Re: Addition of authenticated ID to pg_stat_activity

On Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 09:59:18AM +0900, Michael Paquier wrote:
>
> I am wondering if we should take this as an occasion to move some data
> out of pg_stat_activity into a separate biew, dedicated to the data
> related to the connection that remains set to the same value for the
> duration of a backend's life, as of the following set:
> - the backend PID

-1. It's already annoying enough to have to type "WHERE pid !=
pg_backend_pid()" to exclude my own backend, and I usually need it quite often.
Unless we add some new view which integrate that, something like
pg_stat_activity_except_me with a better name. I also don't see how we could
join a new dedicated view with the old one without that information.

> - application_name? (well, this one could change on reload, so I am
> lying).

No, it can change at any time. And the fact that it's not transactional makes
it quite convenient for poor man progress reporting. For instance in powa I
use that to report what the bgworker is currently working on, and this has
already proven to be useful.