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

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".

>
>
>>
>> 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?

>
>
>>
>> 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?

rik.

> --
> Dave Page
> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
> Twitter: @pgsnake
>
> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>