PostgreSQL 9.3.25 Documentation | ||||
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This section covers implementation details and other tricks that are useful for implementers of SP-GiST operator classes to know.
Individual leaf tuples and inner tuples must fit on a single index page (8KB by default). Therefore, when indexing values of variable-length data types, long values can only be supported by methods such as radix trees, in which each level of the tree includes a prefix that is short enough to fit on a page, and the final leaf level includes a suffix also short enough to fit on a page. The operator class should set longValuesOK to TRUE only if it is prepared to arrange for this to happen. Otherwise, the SP-GiST core will reject any request to index a value that is too large to fit on an index page.
Likewise, it is the operator class's responsibility that inner tuples do not grow too large to fit on an index page; this limits the number of child nodes that can be used in one inner tuple, as well as the maximum size of a prefix value.
Another limitation is that when an inner tuple's node points to
a set of leaf tuples, those tuples must all be in the same index
page. (This is a design decision to reduce seeking and save space
in the links that chain such tuples together.) If the set of leaf
tuples grows too large for a page, a split is performed and an
intermediate inner tuple is inserted. For this to fix the problem,
the new inner tuple must
divide the set of leaf values into more than one node group. If the
operator class's picksplit
function
fails to do that, the SP-GiST
core resorts to extraordinary measures described in Section
56.3.3.
Some tree algorithms use a fixed set of nodes for each inner
tuple; for example, in a quad-tree there are always exactly four
nodes corresponding to the four quadrants around the inner tuple's
centroid point. In such a case the code typically works with the
nodes by number, and there is no need for explicit node labels. To
suppress node labels (and thereby save some space), the
picksplit
function can return NULL
for the nodeLabels array. This will in
turn result in nodeLabels being NULL
during subsequent calls to choose
and
inner_consistent
. In principle, node
labels could be used for some inner tuples and omitted for others
in the same index.
When working with an inner tuple having unlabeled nodes, it is
an error for choose
to return
spgAddNode, since the set of nodes is
supposed to be fixed in such cases. Also, there is no provision for
generating an unlabeled node in spgSplitTuple actions, since it is expected that an
spgAddNode action will be needed as
well.
The SP-GiST core can override
the results of the operator class's picksplit
function when picksplit
fails to divide the supplied leaf
values into at least two node categories. When this happens, the
new inner tuple is created with multiple nodes that each have the
same label (if any) that picksplit
gave to the one node it did use, and the leaf values are divided at
random among these equivalent nodes. The allTheSame flag is set on the inner tuple to warn
the choose
and inner_consistent
functions that the tuple does
not have the node set that they might otherwise expect.
When dealing with an allTheSame tuple,
a choose
result of spgMatchNode is interpreted to mean that the new
value can be assigned to any of the equivalent nodes; the core code
will ignore the supplied nodeN value
and descend into one of the nodes at random (so as to keep the tree
balanced). It is an error for choose
to return spgAddNode, since that would
make the nodes not all equivalent; the spgSplitTuple action must be used if the value to be
inserted doesn't match the existing nodes.
When dealing with an allTheSame tuple,
the inner_consistent
function should
return either all or none of the nodes as targets for continuing
the index search, since they are all equivalent. This may or may
not require any special-case code, depending on how much the
inner_consistent
function normally
assumes about the meaning of the nodes.