Re: GUC with units, details

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> Tom Lane wrote:
>> +1 on both of those.  I think that pg_settings should actually show
>> "pages" as the native unit for shared_buffers et al.  The current
>> "8kb" display isn't a valid unit --- consider what happens if a
>> program does select setting || unit from pg_settings ...

> Physicists know that the proper way to do that calculation is
>    setting * unit
> not
>    setting || unit

If that actually worked, it'd be one thing, but it doesn't work and
isn't going to do so in 8.2.  So I think people will indeed be trying to
use setting || unit for display purposes.  In any case "8kB" isn't a
valid unit.
        regards, tom lane