Re: pgsql: Use CompactAttribute more often, when possible

On Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM David Rowley <drowley@postgresql.org> wrote:
> There are some locations where I've left the code using
> FormData_pg_attribute.  These are mostly in the ALTER TABLE code.  Using
> CompactAttribute here seems more risky as often the TupleDesc is being
> changed and those changes may not have been flushed to the
> CompactAttribute yet.

David, I've noticed several times lately you've documented in commit
messages why you thought going further with some change would be
risky, and I really like that. I think sometimes we (as committers)
are sometimes reluctant to document cases where we weren't sure about
something or didn't know something, but IMHO this sort of
documentation of perceived risk is a huge help to anyone who is
thinking of working in this area later. Whether or not they agree with
your conclusions, they'll find it helpful to know your thought
process.

Thanks,

--
Robert Haas
EDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com