Re: Undetected corruption of table files

Tom Lane wrote:
>> - Shouldn't there be an error, some kind of 'missing magic
>> number' or similar, when a table file consists of only
>> zeros?
>
> The particular case of an all-zeroes page is specifically allowed,
> and has to be because it's a valid transient state in various
> scenarios.

I see, that was a pathological case.

>> - Wouldn't it be desirable to have some means to verify the
>> integrity of a table file or a whole database?
>
> SELECT * usually does reasonably well at that.

Would it be an option to have a checksum somewhere in each
data block that is verified upon read?

Would this be a lot of work to add? I'd be willing to try it
if it is desirable and feasible.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe