchar() stores only necessary bytes on disk(Bruce)
Fix for BLOBs(Peter)
Mega-Patch for JDBC...see README_6.3 for list of changes(Peter)
Remove unused "option" from PQconnectdb()
New LOCK command and lock manual page describing deadlocks(Bruce)
Add new psql \da, \dd, \df, \do, \dS, and \dT commands(Bruce)
Enhance psql \z to show sequences(Bruce)
Show NOT NULL and DEFAULT in psql \d table(Bruce)
New psql .psqlrc file startup(Andrew)
Modify sample startup script in contrib/linux to show syslog(Thomas)
New types for IP and MAC addresses in contrib/ip_and_mac(TomH)
Unix system time conversions with date/time types in
contrib/unixdate(Thomas)
Update of contrib stuff(Massimo)
Add Unix socket support to DBD::Pg(Goran)
New python interface (PyGreSQL 2.0)(D'Arcy)
New frontend/backend protocol has a version number, network byte
order(Phil)
Security features in pg_hba.conf enhanced and documented, many
cleanups(Phil)
CHAR() now faster access than VARCHAR() or TEXT
ecpg embedded SQL preprocessor
Reduce system column overhead(Vadmin)
Remove pg_time table(Vadim)
Add pg_type attribute to identify types that need length (bpchar,
varchar)
Add report of offending line when COPY command fails
Allow VIEW permissions to be set separately from the underlying
tables.
For security, use GRANT/REVOKE on views as appropriate(Jan)
Tables now have no default GRANT SELECT TO PUBLIC. You must
explicitly grant such permissions.
Clean up tutorial examples(Darren)
Source Tree Changes
-------------------
Add new html development tools, and flow chart in /tools/backend
Fix for SCO compiles
Stratus computer port Robert Gillies
Added support for shlib for BSD44_derived & i386_solaris
Make configure more automated(Brook)
Add script to check regression test results
Break parser functions into smaller files, group together(Bruce)
Rename heap_create to heap_create_and_catalog, rename heap_creatr
to heap_create()(Bruce)
Sparc/Linux patch for locking(TomS)
Remove PORTNAME and reorganize port-specific stuff(Marc)
Add optimizer README file(Bruce)
Remove some recursion in optimizer and clean up some code
there(Bruce)
Fix for NetBSD locking(Henry)
Fix for libptcl make(Tatsuo)
AIX patch(Darren)
Change IS TRUE, IS FALSE, ... to expressions using "=" rather than
function calls to istrue() or isfalse() to allow
optimization(Thomas)
Various fixes NetBSD/Sparc related(TomH)
Alpha linux locking(Travis,Ryan)
Change elog(WARN) to elog(ERROR)(Bruce)
FAQ for FreeBSD(Marc)
Bring in the PostODBC source tree as part of our standard
distribution(Marc)
A minor patch for HP/UX 10 vs 9(Stan)
New pg_attribute.atttypmod for type-specific info like varchar
length(Bruce)
Unixware patches(Billy)
New i386 'lock' for spin lock asm(Billy)
Support for multiplexed backends is removed
Start an OpenBSD port
Start an AUX port
Start a Cygnus port
Add string functions to regression suite(Thomas)
Expand a few function names formerly truncated to 16
characters(Thomas)
Remove un-needed malloc() calls and replace with palloc()(Bruce)
Release 6.2.1
v6.2.1 is a bug-fix and usability release on v6.2.
Summary:
o Allow strings to span lines, per SQL92.
o Include example trigger function for inserting user names on table
updates.
This is a minor bug-fix release on v6.2. For upgrades from pre-v6.2
systems, a full dump/reload is required. Refer to the v6.2 release
notes for instructions.
Migration from v6.2 to v6.2.1
This is a minor bug-fix release. A dump/reload is not required from
v6.2, but is required from any release prior to v6.2.
In upgrading from v6.2, if you choose to dump/reload you will find
that avg(money) is now calculated correctly. All other bug fixes
take effect upon updating the executables.
Another way to avoid dump/reload is to use the following SQL command
from psql to update the existing system table:
update pg_aggregate set aggfinalfn = 'cash_div_flt8'
where aggname = 'avg' and aggbasetype = 790;
This will need to be done to every existing database, including
template1.
Detailed Change List
Changes in this release
-----------------------
Allow TIME and TYPE column names(Thomas)
Allow larger range of true/false as boolean values(Thomas)
Support output of "now" and "current"(Thomas)
Handle DEFAULT with INSERT of NULL properly(Vadim)
Fix for relation reference counts problem in buffer manager(Vadim)
Allow strings to span lines, like ANSI(Thomas)
Fix for backward cursor with ORDER BY(Vadim)
Fix avg(cash) computation(Thomas)
Fix for specifying a column twice in ORDER/GROUP BY(Vadim)
Documented new libpq function to return affected rows,
PQcmdTuples(Bruce)
Trigger function for inserting user names for INSERT/UPDATE(Brook
Milligan)
Release 6.2
A dump/restore is required for those wishing to migrate data from
previous releases of Postgres.
