Re: [HACKERS] [PATCH] Rename pg_switch_xlog to pg_switch_wal

Both the patches (with and without aliases) are not getting applied to the latest master. Below is the error -

My take on having aliases to the functions :

In my opinion as a DBA, I agree with having no-aliases. Having functions doing the same thing with two different names could be confusing. I have been doing quite a number of PostgreSQL upgrades since few years, i do not see, the function name changes as a major issue or a road-blocker in the upgrade exercise. If the function name has changed, it has changed. It would be a serious thing to consider during the upgrade if there is a change in the functionality of a particular function as it needs testing. I think, changing of the function names in the scripts and custom-tools has to be executed and might take up a bit of extra time. 

IMHO, It is not a good idea to keep aliases as this would make the DBAs lazier to change the function names on priority in the automated scripts/jobs/tools during the upgrades. Especially, in bigger and complex environments where-in database environments are handled by different multiple groups of DBAs, it could be possible that both *xlog* functions and *wal* functions will be used up in the scripts and all of them will be working fine and once the *xlog* functions names are completely removed, then some of the jobs/scripts start failing.

I would vote for "no-aliases".

Regards,

Venkata Balaji N

Database Consultant