summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml')
-rw-r--r--doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml1079
1 files changed, 1079 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f71644e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml
@@ -0,0 +1,1079 @@
+<!-- doc/src/sgml/bki.sgml -->
+
+<chapter id="bki">
+ <title>System Catalog Declarations and Initial Contents</title>
+
+ <para>
+ <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> uses many different system catalogs
+ to keep track of the existence and properties of database objects, such as
+ tables and functions. Physically there is no difference between a system
+ catalog and a plain user table, but the backend C code knows the structure
+ and properties of each catalog, and can manipulate it directly at a low
+ level. Thus, for example, it is inadvisable to attempt to alter the
+ structure of a catalog on-the-fly; that would break assumptions built into
+ the C code about how rows of the catalog are laid out. But the structure
+ of the catalogs can change between major versions.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The structures of the catalogs are declared in specially formatted C
+ header files in the <filename>src/include/catalog/</filename> directory of
+ the source tree. For each catalog there is a header file
+ named after the catalog (e.g., <filename>pg_class.h</filename>
+ for <structname>pg_class</structname>), which defines the set of columns
+ the catalog has, as well as some other basic properties such as its OID.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Many of the catalogs have initial data that must be loaded into them
+ during the <quote>bootstrap</quote> phase
+ of <application>initdb</application>, to bring the system up to a point
+ where it is capable of executing SQL commands. (For
+ example, <filename>pg_class.h</filename> must contain an entry for itself,
+ as well as one for each other system catalog and index.) This
+ initial data is kept in editable form in data files that are also stored
+ in the <filename>src/include/catalog/</filename> directory. For example,
+ <filename>pg_proc.dat</filename> describes all the initial rows that must
+ be inserted into the <structname>pg_proc</structname> catalog.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To create the catalog files and load this initial data into them, a
+ backend running in bootstrap mode reads a <acronym>BKI</acronym>
+ (Backend Interface) file containing commands and initial data.
+ The <filename>postgres.bki</filename> file used in this mode is prepared
+ from the aforementioned header and data files, while building
+ a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> distribution, by a Perl script
+ named <filename>genbki.pl</filename>.
+ Although it's specific to a particular <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
+ release, <filename>postgres.bki</filename> is platform-independent and is
+ installed in the <filename>share</filename> subdirectory of the
+ installation tree.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ <filename>genbki.pl</filename> also produces a derived header file for
+ each catalog, for example <filename>pg_class_d.h</filename> for
+ the <structname>pg_class</structname> catalog. This file contains
+ automatically-generated macro definitions, and may contain other macros,
+ enum declarations, and so on that can be useful for client C code that
+ reads a particular catalog.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Most PostgreSQL developers don't need to be directly concerned with
+ the <acronym>BKI</acronym> file, but almost any nontrivial feature
+ addition in the backend will require modifying the catalog header files
+ and/or initial data files. The rest of this chapter gives some
+ information about that, and for completeness describes
+ the <acronym>BKI</acronym> file format.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect1 id="system-catalog-declarations">
+ <title>System Catalog Declaration Rules</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The key part of a catalog header file is a C structure definition
+ describing the layout of each row of the catalog. This begins with
+ a <literal>CATALOG</literal> macro, which so far as the C compiler is
+ concerned is just shorthand for <literal>typedef struct
+ FormData_<replaceable>catalogname</replaceable></literal>.
+ Each field in the struct gives rise to a catalog column.
+ Fields can be annotated using the BKI property macros described
+ in <filename>genbki.h</filename>, for example to define a default value
+ for a field or mark it as nullable or not nullable.
+ The <literal>CATALOG</literal> line can also be annotated, with some
+ other BKI property macros described in <filename>genbki.h</filename>, to
+ define other properties of the catalog as a whole, such as whether
+ it is a shared relation.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The system catalog cache code (and most catalog-munging code in general)
+ assumes that the fixed-length portions of all system catalog tuples are
+ in fact present, because it maps this C struct declaration onto them.
+ Thus, all variable-length fields and nullable fields must be placed at
+ the end, and they cannot be accessed as struct fields.
+ For example, if you tried to
+ set <structname>pg_type</structname>.<structfield>typrelid</structfield>
+ to be NULL, it would fail when some piece of code tried to reference
+ <literal>typetup-&gt;typrelid</literal> (or worse,
+ <literal>typetup-&gt;typelem</literal>, because that follows
+ <structfield>typrelid</structfield>). This would result in
+ random errors or even segmentation violations.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ As a partial guard against this type of error, variable-length or
+ nullable fields should not be made directly visible to the C compiler.
+ This is accomplished by wrapping them in <literal>#ifdef
+ CATALOG_VARLEN</literal> ... <literal>#endif</literal> (where
+ <literal>CATALOG_VARLEN</literal> is a symbol that is never defined).
+ This prevents C code from carelessly trying to access fields that might
+ not be there or might be at some other offset.
+ As an independent guard against creating incorrect rows, we
+ require all columns that should be non-nullable to be marked so
+ in <structname>pg_attribute</structname>. The bootstrap code will
+ automatically mark catalog columns as <literal>NOT NULL</literal>
+ if they are fixed-width and are not preceded by any nullable or
+ variable-width column.
+ Where this rule is inadequate, you can force correct marking by using
+ <literal>BKI_FORCE_NOT_NULL</literal>
+ and <literal>BKI_FORCE_NULL</literal> annotations as needed.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Frontend code should not include any <filename>pg_xxx.h</filename>
+ catalog header file, as these files may contain C code that won't compile
+ outside the backend. (Typically, that happens because these files also
+ contain declarations for functions
+ in <filename>src/backend/catalog/</filename> files.)
+ Instead, frontend code may include the corresponding
+ generated <filename>pg_xxx_d.h</filename> header, which will contain
+ OID <literal>#define</literal>s and any other data that might be of use
+ on the client side. If you want macros or other code in a catalog header
+ to be visible to frontend code, write <literal>#ifdef
+ EXPOSE_TO_CLIENT_CODE</literal> ... <literal>#endif</literal> around that
+ section to instruct <filename>genbki.pl</filename> to copy that section
+ to the <filename>pg_xxx_d.h</filename> header.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ A few of the catalogs are so fundamental that they can't even be created
+ by the <acronym>BKI</acronym> <literal>create</literal> command that's
+ used for most catalogs, because that command needs to write information
+ into these catalogs to describe the new catalog. These are
+ called <firstterm>bootstrap</firstterm> catalogs, and defining one takes
+ a lot of extra work: you have to manually prepare appropriate entries for
+ them in the pre-loaded contents of <structname>pg_class</structname>
+ and <structname>pg_type</structname>, and those entries will need to be
+ updated for subsequent changes to the catalog's structure.
+ (Bootstrap catalogs also need pre-loaded entries
+ in <structname>pg_attribute</structname>, but
+ fortunately <filename>genbki.pl</filename> handles that chore nowadays.)
+ Avoid making new catalogs be bootstrap catalogs if at all possible.
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="system-catalog-initial-data">
+ <title>System Catalog Initial Data</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Each catalog that has any manually-created initial data (some do not)
+ has a corresponding <literal>.dat</literal> file that contains its
+ initial data in an editable format.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="system-catalog-initial-data-format">
+ <title>Data File Format</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Each <literal>.dat</literal> file contains Perl data structure literals
+ that are simply eval'd to produce an in-memory data structure consisting
+ of an array of hash references, one per catalog row.
+ A slightly modified excerpt from <filename>pg_database.dat</filename>
+ will demonstrate the key features:
+ </para>
+
+<!-- The "slight modification" is the apostrophe in the description. -->
+<programlisting><![CDATA[
+[
+
+# A comment could appear here.
+{ oid => '1', oid_symbol => 'Template1DbOid',
+ descr => 'database\'s default template',
+ datname => 'template1', encoding => 'ENCODING',
+ datlocprovider => 'LOCALE_PROVIDER', datistemplate => 't',
+ datallowconn => 't', datconnlimit => '-1', datfrozenxid => '0',
+ datminmxid => '1', dattablespace => 'pg_default', datcollate => 'LC_COLLATE',
+ datctype => 'LC_CTYPE', daticulocale => 'ICU_LOCALE', datacl => '_null_' },
+
+]
+]]></programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Points to note:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The overall file layout is: open square bracket, one or more sets of
+ curly braces each of which represents a catalog row, close square
+ bracket. Write a comma after each closing curly brace.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Within each catalog row, write comma-separated
+ <replaceable>key</replaceable> <literal>=&gt;</literal>
+ <replaceable>value</replaceable> pairs. The
+ allowed <replaceable>key</replaceable>s are the names of the catalog's
+ columns, plus the metadata keys <literal>oid</literal>,
+ <literal>oid_symbol</literal>,
+ <literal>array_type_oid</literal>, and <literal>descr</literal>.