Migration from v6.1 to v6.2
This migration requires a complete dump of the 6.1 database and a
restore of the database in 6.2.
Note that the pg_dump and pg_dumpall utility from 6.2 should be used
to dump the 6.1 database.
Migration from v1.x to v6.2
Those migrating from earlier 1.* releases should first upgrade to
1.09 because the COPY output format was improved from the 1.02
release.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
Fix problems with pg_dump for inheritance, sequences, archive
tables(Bruce)
Fix compile errors on overflow due to shifts, unsigned, and bad
prototypes
from Solaris(Diab Jerius)
Fix bugs in geometric line arithmetic (bad intersection
calculations)(Thomas)
Check for geometric intersections at endpoints to avoid rounding
ugliness(Thomas)
Catch non-functional delete attempts(Vadim)
Change time function names to be more consistent(Michael Reifenberg)
Check for zero divides(Michael Reifenberg)
Fix very old bug which made tuples changed/inserted by a commnd
visible to the command itself (so we had multiple update of
updated tuples, etc)(Vadim)
Fix for SELECT null, 'fail' FROM pg_am (Patrick)
SELECT NULL as EMPTY_FIELD now allowed(Patrick)
Remove un-needed signal stuff from contrib/pginterface
Fix OR (where x <> 1 or x isnull didn't return tuples with x NULL)
(Vadim)
Fix time_cmp function (Vadim)
Fix handling of functions with non-attribute first argument in
WHERE clauses (Vadim)
Fix GROUP BY when order of entries is different from order
in target list (Vadim)
Fix pg_dump for aggregates without sfunc1 (Vadim)
Enhancements
------------
Default genetic optimizer GEQO parameter is now 8(Bruce)
Allow use parameters in target list having aggregates in
functions(Vadim)
Added JDBC driver as an interface(Adrian & Peter)
pg_password utility
Return number of tuples inserted/affected by INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE
etc.(Vadim)
Triggers implemented with CREATE TRIGGER (SQL3)(Vadim)
SPI (Server Programming Interface) allows execution of queries
inside
C-functions (Vadim)
NOT NULL implemented (SQL92)(Robson Paniago de Miranda)
Include reserved words for string handling, outer joins, and
unions(Thomas)
Implement extended comments ("/* ... */") using exclusive
states(Thomas)
Add "//" single-line comments(Bruce)
Remove some restrictions on characters in operator names(Thomas)
DEFAULT and CONSTRAINT for tables implemented (SQL92)(Vadim &
Thomas)
Add text concatenation operator and function (SQL92)(Thomas)
Support WITH TIME ZONE syntax (SQL92)(Thomas)
Support INTERVAL unit TO unit syntax (SQL92)(Thomas)
Define types DOUBLE PRECISION, INTERVAL, CHARACTER,
and CHARACTER VARYING (SQL92)(Thomas)
Define type FLOAT(p) and rudimentary DECIMAL(p,s), NUMERIC(p,s)
(SQL92)(Thomas)
Define EXTRACT(), POSITION(), SUBSTRING(), and TRIM()
(SQL92)(Thomas)
Define CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIME, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (SQL92)(Thomas)
Add syntax and warnings for UNION, HAVING, INNER and OUTER JOIN
(SQL92)(Thomas)
Add more reserved words, mostly for SQL92 compliance(Thomas)
Allow hh:mm:ss time entry for timespan/reltime types(Thomas)
Add center() routines for lseg, path, polygon(Thomas)
Add distance() routines for circle-polygon, polygon-polygon(Thomas)
Check explicitly for points and polygons contained within polygons
using an axis-crossing algorithm(Thomas)
Add routine to convert circle-box(Thomas)
Merge conflicting operators for different geometric data
types(Thomas)
Replace distance operator "<===>" with "<->"(Thomas)
Replace "above" operator "!^" with ">^" and "below" operator "!|"
with "<^"(Thomas)
Add routines for text trimming on both ends, substring, and string
position(Thomas)
Added conversion routines circle(box) and poly(circle)(Thomas)
Allow internal sorts to be stored in memory rather than in
files(Bruce & Vadim)
Allow functions and operators on internally-identical types to
succeed(Bruce)
Speed up backend startup after profiling analysis(Bruce)
Inline frequently called functions for performance(Bruce)
Reduce open() calls(Bruce)
psql: Add PAGER for \h and \?,\C fix
Fix for psql pager when no tty(Bruce)
New entab utility(Bruce)
General trigger functions for referential integrity (Vadim)
General trigger functions for time travel (Vadim)
General trigger functions for AUTOINCREMENT/IDENTITY feature (Vadim)
MOVE implementation (Vadim)
Source Tree Changes
-------------------
HPUX 10 patches (Vladimir Turin)
Added SCO support, (Daniel Harris)
