Re: Proposed doc-patch: Identifying the Current WAL file

Richard Huxton wrote:
> Reading Tom's posting here:
> http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2006-04/msg00499.php
>
> I just realised we don't seem to mention this in the docs anywhere. I
> propose adding a short paragraph to 23.3.1
> http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/static/backup-online.html#BACKUP-ONLINE-CAVEATS
>
> After "Except in the case of retrying a failure, it will be called only
> once for any given file name."
>
> To identify the current, partially-filled WAL segment, sort first by
> mtime and second by file name. That is, take the latest mtime among the
> properly-named files, breaking ties by taking the higher filename.

I am confused by this.  Why do both mtime and file name need to be
checked?

--
  Bruce Momjian   http://candle.pha.pa.us
  EnterpriseDB    http://www.enterprisedb.com

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