Sorry for top-posting -- challenged reader.
Can't speak directly to PostgreSQL but in Informix the fill factor is useful for tweaking indexes. A very high fill factor is useful for tables that are static -- any inserts or changes to the index trigger a *lot* of moving of b-tree branches. But the high fill factor means that each page has more useful data references in it. A very low fill factor means that pages are "sparse" and so inserts and updates are less likely to trigger massive b-tree rebalancings.
I've never used it on PostgreSQL (yet!) but am looking forward to it.
Beware of premature optimization!
HTH,
Greg Williamson
Senior DBA
GlobeXplorer LLC, a DigitalGlobe company
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-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org on behalf of Richard Broersma Jr
Sent: Tue 9/18/2007 10:29 AM
To: Phoenix Kiula; Bill Moran
Cc: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: [GENERAL] For index bloat: VACUUM ANALYZE vs REINDEX/CLUSTER
--- Phoenix Kiula <phoenix.kiula@gmail.com> wrote:
> What constitutes a "small fill factor"? Would 70 be good? I guess my
> current must have been the default, which the manual says is 100.
On the following link:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/sql-createindex.html#SQL-CREATEINDEX-STORAGE-PARAMETERS
I found this:
"B-trees use a default fillfactor of 90, but any value from 10 to 100 can be selected."
Regards,
Richard Broersma Jr.
---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
TIP 9: In versions below 8.0, the planner will ignore your desire to
choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not
match