mkLinux patches (Tatsuo Ishii)
Change geometric box terminology from "length" to "width"(Thomas)
Deprecate temporary unstored slope fields in geometric code(Thomas)
Remove restart instructions from INSTALL(Bruce)
Look in /usr/ucb first for install(Bruce)
Fix c++ copy example code(Thomas)
Add -o to psql manual page(Bruce)
Prevent relname unallocated string length from being copied into
database(Bruce)
Cleanup for NAMEDATALEN use(Bruce)
Fix pg_proc names over 15 chars in output(Bruce)
Add strNcpy() function(Bruce)
remove some (void) casts that are unnecessary(Bruce)
new interfaces directory(Marc)
Replace fopen() calls with calls to fd.c functions(Bruce)
Make functions static where possible(Bruce)
enclose unused functions in #ifdef NOT_USED(Bruce)
Remove call to difftime() in timestamp support to fix SunOS(Bruce &
Thomas)
Changes for Digital Unix
Portability fix for pg_dumpall(Bruce)
Rename pg_attribute.attnvals to attdisbursion(Bruce)
"intro/unix" manual page now "pgintro"(Bruce)
"built-in" manual page now "pgbuiltin"(Bruce)
"drop" manual page now "drop_table"(Bruce)
Add "create_trigger", "drop_trigger" manual pages(Thomas)
Add constraints regression test(Vadim & Thomas)
Add comments syntax regression test(Thomas)
Add PGINDENT and support program(Bruce)
Massive commit to run PGINDENT on all *.c and *.h files(Bruce)
Files moved to /src/tools directory(Bruce)
SPI and Trigger programming guides (Vadim & D'Arcy)
Release 6.1.1
Migration from v6.1 to v6.1.1
This is a minor bug-fix release. A dump/reload is not required from
v6.1, but is required from any release prior to v6.1. Refer to the
release notes for v6.1 for more details.
Detailed Change List
Changes in this release
-----------------------
fix for SET with options (Thomas)
allow pg_dump/pg_dumpall to preserve ownership of all
tables/objects(Bruce)
new psql \connect option allows changing usernames without changing
databases
fix for initdb --debug option(Yoshihiko Ichikawa))
lextest cleanup(Bruce)
hash fixes(Vadim)
fix date/time month boundary arithmetic(Thomas)
fix timezone daylight handling for some ports(Thomas, Bruce, Tatsuo)
timestamp overhauled to use standard functions(Thomas)
other code cleanup in date/time routines(Thomas)
psql's \d now case-insensitive(Bruce)
psql's backslash commands can now have trailing semicolon(Bruce)
fix memory leak in psql when using \g(Bruce)
major fix for endian handling of communication to server(Thomas,
Tatsuo)
Fix for Solaris assembler and include files(Yoshihiko Ichikawa)
allow underscores in usernames(Bruce)
pg_dumpall now returns proper status, portability fix(Bruce)
Release 6.1
The regression tests have been adapted and extensively modified for
the v6.1 release of Postgres.
Three new data types (datetime, timespan, and circle) have been
added to the native set of Postgres types. Points, boxes, paths, and
polygons have had their output formats made consistant across the
data types. The polygon output in misc.out has only been
spot-checked for correctness relative to the original regression
output.
Postgres v6.1 introduces a new, alternate optimizer which uses
genetic algorithms. These algorithms introduce a random behavior in
the ordering of query results when the query contains multiple
qualifiers or multiple tables (giving the optimizer a choice on
order of evaluation). Several regression tests have been modified to
explicitly order the results, and hence are insensitive to optimizer
choices. A few regression tests are for data types which are
inherently unordered (e.g. points and time intervals) and tests
involving those types are explicitly bracketed with set geqo to
'off' and reset geqo.
The interpretation of array specifiers (the curly braces around
atomic values) appears to have changed sometime after the original
regression tests were generated. The current ./expected/*.out files
reflect this new interpretation, which may not be correct!
The float8 regression test fails on at least some platforms. This
is due to differences in implementations of pow() and exp() and the
signaling mechanisms used for overflow and underflow conditions.
The "random" results in the random test should cause the "random"
test to be "failed", since the regression tests are evaluated using
a simple diff. However, "random" does not seem to produce random
results on my test machine (Linux/gcc/i686).
Migration to v6.1
This migration requires a complete dump of the 6.0 database and a
restore of the database in 6.1.
