Re: [RFC] Extend namespace of valid guc names

On 2013-09-06 14:48:33 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Andres Freund <andres(at)2ndquadrant(dot)com> writes:
> > On 2013-09-06 10:13:23 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> >> Well, if you feel an absolute compulsion to make them consistent, I'd
> >> go with making SET disallow creation of variables with names the file
> >> parser wouldn't recognize. But why is it such a bad thing if SET can
> >> do that?
>
> > Also, ALTER SYSTEM SET is going to need a similar restriction as well,
> > otherwise the server won't restart although the GUCs pass validation...
>
> Well, sure, but I would think that ALTER SYSTEM SET should be constrained
> to only set known GUCs, not invent new ones on the fly.

Hm. That sounds inconvenient to me. Consider something like configuring
the system to use auto_explain henceforth.
ALTER SYSTEM SET shared_preload_libraries = 'auto_explain';
ALTER SYSTEM SET auto_explain.log_min_duration = 100;

It seems weird to forbid doing that and requiring a manual LOAD when we
don't do so for normal SETs. I can live with the restriction if we
decide it's a good idea, I just wouldn't appreciate it.

Greetings,

Andres Freund

--
Andres Freund http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
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