Re: Mystery "PostgreSQL 11" server keeps reappearing in pgAdmin 4 no matter how many times I delete it.

On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 1:50 PM richard coleman <rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> Dave,
>
> On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 4:31 AM Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 8:57 AM <tutiluren(at)tutanota(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>>> Ever since I went through the horrible ordeal of trying to update
>>> PostgreSQL on Windows (from 11.5 to 11.7, so not even a major version),
>>> pgAdmin 4 has started showing a "PostgreSQL 11" server in the list of
>>> servers. I've deleted it a hundred times now, but it just keeps reappearing
>>> every time I start pgAdmin 4.
>>>
>>
>> I'm not sure how that would be a horrible ordeal. You just run the
>> installer and it upgrades with a few clicks.
>>
>
> Well as someone who had the misfortune of upgrading an SQL_ASCII
> postgreSQL 9 instance to 10, I can sympathize. Depending on the
> particulars, it's _a_ _lot_ more than just "a few clicks".
>

That's a major upgrade. Totally different process.

>
>>
>>>
>>> What is this? How to *actually* remove it rather than "pretend-removing"
>>> it? Why is it there at all? I never added any such server to pgAdmin 4, and
>>> why would it keep adding it back?
>>>
>>
>> Don't remove it. Rename it and/or change any settings you require, then
>> delete the one you manually added.
>>
>
> Wouldn't it make more sense to have a setting to *not* try and auto-detect
> existing postgreSQL instances?
>

It might make sense, but both pgAdmin3 and 4 do this, and I don't remember
anyone complaining before so it would be very low priority.

>
>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> If trying to connect to it, it asks for a password. I enter none and
>>> connect. It seems to be an identical copy of the actual server. In the
>>> comments, it says:
>>>
>>> Auto-detected PostgreSQL 11 installation with the data directory at
>>> C:\Users\blablabla...
>>>
>>> Okay, so pgAdmin 4 auto-detected what I already have as a named server
>>> in the list, and keeps adding it back? I don't understand the point.
>>> Especially the part where it keeps reappearing when I delete it.
>>>
>>
>> It doesn't know that the server you added is the same connection; you
>> might intentionally have the same server added twice, but with subtle
>> differences in the settings. It keeps track of the ID of the server from
>> the registry, and if it finds a server listed in the registry doesn't
>> exist, it'll auto-add it (and store the ID so it doesn't duplicate it
>> itself).
>>
>> Correct, and since it has no way of knowing, shouldn't it be up to the
> user to decide as opposed to forcing the user to work around quirk of the
> application?
>

It's really not a workaround - it's obviously quicker to modify the
auto-created connection to meet your requirements than it is to add a new
one entirely.

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

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