Re: postgresql.conf and postgres options

I think all valid options should appear in the options file.  Right now,
only a few are in there, I think.

> I've just been looking through the options which can and cannot be set in
> postgresql.conf and have a few points to raise.
> 
> 1.  There are some undocumented options which appear to relate to WAL:
> 
>         Name            Variable        Default        Set by
> 
>     checkpoint_timeout    CheckPointTimeout    300        Startup
>     wal_buffers        XLOGbuffers        8        Startup
>     wal_files        XLOGfiles        0        Startup
>     wal_debug        &XLOG_DEBU        0        Superuser
>     commit_delay        &CommitDelay        5        User
> 
>     Is there any text anywhere to explain what these do? (Point me to that or
>     some commented code, and I'll write a documentation patch.)
> 
> 2.  The following command line options to postgres don't have an equivalent in
>     postgresql.conf.  Is that intentional?  (I suppose it is in several cases,
>     and I have left out some where it is obviously intentional.)  I can't see
>     why these items can't be put in the configuration file:
> 
> 
>     Option        Action
> 
>     -C        Noversion = true   [not documented in postgres man page]
>     -D        potential_Datadir = arg      [set PGDATA]
>     -E        EchoQuery = true   [echo queries to log]
>     -e        EuroDates = true   [use European format for dates]
>     -N        UseNewLine = 0     [newline is not a query separator]
>     -o        [set stdout, stderr to file arg]
> 
> 3.  I see the -E is documented as being for stand-alone mode only; in fact it
>     is useful for getting the query into the backend log in normal operation.
> 
> 4.  The documentation for -o is confusing:
> 
>     -o file-name
> 
>     Sends all debugging and error output to OutputFile. If the backend
>     is running under the postmaster, error messages are still sent to
>     the frontend process as well as to OutputFile, but debugging output
>     is sent to the controlling tty of the postmaster (since only one    
>     file descriptor can be sent to an actual file).
> 
>     I think this is saying that, under the postmaster, debugging output does
>     not get sent to OutputFile, and error messages are sent both to OutputFile
>     and to the frontend.  Is that correct?
> 
> -- 
> Oliver Elphick                                Oliver.Elphick@lfix.co.uk
> Isle of Wight                              http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
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>                  ========================================
>      "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his 
>       courts with praise. Be thankful unto him, and bless 
>       his name."           Psalms 100:4 
> 
> 
> 


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