+ (The use of <literal>oid</literal> and <literal>oid_symbol</literal>
+ is described in <xref linkend="system-catalog-oid-assignment"/> below,
+ while <literal>array_type_oid</literal> is described in
+ <xref linkend="system-catalog-auto-array-types"/>.
+ <literal>descr</literal> supplies a description string for the object,
+ which will be inserted into <structname>pg_description</structname>
+ or <structname>pg_shdescription</structname> as appropriate.)
+ While the metadata keys are optional, the catalog's defined columns
+ must all be provided, except when the catalog's <literal>.h</literal>
+ file specifies a default value for the column.
+ (In the example above, the <structfield>datdba</structfield> field has
+ been omitted because <filename>pg_database.h</filename> supplies a
+ suitable default value for it.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ All values must be single-quoted. Escape single quotes used within a
+ value with a backslash. Backslashes meant as data can, but need not,
+ be doubled; this follows Perl's rules for simple quoted literals.
+ Note that backslashes appearing as data will be treated as escapes by
+ the bootstrap scanner, according to the same rules as for escape string
+ constants (see <xref linkend="sql-syntax-strings-escape"/>); for
+ example <literal>\t</literal> converts to a tab character. If you
+ actually want a backslash in the final value, you will need to write
+ four of them: Perl strips two, leaving <literal>\\</literal> for the
+ bootstrap scanner to see.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Null values are represented by <literal>_null_</literal>.
+ (Note that there is no way to create a value that is just that
+ string.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Comments are preceded by <literal>#</literal>, and must be on their
+ own lines.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Field values that are OIDs of other catalog entries should be
+ represented by symbolic names rather than actual numeric OIDs.
+ (In the example above, <structfield>dattablespace</structfield>
+ contains such a reference.)
+ This is described in <xref linkend="system-catalog-oid-references"/>
+ below.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Since hashes are unordered data structures, field order and line
+ layout aren't semantically significant. However, to maintain a
+ consistent appearance, we set a few rules that are applied by the
+ formatting script <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename>:
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Within each pair of curly braces, the metadata
+ fields <literal>oid</literal>, <literal>oid_symbol</literal>,
+ <literal>array_type_oid</literal>, and <literal>descr</literal>
+ (if present) come first, in that order, then the catalog's own
+ fields appear in their defined order.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Newlines are inserted between fields as needed to limit line length
+ to 80 characters, if possible. A newline is also inserted between
+ the metadata fields and the regular fields.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If the catalog's <literal>.h</literal> file specifies a default
+ value for a column, and a data entry has that same
+ value, <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename> will omit it from
+ the data file. This keeps the data representation compact.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename> preserves blank lines
+ and comment lines as-is.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ It's recommended to run <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename>
+ before submitting catalog data patches. For convenience, you can
+ simply change to <filename>src/include/catalog/</filename> and
+ run <literal>make reformat-dat-files</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If you want to add a new method of making the data representation
+ smaller, you must implement it
+ in <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename> and also
+ teach <function>Catalog::ParseData()</function> how to expand the
+ data back into the full representation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="system-catalog-oid-assignment">
+ <title>OID Assignment</title>
+
+ <para>
+ A catalog row appearing in the initial data can be given a
+ manually-assigned OID by writing an <literal>oid
+ =&gt; <replaceable>nnnn</replaceable></literal> metadata field.
+ Furthermore, if an OID is assigned, a C macro for that OID can be
+ created by writing an <literal>oid_symbol
+ =&gt; <replaceable>name</replaceable></literal> metadata field.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Pre-loaded catalog rows must have preassigned OIDs if there are OID
+ references to them in other pre-loaded rows. A preassigned OID is
+ also needed if the row's OID must be referenced from C code.
+ If neither case applies, the <literal>oid</literal> metadata field can
+ be omitted, in which case the bootstrap code assigns an OID
+ automatically.
