fate of pg_logger (was Re: [PATCHES] Contrib modules on Win32)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andreas Pflug [mailto:pgadmin(at)pse-consulting(dot)de]
> Sent: 08 September 2004 19:15
> To: Dave Page
> Cc: PgSQL Win32 developers; PostgreSQL Patches
> Subject: Re: [pgsql-hackers-win32] Contrib modules on Win32
>
> Dave Page wrote:
> >
> > cube
> > seg
>
> patch attached. Compiles, but not tested.
>
> > miscutil
> Needs review; includes some deprecated stuff (backend_pid)
>
> > pg_logger
> deprecated; use redirect_stderr (BTW, is it default on win32 now?)

Yes, it's the default on Win32 (installer releases anyhoo). I take it
this should be removed from /contrib then.

> > pgcrypto
> misses -lws2_32. According to README, it needs some tuning concerning
> random() before deploying.

I must have missed that - I've been using it in production on Linux for
years...

Regards, Dave.

Removal of pg_logger.

Your patch has been added to the PostgreSQL unapplied patches list at:

http://momjian.postgresql.org/cgi-bin/pgpatches

It will be applied as soon as one of the PostgreSQL committers reviews
and approves it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Page wrote:
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Andreas Pflug [mailto:pgadmin(at)pse-consulting(dot)de]
> > Sent: 08 September 2004 19:15
> > To: Dave Page
> > Cc: PgSQL Win32 developers; PostgreSQL Patches
> > Subject: Re: [pgsql-hackers-win32] Contrib modules on Win32
> >
> > Dave Page wrote:
> > >
> > > cube
> > > seg
> >
> > patch attached. Compiles, but not tested.
> >
> > > miscutil
> > Needs review; includes some deprecated stuff (backend_pid)
> >
> > > pg_logger
> > deprecated; use redirect_stderr (BTW, is it default on win32 now?)
>
> Yes, it's the default on Win32 (installer releases anyhoo). I take it
> this should be removed from /contrib then.
>
> > > pgcrypto
> > misses -lws2_32. According to README, it needs some tuning concerning
> > random() before deploying.
>
> I must have missed that - I've been using it in production on Linux for
> years...
>
> Regards, Dave.
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 5: Have you checked our extensive FAQ?
>
> http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs/FAQ.html
>

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

"Dave Page" <dpage(at)vale-housing(dot)co(dot)uk> writes:
>>> [ in list of contrib modules that don't build on Windows ]
>>> pg_logger

>> deprecated; use redirect_stderr (BTW, is it default on win32 now?)

> Yes, it's the default on Win32 (installer releases anyhoo). I take it
> this should be removed from /contrib then.

I looked into this a little. pg_logger isn't directly replaced by the
redirect_stderr code, because it actually redirects stderr to syslog,
not straight into files. It's reasonable that someone would want this
facility instead of elog.c's built-in support for syslog. The original
motivation for the contrib module can be found in this thread:
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2001-02/msg00295.php
where it was pointed out that backends sometimes emit messages to stderr
without going through elog(), and so the elog-based redirection to
syslog isn't very reliable.

That argument is a lot weaker than it was at the time, mainly because we
already waged the "holy war on stdout/stderr messages in the backend"
that I didn't want to get into in the above-cited message; we did so to
support localization and SQLSTATE codes for error messages. There are
still a very few stderr prints in the backend, but AFAIK they are all
developer-only debug support. The case of useful messages from dynamic
linker failures is the only argument that I think still has much weight,
and you could easily classify that one as a developer-only issue, too.

In any case, given the 8.0 code base, pg_logger makes no sense.
If you wanted the facility, what you'd do is put an additional option
into postmaster/syslogger.c to send captured output to syslog instead
of files. That way you would have a logger that would be automatically
launched by the postmaster --- ergo, no need to tweak init scripts ---
and what's more would be re-launched by the postmaster should it chance
to die.

So I don't see any value in putting any work into contrib/pg_logger to
make it build (or suppress it from building) on Windows. If I don't
hear a squawk PDQ, I'll remove the contrib module.

regards, tom lane

Pg_logger removed by Tom.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Page wrote:
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Andreas Pflug [mailto:pgadmin(at)pse-consulting(dot)de]
> > Sent: 08 September 2004 19:15
> > To: Dave Page
> > Cc: PgSQL Win32 developers; PostgreSQL Patches
> > Subject: Re: [pgsql-hackers-win32] Contrib modules on Win32
> >
> > Dave Page wrote:
> > >
> > > cube
> > > seg
> >
> > patch attached. Compiles, but not tested.
> >
> > > miscutil
> > Needs review; includes some deprecated stuff (backend_pid)
> >
> > > pg_logger
> > deprecated; use redirect_stderr (BTW, is it default on win32 now?)
>
> Yes, it's the default on Win32 (installer releases anyhoo). I take it
> this should be removed from /contrib then.
>
> > > pgcrypto
> > misses -lws2_32. According to README, it needs some tuning concerning
> > random() before deploying.
>
> I must have missed that - I've been using it in production on Linux for
> years...
>
> Regards, Dave.
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 5: Have you checked our extensive FAQ?
>
> http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs/FAQ.html
>

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073