Re: return values of backend sub-main functions

On ons, 2012-01-18 at 21:21 +0200, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> On lör, 2012-01-07 at 16:41 -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
> > Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> > > I suggest that we change PostgresMain(), PostmasterMain(), BackendRun(),
> > > WalSenderMain(), and WalSndLoop() to return void as well.
> >
> > I agree this code is not very consistent or useful, but one question:
> > what should the callers do if one of these functions *does* return?
>
> I was thinking of a two-pronged approach:  First, add
> __attribute__((noreturn)) to the functions.  This will cause a suitable
> compiler to verify on a source-code level that nothing actually returns
> from the function.  And second, at the call site, put an abort();  /*
> not reached */.  Together, this will make the code cleaner and more
> consistent, and will also help the compiler out a bit about the control
> flow.

Patch for 9.3 attached.