+ In practice we usually preassign OIDs for all or none of the pre-loaded
+ rows in a given catalog, even if only some of them are actually
+ cross-referenced.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Writing the actual numeric value of any OID in C code is considered
+ very bad form; always use a macro, instead. Direct references
+ to <structname>pg_proc</structname> OIDs are common enough that there's
+ a special mechanism to create the necessary macros automatically;
+ see <filename>src/backend/utils/Gen_fmgrtab.pl</filename>. Similarly
+ &mdash; but, for historical reasons, not done the same way &mdash;
+ there's an automatic method for creating macros
+ for <structname>pg_type</structname>
+ OIDs. <literal>oid_symbol</literal> entries are therefore not
+ necessary in those two catalogs. Likewise, macros for
+ the <structname>pg_class</structname> OIDs of system catalogs and
+ indexes are set up automatically. For all other system catalogs, you
+ have to manually specify any macros you need
+ via <literal>oid_symbol</literal> entries.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To find an available OID for a new pre-loaded row, run the
+ script <filename>src/include/catalog/unused_oids</filename>.
+ It prints inclusive ranges of unused OIDs (e.g., the output
+ line <literal>45-900</literal> means OIDs 45 through 900 have not been
+ allocated yet). Currently, OIDs 1&ndash;9999 are reserved for manual
+ assignment; the <filename>unused_oids</filename> script simply looks
+ through the catalog headers and <filename>.dat</filename> files
+ to see which ones do not appear. You can also use
+ the <filename>duplicate_oids</filename> script to check for mistakes.
+ (<filename>genbki.pl</filename> will assign OIDs for any rows that
+ didn't get one hand-assigned to them, and it will also detect duplicate
+ OIDs at compile time.)
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ When choosing OIDs for a patch that is not expected to be committed
+ immediately, best practice is to use a group of more-or-less
+ consecutive OIDs starting with some random choice in the range
+ 8000&mdash;9999. This minimizes the risk of OID collisions with other
+ patches being developed concurrently. To keep the 8000&mdash;9999
+ range free for development purposes, after a patch has been committed
+ to the master git repository its OIDs should be renumbered into
+ available space below that range. Typically, this will be done
+ near the end of each development cycle, moving all OIDs consumed by
+ patches committed in that cycle at the same time. The script
+ <filename>renumber_oids.pl</filename> can be used for this purpose.
+ If an uncommitted patch is found to have OID conflicts with some
+ recently-committed patch, <filename>renumber_oids.pl</filename> may
+ also be useful for recovering from that situation.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Because of this convention of possibly renumbering OIDs assigned by
+ patches, the OIDs assigned by a patch should not be considered stable
+ until the patch has been included in an official release. We do not
+ change manually-assigned object OIDs once released, however, as that
+ would create assorted compatibility problems.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If <filename>genbki.pl</filename> needs to assign an OID to a catalog
+ entry that does not have a manually-assigned OID, it will use a value in
+ the range 10000&mdash;11999. The server's OID counter is set to 10000
+ at the start of a bootstrap run, so that any objects created on-the-fly
+ during bootstrap processing also receive OIDs in this range. (The
+ usual OID assignment mechanism takes care of preventing any conflicts.)
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Objects with OIDs below <symbol>FirstUnpinnedObjectId</symbol> (12000)
+ are considered <quote>pinned</quote>, preventing them from being
+ deleted. (There are a small number of exceptions, which are
+ hard-wired into <function>IsPinnedObject()</function>.)
+ <application>initdb</application> forces the OID counter up
+ to <symbol>FirstUnpinnedObjectId</symbol> as soon as it's ready to
+ create unpinned objects. Thus objects created during the later phases
+ of <application>initdb</application>, such as objects created while
+ running the <filename>information_schema.sql</filename> script, will
+ not be pinned, while all objects known
+ to <filename>genbki.pl</filename> will be.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ OIDs assigned during normal database operation are constrained to be
+ 16384 or higher. This ensures that the range 10000&mdash;16383 is free
+ for OIDs assigned automatically by <filename>genbki.pl</filename> or
+ during <application>initdb</application>. These
+ automatically-assigned OIDs are not considered stable, and may change
+ from one installation to another.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="system-catalog-oid-references">
+ <title>OID Reference Lookup</title>
+
+ <para>
+ In principle, cross-references from one initial catalog row to another
+ could be written just by writing the preassigned OID of the referenced
+ row in the referencing field. However, that is against project
+ policy, because it is error-prone, hard to read, and subject to
+ breakage if a newly-assigned OID is renumbered. Therefore
+ <filename>genbki.pl</filename> provides mechanisms to write
+ symbolic references instead.
