Re: SET feature

On Fri, 2022-10-28 at 10:14 +0000, PG Doc comments form wrote:
> I remember in version 9 , to use variable you had to change in the
> postgresql.
>
> Today it is easier , just use
>
> SET SESSION myprefix.myvariable =  'whatever'
>
> and all the transactions can use it , it is very useful in some cases, for
> example to track the author of a change , you don't need to change all your
> java/php/python code , just use a trigger on the table to fill up a column
> "change_by"
>
> I've checked the documentation and that feature is not explained at all, not
> even in the SET Command.

Most people consider this a kind of abuse of what is known as "placeholder parameters",
documented in https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/runtime-config-custom.html

See for example https://postgr.es/m/2982579.1662416866%40sss.pgh.pa.us

I believe it is a deliberate choice not to advertise that as "session variables",
particularly since there is an improvement in the pipeline:

https://commitfest.postgresql.org/40/1608/

Yours,
Laurenz Albe