Re: BUG #17110: [FEATURE REQUEST] Log all plans for a query instead of just showing the most optimal plan

On Thursday, July 15, 2021, PG Bug reporting form <noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org>
wrote:

>
> Investigating such issues will become way more user friendly rather than
> doing a guess work in and out. I believe this is a valid request and would
> request you to please consider some time to fix it.
>
>
Feature requests are preferred on the -general list, leaving this one for
true bug reports.

As for this specific request it doesn’t seem like a good trade-off for the
planner to fully compute plans it knows aren’t going to ultimately be
selected to actually run. So while putting an opt-in mechanism in place is
doable (e.g., maybe an explain all command) the rework necessary to
actually produce the relevant information is daunting; which seems to be
why the periodic requests for a such a feature don’t really get serious
consideration. That, and the general belief that the query writer isn’t
expected (or mostly given the tools) to influence the chosen query plan
directly so such information would be difficult to act on.

In short, I agree the need is real but value/cost proposition for working
on such a feature seems very unfavorable.

David J.