+ The rules are as follows:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Use of symbolic references is enabled in a particular catalog column
+ by attaching <literal>BKI_LOOKUP(<replaceable>lookuprule</replaceable>)</literal>
+ to the column's definition, where <replaceable>lookuprule</replaceable>
+ is the name of the referenced catalog, e.g., <literal>pg_proc</literal>.
+ <literal>BKI_LOOKUP</literal> can be attached to columns of
+ type <type>Oid</type>, <type>regproc</type>, <type>oidvector</type>,
+ or <type>Oid[]</type>; in the latter two cases it implies performing a
+ lookup on each element of the array.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ It's also permissible to attach <literal>BKI_LOOKUP(encoding)</literal>
+ to integer columns to reference character set encodings, which are
+ not currently represented as catalog OIDs, but have a set of values
+ known to <filename>genbki.pl</filename>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ In some catalog columns, it's allowed for entries to be zero instead
+ of a valid reference. If this is allowed, write
+ <literal>BKI_LOOKUP_OPT</literal> instead
+ of <literal>BKI_LOOKUP</literal>. Then you can
+ write <literal>0</literal> for an entry. (If the column is
+ declared <type>regproc</type>, you can optionally
+ write <literal>-</literal> instead of <literal>0</literal>.)
+ Except for this special case, all entries in
+ a <literal>BKI_LOOKUP</literal> column must be symbolic references.
+ <filename>genbki.pl</filename> will warn about unrecognized names.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Most kinds of catalog objects are simply referenced by their names.
+ Note that type names must exactly match the
+ referenced <structname>pg_type</structname>
+ entry's <structfield>typname</structfield>; you do not get to use
+ any aliases such as <literal>integer</literal>
+ for <literal>int4</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A function can be represented by
+ its <structfield>proname</structfield>, if that is unique among
+ the <filename>pg_proc.dat</filename> entries (this works like regproc
+ input). Otherwise, write it
+ as <replaceable>proname(argtypename,argtypename,...)</replaceable>,
+ like regprocedure. The argument type names must be spelled exactly as
+ they are in the <filename>pg_proc.dat</filename> entry's
+ <structfield>proargtypes</structfield> field. Do not insert any
+ spaces.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Operators are represented
+ by <replaceable>oprname(lefttype,righttype)</replaceable>,
+ writing the type names exactly as they appear in
+ the <filename>pg_operator.dat</filename>
+ entry's <structfield>oprleft</structfield>
+ and <structfield>oprright</structfield> fields.
+ (Write <literal>0</literal> for the omitted operand of a unary
+ operator.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The names of opclasses and opfamilies are only unique within an
+ access method, so they are represented
+ by <replaceable>access_method_name</replaceable><literal>/</literal><replaceable>object_name</replaceable>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ In none of these cases is there any provision for
+ schema-qualification; all objects created during bootstrap are
+ expected to be in the <literal>pg_catalog</literal> schema.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ <filename>genbki.pl</filename> resolves all symbolic references while it
+ runs, and puts simple numeric OIDs into the emitted BKI file. There is
+ therefore no need for the bootstrap backend to deal with symbolic
+ references.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ It's desirable to mark OID reference columns
+ with <literal>BKI_LOOKUP</literal> or <literal>BKI_LOOKUP_OPT</literal>
+ even if the catalog has no initial data that requires lookup. This
+ allows <filename>genbki.pl</filename> to record the foreign key
+ relationships that exist in the system catalogs. That information is
+ used in the regression tests to check for incorrect entries. See also
+ the macros <literal>DECLARE_FOREIGN_KEY</literal>,
+ <literal>DECLARE_FOREIGN_KEY_OPT</literal>,
+ <literal>DECLARE_ARRAY_FOREIGN_KEY</literal>,
+ and <literal>DECLARE_ARRAY_FOREIGN_KEY_OPT</literal>, which are
+ used to declare foreign key relationships that are too complex
+ for <literal>BKI_LOOKUP</literal> (typically, multi-column foreign
+ keys).