Those migrating from earlier 1.* releases should first upgrade to
1.09 because the COPY output format was improved from the 1.02
release.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
packet length checking in library routines
lock manager priority patch
check for under/over flow of float8(Bruce)
multi-table join fix(Vadim)
SIGPIPE crash fix(Darren)
large object fixes(Sven)
allow btree indexes to handle NULLs(Vadim)
timezone fixes(D'Arcy)
select SUM(x) can return NULL on no rows(Thomas)
internal optimizer, executor bug fixes(Vadim)
fix problem where inner loop in < or <= has no rows(Vadim)
prevent re-commuting join index clauses(Vadim)
fix join clauses for multiple tables(Vadim)
fix hash, hashjoin for arrays(Vadim)
fix btree for abstime type(Vadim)
large object fixes(Raymond)
fix buffer leak in hash indices (Vadim)
fix rtree for use in inner scan (Vadim)
fix gist for use in inner scan, cleanups (Vadim, Andrea)
avoid unnecessary local buffers allocation (Vadim, Massimo)
fix local buffers leak in transaction aborts (Vadim)
fix file manager memmory leaks, cleanups (Vadim, Massimo)
fix storage manager memmory leaks (Vadim)
fix btree duplicates handling (Vadim)
fix deleted tuples re-incarnation caused by vacuum (Vadim)
fix SELECT varchar()/char() INTO TABLE made zero-length
fields(Bruce)
many psql, pg_dump, and libpq memory leaks fixed using Purify (Igor)
Enhancements
------------
attribute optimization statistics(Bruce)
much faster new btree bulk load code(Paul)
BTREE UNIQUE added to bulk load code(Vadim)
new lock debug code(Massimo)
massive changes to libpg++(Leo)
new GEQO optimizer speeds table multi-table optimization(Martin)
new WARN message for non-unique insert into unique key(Marc)
update x=-3, no spaces, now valid(Bruce)
remove case-sensitive identifier handling(Bruce,Thomas,Dan)
debug backend now pretty-prints tree(Darren)
new Oracle character functions(Edmund)
new plaintext password functions(Dan)
no such class or insufficient privilege changed to distinct
messages(Dan)
new ANSI timestamp function(Dan)
new ANSI Time and Date types (Thomas)
move large chunks of data in backend(Martin)
multi-column btree indexes(Vadim)
new SET var TO value command(Martin)
update transaction status on reads(Dan)
new locale settings for character types(Oleg)
new SEQUENCE serial number generator(Vadim)
GROUP BY function now possible(Vadim)
re-organize regression test(Thomas,Marc)
new optimizer operation weights(Vadim)
new psql \z grant/permit option(Marc)
new MONEY data type(D'Arcy,Thomas)
tcp socket communication speed improved(Vadim)
new VACUUM option for attribute statistics, and for certain columns
(Vadim)
many geometric type improvements(Thomas,Keith)
additional regression tests(Thomas)
new datestyle variable(Thomas,Vadim,Martin)
more comparison operators for sorting types(Thomas)
new conversion functions(Thomas)
new more compact btree format(Vadim)
allow pg_dumpall to preserve database ownership(Bruce)
new SET GEQO=# and R_PLANS variable(Vadim)
old (!GEQO) optimizer can use right-sided plans (Vadim)
typechecking improvement in SQL parser(Bruce)
new SET, SHOW, RESET commands(Thomas,Vadim)
new \connect database USER option
new destroydb -i option (Igor)
new \dt and \di psql commands (Darren)
SELECT "\n" now escapes newline (A. Duursma)
new geometry conversion functions from old format (Thomas)
Source tree changes
-------------------
new configuration script(Marc)
readline configuration option added(Marc)
OS-specific configuration options removed(Marc)
new OS-specific template files(Marc)
no more need to edit Makefile.global(Marc)
re-arrange include files(Marc)
nextstep patches (Gregor Hoffleit)
removed WIN32-specific code(Bruce)
removed postmaster -e option, now only postgres -e option (Bruce)
merge duplicate library code in front/backends(Martin)
now works with eBones, international Kerberos(Jun)
more shared library support
c++ include file cleanup(Bruce)
warn about buggy flex(Bruce)
DG-UX, Ultrix, Irix, AIX portability fixes
Release v6.0
A dump/restore is required for those wishing to migrate data from
previous releases of Postgres.
Migration from v1.09 to v6.0
This migration requires a complete dump of the 1.09 database and a
restore of the database in 6.0.
Migration from pre-v1.09 to v6.0
Those migrating from earlier 1.* releases should first upgrade to
1.09 because the COPY output format was improved from the 1.02
release.
