Add GiST support for mixed-width integer operators

From: Paul Jungwirth <pj(at)illuminatedcomputing(dot)com>
To: PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Add GiST support for mixed-width integer operators
Date: 2024-07-05 18:46:07
Message-ID: b05c739d-e2d4-4919-9691-69b2709d3546@illuminatedcomputing.com
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Hi Hackers,

I noticed that this query wasn't using my GiST index:

postgres=# create extension btree_gist;
CREATE EXTENSION
postgres=# create table t (id bigint, valid_at daterange, exclude using gist (id with =, valid_at
with &&));
CREATE TABLE
postgres=# explain select * from t where id = 5;
QUERY PLAN
---------------------------------------------------
Seq Scan on t (cost=0.00..25.00 rows=6 width=40)
Filter: (id = 5)
(2 rows)

But if I add a cast to bigint, it does:

postgres=# explain select * from t where id = 5::bigint;
QUERY PLAN
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitmap Heap Scan on t (cost=4.19..13.66 rows=6 width=40)
Recheck Cond: (id = '5'::bigint)
-> Bitmap Index Scan on t_id_valid_at_excl (cost=0.00..4.19 rows=6 width=0)
Index Cond: (id = '5'::bigint)
(4 rows)

There is a StackOverflow question about this with 5 upvotes, so it's not just me who was surprised
by it.[1]

The reason is that btree_gist only creates pg_amop entries for symmetrical operators, unlike btree
which has =(int2,int8), etc. So this commit adds support for all combinations of int2/int4/int8 for
all five btree operators (</<=/=/>=/>). After doing that, my query uses the index without a cast.

One complication is that while btree has just one opfamily for everything (integer_ops), btree_gist
splits things up into gist_int2_ops, gist_int4_ops, and gist_int8_ops. So where to put the
operators? I thought it made the most sense for a larger width to support smaller ones, so I added
=(int2,int8) and =(int4,int8) to gist_int8_ops, and I added =(int2,int4) to gist_int4_ops.

[1] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71788182/postgres-not-using-btree-gist-index

Yours,

--
Paul ~{:-)
pj(at)illuminatedcomputing(dot)com

Attachment Content-Type Size
v1-0001-Use-GiST-index-with-mixed-integer-widths.patch text/x-patch 7.9 KB

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