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="system-catalog-auto-array-types">
+ <title>Automatic Creation of Array Types</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Most scalar data types should have a corresponding array type (that is,
+ a standard varlena array type whose element type is the scalar type, and
+ which is referenced by the <structfield>typarray</structfield> field of
+ the scalar type's <structname>pg_type</structname>
+ entry). <filename>genbki.pl</filename> is able to generate
+ the <structname>pg_type</structname> entry for the array type
+ automatically in most cases.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To use this facility, just write an <literal>array_type_oid
+ =&gt; <replaceable>nnnn</replaceable></literal> metadata field in the
+ scalar type's <structname>pg_type</structname> entry, specifying the OID
+ to use for the array type. You may then omit
+ the <structfield>typarray</structfield> field, since it will be filled
+ automatically with that OID.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The generated array type's name is the scalar type's name with an
+ underscore prepended. The array entry's other fields are filled from
+ <literal>BKI_ARRAY_DEFAULT(<replaceable>value</replaceable>)</literal>
+ annotations in <filename>pg_type.h</filename>, or if there isn't one,
+ copied from the scalar type. (There's also a special case
+ for <structfield>typalign</structfield>.) Then
+ the <structfield>typelem</structfield>
+ and <structfield>typarray</structfield> fields of the two entries are
+ set to cross-reference each other.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="system-catalog-recipes">
+ <title>Recipes for Editing Data Files</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Here are some suggestions about the easiest ways to perform common tasks
+ when updating catalog data files.
+ </para>
+
+ <formalpara>
+ <title>Add a new column with a default to a catalog:</title>
+ <para>
+ Add the column to the header file with
+ a <literal>BKI_DEFAULT(<replaceable>value</replaceable>)</literal>
+ annotation. The data file need only be adjusted by adding the field
+ in existing rows where a non-default value is needed.
+ </para>
+ </formalpara>
+
+ <formalpara>
+ <title>Add a default value to an existing column that doesn't have
+ one:</title>
+ <para>
+ Add a <literal>BKI_DEFAULT</literal> annotation to the header file,
+ then run <literal>make reformat-dat-files</literal> to remove
+ now-redundant field entries.
+ </para>
+ </formalpara>
+
+ <formalpara>
+ <title>Remove a column, whether it has a default or not:</title>
+ <para>
+ Remove the column from the header, then run <literal>make
+ reformat-dat-files</literal> to remove now-useless field entries.
+ </para>
+ </formalpara>
+
+ <formalpara>
+ <title>Change or remove an existing default value:</title>
+ <para>
+ You cannot simply change the header file, since that will cause the
+ current data to be interpreted incorrectly. First run <literal>make
+ expand-dat-files</literal> to rewrite the data files with all
+ default values inserted explicitly, then change or remove
+ the <literal>BKI_DEFAULT</literal> annotation, then run <literal>make
+ reformat-dat-files</literal> to remove superfluous fields again.
+ </para>
+ </formalpara>
+
+ <formalpara>
+ <title>Ad-hoc bulk editing:</title>
+ <para>
+ <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename> can be adapted to perform
+ many kinds of bulk changes. Look for its block comments showing where
+ one-off code can be inserted. In the following example, we are going
+ to consolidate two Boolean fields in <structname>pg_proc</structname>
+ into a char field:
+
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Add the new column, with a default,
+ to <filename>pg_proc.h</filename>:
+<programlisting>
++ /* see PROKIND_ categories below */
++ char prokind BKI_DEFAULT(f);
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a new script based on <filename>reformat_dat_file.pl</filename>
+ to insert appropriate values on-the-fly:
+<programlisting>
+- # At this point we have the full row in memory as a hash
+- # and can do any operations we want. As written, it only
+- # removes default values, but this script can be adapted to
+- # do one-off bulk-editing.
++ # One-off change to migrate to prokind
++ # Default has already been filled in by now, so change to other
++ # values as appropriate
++ if ($values{proisagg} eq 't')
++ {
++ $values{prokind} = 'a';
++ }
++ elsif ($values{proiswindow} eq 't')
++ {
++ $values{prokind} = 'w';
++ }
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Run the new script:
+<programlisting>
+$ cd src/include/catalog
+$ perl rewrite_dat_with_prokind.pl pg_proc.dat
+</programlisting>
+ At this point <filename>pg_proc.dat</filename> has all three
+ columns, <structfield>prokind</structfield>,
+ <structfield>proisagg</structfield>,
+ and <structfield>proiswindow</structfield>, though they will appear
+ only in rows where they have non-default values.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Remove the old columns from <filename>pg_proc.h</filename>:
+<programlisting>
+- /* is it an aggregate? */
+- bool proisagg BKI_DEFAULT(f);
+-
+- /* is it a window function? */
+- bool proiswindow BKI_DEFAULT(f);
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Finally, run <literal>make reformat-dat-files</literal> to remove
+ the useless old entries from <filename>pg_proc.dat</filename>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+
+ For further examples of scripts used for bulk editing, see
+ <filename>convert_oid2name.pl</filename>
+ and <filename>remove_pg_type_oid_symbols.pl</filename> attached to this
+ message:
+ <ulink url="https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/CAJVSVGVX8gXnPm+Xa=DxR7kFYprcQ1tNcCT5D0O3ShfnM6jehA@mail.gmail.com"></ulink>
+ </para>
+ </formalpara>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="bki-format">
+ <title><acronym>BKI</acronym> File Format</title>
+
+ <para>
+ This section describes how the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
+ backend interprets <acronym>BKI</acronym> files. This description
+ will be easier to understand if the <filename>postgres.bki</filename>
+ file is at hand as an example.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ <acronym>BKI</acronym> input consists of a sequence of commands. Commands are made up
+ of a number of tokens, depending on the syntax of the command.
+ Tokens are usually separated by whitespace, but need not be if
+ there is no ambiguity. There is no special command separator; the
+ next token that syntactically cannot belong to the preceding
+ command starts a new one. (Usually you would put a new command on
+ a new line, for clarity.) Tokens can be certain key words, special
+ characters (parentheses, commas, etc.), identifiers, numbers, or
+ single-quoted strings. Everything is case sensitive.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are ignored.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="bki-commands">
+ <title><acronym>BKI</acronym> Commands</title>
+
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>create</literal>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tableoid</replaceable>
+ <optional><literal>bootstrap</literal></optional>
+ <optional><literal>shared_relation</literal></optional>
+ <optional><literal>rowtype_oid</literal> <replaceable>oid</replaceable></optional>
+ (<replaceable class="parameter">name1</replaceable> =
+ <replaceable class="parameter">type1</replaceable>
+ <optional><literal>FORCE NOT NULL</literal> | <literal>FORCE NULL</literal> </optional> <optional>,
+ <replaceable class="parameter">name2</replaceable> =
+ <replaceable class="parameter">type2</replaceable>
+ <optional><literal>FORCE NOT NULL</literal> | <literal>FORCE NULL</literal> </optional>,
+ ...</optional>)
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a table named <replaceable
+ class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>, and having the OID
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tableoid</replaceable>,
+ with the columns given in parentheses.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The following column types are supported directly by
+ <filename>bootstrap.c</filename>: <type>bool</type>,
+ <type>bytea</type>, <type>char</type> (1 byte),
+ <type>name</type>, <type>int2</type>,
+ <type>int4</type>, <type>regproc</type>, <type>regclass</type>,
+ <type>regtype</type>, <type>text</type>,
+ <type>oid</type>, <type>tid</type>, <type>xid</type>,
+ <type>cid</type>, <type>int2vector</type>, <type>oidvector</type>,
+ <type>_int4</type> (array), <type>_text</type> (array),
+ <type>_oid</type> (array), <type>_char</type> (array),
+ <type>_aclitem</type> (array). Although it is possible to create
+ tables containing columns of other types, this cannot be done until
+ after <structname>pg_type</structname> has been created and filled with
+ appropriate entries. (That effectively means that only these
+ column types can be used in bootstrap catalogs, but non-bootstrap
+ catalogs can contain any built-in type.)
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ When <literal>bootstrap</literal> is specified,
+ the table will only be created on disk; nothing is entered into
+ <structname>pg_class</structname>,
+ <structname>pg_attribute</structname>, etc., for it. Thus the
+ table will not be accessible by ordinary SQL operations until
+ such entries are made the hard way (with <literal>insert</literal>
+ commands). This option is used for creating
+ <structname>pg_class</structname> etc. themselves.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The table is created as shared if <literal>shared_relation</literal> is
+ specified.