Detailed Change List
Bug Fixes
---------
ALTER TABLE bug - running postgress process needs to re-read table
definition
Allow vacuum to be run on one table or entire database(Bruce)
Array fixes
Fix array over-runs of memory writes(Kurt)
Fix elusive btree range/non-range bug(Dan)
Fix for hash indexes on some types like time and date
Fix for pg_log size explosion
Fix permissions on lo_export()(Bruce)
Fix unitialized reads of memory(Kurt)
Fixed ALTER TABLE ... char(3) bug(Bruce)
Fixed a few small memory leaks
Fixed EXPLAIN handling of options and changed full_path option name
Fixed output of group acl permissions
Memory leaks (hunt and destroy with tools like Purify(Kurt)
Minor improvements to rules system
NOTIFY fixes
New asserts for run-checking
Overhauled parser/analyze code to properly report errors and
increase speed
Pg_dump -d now handles NULL's properly(Bruce)
Prevent SELECT NULL from crashing server (Bruce)
Properly report errors when INSERT ... SELECT columns did not match
Properly report errors when insert column names were not correct
Psql \g filename now works(Bruce)
Psql fixed problem with multiple statements on one line with
multiple outputs
Removed duplicate system oid's
SELECT * INTO TABLE . GROUP/ORDER BY gives unlink error if table
exists(Bruce)
Several fixes for queries that crashed the backend
Starting quote in insert string errors(Bruce)
Submitting an empty query now returns empty status, not just " "
query(Bruce)
Enhancements
------------
Add EXPLAIN manual page(Bruce)
Add UNIQUE index capability(Dan)
Add hostname/user level access control rather than just hostname and
user
Add synonym of != for <>(Bruce)
Allow "select oid,* from table"
Allow BY,ORDER BY to specify columns by number, or by non-alias
table.column(Bruce)
Allow COPY from the frontend(Bryan)
Allow GROUP BY to use alias column name(Bruce)
Allow actual compression, not just reuse on the same page(Vadim)
Allow installation-configuration option to auto-add all local
users(Bryan)
Allow libpq to distinguish between text value '' and null(Bruce)
Allow non-postgres users with createdb privs to destroydb's
Allow restriction on who can create C functions(Bryan)
Allow restriction on who can do backend COPY(Bryan)
Can shrink tables, pg_time and pg_log(Vadim & Erich)
Change debug level 2 to print queries only, changed debug heading
layout(Bruce)
Change default decimal constant representation from float4 to
float8(Bruce)
European date format now set when postmaster is started
Execute lowercase function names if not found with exact case
Fixes for aggregate/GROUP processing, allow 'select
sum(func(x),sum(x+y) from z'
Gist now included in the distrubution(Marc)
Idend authentication of local users(Bryan)
Implement BETWEEN qualifier(Bruce)
Implement IN qualifier(Bruce)
Libpq has PQgetisnull()(Bruce)
Libpq++ improvements
New options to initdb(Bryan)
Pg_dump allow dump of oid's(Bruce)
Pg_dump create indexes after tables are loaded for speed(Bruce)
Pg_dumpall dumps all databases, and the user table
Pginterface additions for NULL values(Bruce)
Prevent postmaster from being run as root
Psql \h and \? is now readable(Bruce)
Psql allow backslashed, semicolons anywhere on the line(Bruce)
Psql changed command prompt for lines in query or in quotes(Bruce)
Psql char(3) now displays as (bp)char in \d output(Bruce)
Psql return code now more accurate(Bryan?)
Psql updated help syntax(Bruce)
Re-visit and fix vacuum(Vadim)
Reduce size of regression diffs, remove timezone name
difference(Bruce)
Remove compile-time parameters to enable binary distributions(Bryan)
Reverse meaning of HBA masks(Bryan)
Secure Authentication of local users(Bryan)
Speed up vacuum(Vadim)
Vacuum now had VERBOSE option(Bruce)
Source tree changes
-------------------
All functions now have prototypes that are compared against the
calls
Allow asserts to be disabled easly from Makefile.global(Bruce)
Change oid constants used in code to #define names
Decoupled sparc and solaris defines(Kurt)
Gcc -Wall compiles cleanly with warnings only from unfixable
constructs
Major include file reorganization/reduction(Marc)
Make now stops on compile failure(Bryan)
Makefile restructuring(Bryan, Marc)
Merge bsdi_2_1 to bsdi(Bruce)
Monitor program removed
Name change from Postgres95 to PostgreSQL
New config.h file(Marc, Bryan)
PG_VERSION now set to 6.0 and used by postmaster
Portability additions, including Ultrix, DG/UX, AIX, and Solaris
Reduced the number of #define's, centeralized #define's
Remove duplicate OIDS in system tables(Dan)
Remove duplicate system catalog info or report mismatches(Dan)
Removed many os-specific #define's
Restructured object file generation/location(Bryan, Marc)
Restructured port-specific file locations(Bryan, Marc)
Unused/uninialized variables corrected
Release v1.09
Sorry, we stopped keeping track of changes from 1.02 to 1.09. Some
of the changes listed in 6.0 were actually included in the 1.02.1 to
1.09 releases.
Release v1.02
Migration from v1.02 to v1.02.1
Here is a new migration file for 1.02.1. It includes the 'copy'
change and a script to convert old ascii files.
Note: The following notes are for the benefit of users who want
to migrate databases from postgres95 1.01 and 1.02 to postgres95
1.02.1.
If you are starting afresh with postgres95 1.02.1 and do not need
to migrate old databases, you do not need to read any further.
In order to upgrade older postgres95 version 1.01 or 1.02 databases
to version 1.02.1, the following steps are required:
1. Start up a new 1.02.1 postmaster
2. Add the new built-in functions and operators of 1.02.1 to 1.01 or
1.02 databases. This is done by running the new 1.02.1 server
against your own 1.01 or 1.02 database and applying the queries
attached at the end of thie file. This can be done easily through
psql. If your 1.01 or 1.02 database is named "testdb" and you
have cut the commands from the end of this file and saved them in
addfunc.sql:
% psql testdb -f addfunc.sql
Those upgrading 1.02 databases will get a warning when executing
the last two statements in the file because they are already
present in 1.02. This is not a cause for concern.
Dump/Reload Procedure
If you are trying to reload a pg_dump or text-mode 'copy tablename
to stdout' generated with a previous version, you will need to run
the attached sed script on the ASCII file before loading it into the
database. The old format used '.' as end-of-data, while '\.' is now
the end-of-data marker. Also, empty strings are now loaded in as ''
rather than NULL. See the copy manual page for full details.
sed 's/^\.$/\\./g' <in_file >out_file
If you are loading an older binary copy or non-stdout copy, there is
no end-of-data character, and hence no conversion necessary.
-- following lines added by agc to reflect the case-insensitive
-- regexp searching for varchar (in 1.02), and bpchar (in 1.02.1)
create operator ~* (leftarg = bpchar, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = bpchar, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexne);
create operator ~* (leftarg = varchar, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = varchar, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexne);
Detailed Change List
Source code maintenance and development
* worldwide team of volunteers
* the source tree now in CVS at ftp.ki.net
Enhancements
* psql (and underlying libpq library) now has many more options for
formatting output, including HTML
* pg_dump now output the schema and/or the data, with many fixes to
enhance completeness.
* psql used in place of monitor in administration shell scripts.
monitor to be depreciated in next release.
* date/time functions enhanced
* NULL insert/update/comparison fixed/enhanced
* TCL/TK lib and shell fixed to work with both tck7.4/tk4.0 and
tcl7.5/tk4.1
Bug Fixes (almost too numerous to mention)
* indexes
* storage management
* check for NULL pointer before dereferencing
* Makefile fixes
New Ports
* added SolarisX86 port
* added BSDI 2.1 port
* added DGUX port
Release v1.01
Migration from v1.0 to v1.01
The following notes are for the benefit of users who want to migrate
databases from postgres95 1.0 to postgres95 1.01.
If you are starting afresh with postgres95 1.01 and do not need to
migrate old databases, you do not need to read any further.
In order to postgres95 version 1.01 with databases created with
postgres95 version 1.0, the following steps are required:
1. Set the definition of NAMEDATALEN in src/Makefile.global to 16
and OIDNAMELEN to 20.
2. Decide whether you want to use Host based authentication.
a. If you do, you must create a file name "pg_hba" in your
top-level data directory (typically the value of your
$PGDATA). src/libpq/pg_hba shows an example syntax.
b. If you do not want host-based authentication, you can
comment out the line
HBA = 1
in src/Makefile.global
Note that host-based authentication is turned on by
default, and if you do not take steps A or B above, the
out-of-the-box 1.01 will not allow you to connect to 1.0
databases.
3. Compile and install 1.01, but DO NOT do the initdb step.
4. Before doing anything else, terminate your 1.0 postmaster, and
backup your existing $PGDATA directory.
5. Set your PGDATA environment variable to your 1.0 databases, but
set up path up so that 1.01 binaries are being used.
6. Modify the file $PGDATA/PG_VERSION from 5.0 to 5.1
7. Start up a new 1.01 postmaster
8. Add the new built-in functions and operators of 1.01 to 1.0
databases. This is done by running the new 1.01 server against
your own 1.0 database and applying the queries attached and
saving in the file 1.0_to_1.01.sql. This can be done easily
through psql. If your 1.0 database is name "testdb":
% psql testdb -f 1.0_to_1.01.sql
and then execute the following commands (cut and paste from
here):
-- add builtin functions that are new to 1.01
create function int4eqoid (int4, oid) returns bool as 'foo'
language 'internal';
create function oideqint4 (oid, int4) returns bool as 'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char2icregexeq (char2, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char2icregexne (char2, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char4icregexeq (char4, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char4icregexne (char4, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char8icregexeq (char8, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char8icregexne (char8, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char16icregexeq (char16, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function char16icregexne (char16, text) returns bool as
'foo'
language 'internal';
create function texticregexeq (text, text) returns bool as 'foo'
language 'internal';
create function texticregexne (text, text) returns bool as 'foo'
language 'internal';
-- add builtin functions that are new to 1.01
create operator = (leftarg = int4, rightarg = oid, procedure =
int4eqoid);
create operator = (leftarg = oid, rightarg = int4, procedure =
oideqint4);
create operator ~* (leftarg = char2, rightarg = text, procedure =
char2icregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = char2, rightarg = text, procedure
= char2icregexne);
create operator ~* (leftarg = char4, rightarg = text, procedure =
char4icregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = char4, rightarg = text, procedure
= char4icregexne);
create operator ~* (leftarg = char8, rightarg = text, procedure =
char8icregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = char8, rightarg = text, procedure
= char8icregexne);
create operator ~* (leftarg = char16, rightarg = text, procedure
= char16icregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = char16, rightarg = text, procedure
= char16icregexne);
create operator ~* (leftarg = text, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexeq);
create operator !~* (leftarg = text, rightarg = text, procedure =
texticregexne);
Detailed Change List
Incompatibilities:
* 1.01 is backwards compatible with 1.0 database provided the user
follow the steps outlined in the MIGRATION_from_1.0_to_1.01 file.
