Re: stats_command_string default?

I wrote:

> > Would it make more sense to enable stats_command_string by default?
> > It could be a problem if doing so would have a significant impact on
> > performance, but that's the only reason I can think of for not doing
> > it.  Are there others?

and Christopher Kings-Lynne responded:

> You can just turn it on in one second in your postgresql.conf
> file...

Sure.  But my initial perusal of the documentation didn't reveal that
option (once I knew the name of the option to enable, I knew better
where to look in the documentation, but by that time it was too late).
I ended up figuring it out by (a) hearing that it was possible, (b)
looking at the definition of pg_stat_activity, and (c) looking through
the source code to find out how the pg_stat_get_backend_activity()
function worked, and from there how to make it display something.

Since we've been talking about fixing the defaults, it seems to me
a good opportunity to address little things like this as well.  It
doesn't cost us anything and it'll make someone's life easier.

It seems to me that it makes the most sense for the defaults to be
whatever is the most useful for the most people.  I can see lots of
use in enabling stats_command_string by default and little use in
disabling it by default.  It seems to me that most DBAs will want it
turned on unless there's a big performance loss as a result.

That's why I asked the question: is there a really good reason that
most DBAs would want it disabled?  My sense is that there isn't, but I
don't know, which is why I'm asking.


-- 
Kevin Brown                          kevin@sysexperts.com