+ The table's row type OID (<structname>pg_type</structname> OID) can optionally
+ be specified via the <literal>rowtype_oid</literal> clause; if not specified,
+ an OID is automatically generated for it. (The <literal>rowtype_oid</literal>
+ clause is useless if <literal>bootstrap</literal> is specified, but it can be
+ provided anyway for documentation.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>open</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Open the table named
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ for insertion of data. Any currently open table is closed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>close</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Close the open table. The name of the table must be given as a
+ cross-check.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>insert</literal> <literal>(</literal> <optional><replaceable class="parameter">oid_value</replaceable></optional> <replaceable class="parameter">value1</replaceable> <replaceable class="parameter">value2</replaceable> ... <literal>)</literal>
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Insert a new row into the open table using <replaceable
+ class="parameter">value1</replaceable>, <replaceable
+ class="parameter">value2</replaceable>, etc., for its column
+ values.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ NULL values can be specified using the special key word
+ <literal>_null_</literal>. Values that do not look like
+ identifiers or digit strings must be single-quoted.
+ (To include a single quote in a value, write it twice.
+ Escape-string-style backslash escapes are allowed in the string, too.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>declare</literal> <optional><literal>unique</literal></optional>
+ <literal>index</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">indexname</replaceable>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">indexoid</replaceable>
+ <literal>on</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ <literal>using</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">amname</replaceable>
+ <literal>(</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">opclass1</replaceable>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">name1</replaceable>
+ <optional>, ...</optional> <literal>)</literal>
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create an index named <replaceable
+ class="parameter">indexname</replaceable>, having OID
+ <replaceable class="parameter">indexoid</replaceable>,
+ on the table named
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>, using the
+ <replaceable class="parameter">amname</replaceable> access
+ method. The fields to index are called <replaceable
+ class="parameter">name1</replaceable>, <replaceable
+ class="parameter">name2</replaceable> etc., and the operator
+ classes to use are <replaceable
+ class="parameter">opclass1</replaceable>, <replaceable
+ class="parameter">opclass2</replaceable> etc., respectively.
+ The index file is created and appropriate catalog entries are
+ made for it, but the index contents are not initialized by this command.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ <literal>declare toast</literal>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">toasttableoid</replaceable>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">toastindexoid</replaceable>
+ <literal>on</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a TOAST table for the table named
+ <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>.
+ The TOAST table is assigned OID
+ <replaceable class="parameter">toasttableoid</replaceable>
+ and its index is assigned OID
+ <replaceable class="parameter">toastindexoid</replaceable>.
+ As with <literal>declare index</literal>, filling of the index
+ is postponed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>build indices</literal></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Fill in the indices that have previously been declared.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ </variablelist>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="bki-structure">
+ <title>Structure of the Bootstrap <acronym>BKI</acronym> File</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <literal>open</literal> command cannot be used until the tables it uses
+ exist and have entries for the table that is to be opened.
+ (These minimum tables are <structname>pg_class</structname>,
+ <structname>pg_attribute</structname>, <structname>pg_proc</structname>, and
+ <structname>pg_type</structname>.) To allow those tables themselves to be filled,
+ <literal>create</literal> with the <literal>bootstrap</literal> option implicitly opens
+ the created table for data insertion.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Also, the <literal>declare index</literal> and <literal>declare toast</literal>
+ commands cannot be used until the system catalogs they need have been
+ created and filled in.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Thus, the structure of the <filename>postgres.bki</filename> file has to
+ be:
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>create bootstrap</literal> one of the critical tables
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>insert</literal> data describing at least the critical tables
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>close</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Repeat for the other critical tables.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>create</literal> (without <literal>bootstrap</literal>) a noncritical table
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>open</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>insert</literal> desired data
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>close</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Repeat for the other noncritical tables.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Define indexes and toast tables.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>build indices</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ There are doubtless other, undocumented ordering dependencies.
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="bki-example">
+ <title>BKI Example</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The following sequence of commands will create the table
+ <literal>test_table</literal> with OID 420, having three columns
+ <literal>oid</literal>, <literal>cola</literal> and <literal>colb</literal>
+ of type <type>oid</type>, <type>int4</type> and <type>text</type>,
+ respectively, and insert two rows into the table:
+<programlisting>
+create test_table 420 (oid = oid, cola = int4, colb = text)
+open test_table
+insert ( 421 1 'value 1' )
+insert ( 422 2 _null_ )
+close test_table
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+</chapter>