If those steps are not taken, 1.01 is not compatible with 1.0
database.
Enhancements:
* added PQdisplayTuples() to libpq and changed monitor and psql to
use it
* added NeXT port (requires SysVIPC implementation)
* added CAST .. AS ... syntax
* added ASC and DESC keywords
* added 'internal' as a possible language for CREATE FUNCTION
internal functions are C functions which have been statically
linked
into the postgres backend.
* a new type "name" has been added for system identifiers (table
names,
attribute names, etc.) This replaces the old char16 type. The
of name is set by the NAMEDATALEN #define in src/Makefile.global
* a readable reference manual that describes the query language.
* added host-based access control. A configuration file
($PGDATA/pg_hba)
is used to hold the configuration data. If host-based access
control
is not desired, comment out HBA=1 in src/Makefile.global.
* changed regex handling to be uniform use of Henry Spencer's regex
code
regardless of platform. The regex code is included in the
distribution
* added functions and operators for case-insensitive regular
expressions.
The operators are ~* and !~*.
* pg_dump uses COPY instead of SELECT loop for better performance
Bug fixes:
* fixed an optimizer bug that was causing core dumps when
functions calls were used in comparisons in the WHERE clause
* changed all uses of getuid to geteuid so that effective uids are
used
* psql now returns non-zero status on errors when using -c
* applied public patches 1-14
Release v1.0
Detailed Change List
Copyright change:
* The copyright of Postgres 1.0 has been loosened to be freely
modifiable
and modifiable for any purpose. Please read the COPYRIGHT file.
Thanks to Professor Michael Stonebraker for making this possible.
Incompatibilities:
* date formats have to be MM-DD-YYYY (or DD-MM-YYYY if you're
using
EUROPEAN STYLE). This follows SQL-92 specs.
* "delimiters" is now a keyword
Enhancements:
* sql LIKE syntax has been added
* copy command now takes an optional USING DELIMITER
specification.
delimiters can be any single-character string.
* IRIX 5.3 port has been added.
Thanks to Paul Walmsley and others.
* updated pg_dump to work with new libpq
* \d has been added psql
Thanks to Keith Parks
* regexp performance for architectures that use POSIX regex has
been
improved due to caching of precompiled patterns.
Thanks to Alistair Crooks
* a new version of libpq++
Thanks to William Wanders
Bug fixes:
* arbitrary userids can be specified in the createuser script
* \c to connect to other databases in psql now works.
* bad pg_proc entry for float4inc() is fixed
* users with usecreatedb field set can now create databases
without
having to be usesuper
* remove access control entries when the entry no longer has any
permissions
* fixed non-portable datetimes implementation
* added kerberos flags to the src/backend/Makefile
* libpq now works with kerberos
* typographic errors in the user manual have been corrected.
* btrees with multiple index never worked, now we tell you they
don't
work when you try to use them
Postgres95 Beta 0.03
Detailed Change List
Incompatible changes:
* BETA-0.3 IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH DATABASES CREATED WITH PREVIOUS
VERSIONS
(due to system catalog changes and indexing structure changes).
* double-quote (") is deprecated as a quoting character for string
literals;
you need to convert them to single quotes (').
* name of aggregates (eg. int4sum) are renamed in accordance with
the
SQL standard (eg. sum).
* CHANGE ACL syntax is replaced by GRANT/REVOKE syntax.
* float literals (eg. 3.14) are now of type float4 (instead of
float8 in
previous releases); you might have to do typecasting if you
depend on it
being of type float8. If you neglect to do the typecasting and
you assign
a float literal to a field of type float8, you may get incorrect
values
stored!
* LIBPQ has been totally revamped so that frontend applications
can connect to multiple backends
* the usesysid field in pg_user has been changed from int2 to int4
to
allow wider range of Unix user ids.
* the netbsd/freebsd/bsd o/s ports have been consolidated into a
single BSD44_derived port. (thanks to Alistair Crooks)
SQL standard-compliance (the following details changes that makes
postgres95
more compliant to the SQL-92 standard):
* the following SQL types are now built-in: smallint, int(eger),
float, real,
char(N), varchar(N), date and time.
