Postgres User <postgres.developer@gmail.com> writes:
> In the docs, I see repeated references to $user in the postgresql.conf
> schema search_path setting such as:
> search_path = '"$user",public'
> But I don't see any info on the meaning of '$user' here.
I guess you didn't read the actual documentation of search_path:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/runtime-config-client.html#GUC-SEARCH-PATH
It says
The value for search_path has to be a comma-separated list of schema
names. If one of the list items is the special value $user, then the
schema having the name returned by SESSION_USER is substituted, if there
is such a schema. (If not, $user is ignored.)
regards, tom lane