Re: Validity of using the test_decoding plugin for production?

On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 12:57 AM, Joshua Kehn <josh(at)kehn(dot)us> wrote:
> I'm considering using the test_decoding[1] plugin in conjunction with
> Amazon's recent update for RDS with PostgreSQL[2] which includes logical
> replication support. The concern I currently have is the stability and
> output format of the test_decoding plugin. Specifically if it's built to
> handle general purpose replication, has the stability to perform in a
> production environment, and if there are any concerns about depending on
> it for critical infrastructure given my current understanding is that
> new output plugins cannot be used with RDS.
>
> Comments to the above or experiences using test_decoding in a production
> setup would be appreciated, whether inside RDS or not.

Personally, I have an image of test_decoding as something people can
use as a base to implement their own decoder plugin to satisfy their
requirements. Based on that, it is not something that would be used
for general purposes regarding replication to replicate logical
changes. How are you going to use it anyway? First deparse its output
and adapt it to your needs? You would give yourself a favor to hack
your own thing, and that would finish by being more performant as
their is not need to do a post-receive format change of the data
received by a single change. Now regarding the stability of the thing,
the code is in a pretty nice shape.
--
Michael