The following are aliases to existing postgres types:
smallint -> int2
integer, int -> int4
float, real -> float4
char(N) and varchar(N) are implemented as truncated text types.
In
addition, char(N) does blank-padding.
* single-quote (') is used for quoting string literals; '' (in
addition to
\') is supported as means of inserting a single quote in a string
* SQL standard aggregate names (MAX, MIN, AVG, SUM, COUNT) are used
(Also, aggregates can now be overloaded, i.e. you can define your
own MAX aggregate to take in a user-defined type.)
* CHANGE ACL removed. GRANT/REVOKE syntax added.
- Privileges can be given to a group using the "GROUP" keyword.
For example:
GRANT SELECT ON foobar TO GROUP my_group;
The keyword 'PUBLIC' is also supported to mean all users.
Privileges can only be granted or revoked to one user or
group
at a time.
"WITH GRANT OPTION" is not supported. Only class owners can
change
access control
- The default access control is to to grant users readonly
access.
You must explicitly grant insert/update access to users. To
change
this, modify the line in
src/backend/utils/acl.h
that defines ACL_WORLD_DEFAULT
Bug fixes:
* the bug where aggregates of empty tables were not run has been
fixed. Now,
aggregates run on empty tables will return the initial conditions
of the
aggregates. Thus, COUNT of an empty table will now properly
return 0.
MAX/MIN of an empty table will return a tuple of value NULL.
* allow the use of \; inside the monitor
* the LISTEN/NOTIFY asynchronous notification mechanism now work
* NOTIFY in rule action bodies now work
* hash indices work, and access methods in general should perform
better.
creation of large btree indices should be much faster. (thanks
to Paul
Aoki)
Other changes and enhancements:
* addition of an EXPLAIN statement used for explaining the query
execution
plan (eg. "EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM EMP" prints out the execution
plan for
the query).
* WARN and NOTICE messages no longer have timestamps on them. To
turn on
timestamps of error messages, uncomment the line in
src/backend/utils/elog.h:
/* define ELOG_TIMESTAMPS */
* On an access control violation, the message
"Either no such class or insufficient privilege"
will be given. This is the same message that is returned when
a class is not found. This dissuades non-privileged users from
guessing the existence of privileged classes.
* some additional system catalog changes have been made that are
not
visible to the user.
libpgtcl changes:
* The -oid option has been added to the "pg_result" tcl command.
pg_result -oid returns oid of the last tuple inserted. If the
last command was not an INSERT, then pg_result -oid returns "".
* the large object interface is available as pg_lo* tcl commands:
pg_lo_open, pg_lo_close, pg_lo_creat, etc.
Portability enhancements and New Ports:
* flex/lex problems have been cleared up. Now, you should be able
to use
flex instead of lex on any platforms. We no longer make
assumptions of
what lexer you use based on the platform you use.
* The Linux-ELF port is now supported. Various configuration have
been
tested: The following configuration is known to work:
kernel 1.2.10, gcc 2.6.3, libc 4.7.2, flex 2.5.2, bison 1.24
with everything in ELF format,
New utilities:
* ipcclean added to the distribution
ipcclean usually does not need to be run, but if your backend
crashes
and leaves shared memory segments hanging around, ipcclean will
clean them up for you.
New documentation:
* the user manual has been revised and libpq documentation added.
Postgres95 Beta 0.02
Detailed Change List
Incompatible changes:
* The SQL statement for creating a database is 'CREATE DATABASE'
instead
of 'CREATEDB'. Similarly, dropping a database is 'DROP DATABASE'
instead
of 'DESTROYDB'. However, the names of the executables 'createdb'
and
'destroydb' remain the same.
New tools:
* pgperl - a Perl (4.036) interface to Postgres95
* pg_dump - a utility for dumping out a postgres database into a
script file containing query commands. The script files are
in a ASCII
format and can be used to reconstruct the database, even on
other
machines and other architectures. (Also good for converting
a Postgres 4.2 database to Postgres95 database.)
The following ports have been incorporated into
postgres95-beta-0.02:
* the NetBSD port by Alistair Crooks
* the AIX port by Mike Tung
* the Windows NT port by Jon Forrest (more stuff but not done yet)
* the Linux ELF port by Brian Gallew
The following bugs have been fixed in postgres95-beta-0.02:
* new lines not escaped in COPY OUT and problem with COPY OUT when
first
attribute is a '.'
* cannot type return to use the default user id in createuser
* SELECT DISTINCT on big tables crashes
* Linux installation problems
* monitor doesn't allow use of 'localhost' as PGHOST
* psql core dumps when doing \c or \l
* the "pgtclsh" target missing from src/bin/pgtclsh/Makefile
* libpgtcl has a hard-wired default port number
* SELECT DISTINCT INTO TABLE hangs
* CREATE TYPE doesn't accept 'variable' as the internallength
* wrong result using more than 1 aggregate in a SELECT
Postgres95 Beta 0.01
Initial release.