Re: [9.3] Should we mention "set_config(...)" in 18.1.3 in Server Configuration?

On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 4:37 PM, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:

David G Johnston <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> writes:
> Section 18.1.3 is named "18.1.3. Other Ways to Set Parameters" yet does not
> reference the ability to use "set_config(...)" to make changes to
> configuration parameters.

Hm, yeah, seems like an oversight.

Another thing I've never been terribly happy about is that pg_settings is
mentioned only in the next sub-section.  Could we merge that sub-section
with 18.1.3?

                        regards, tom lane

I am presuming that posting a doc-only patch here instead of -hackers is acceptable.

So I finally decided to setup a development environment and generate actual patches.  I have few in mind but I thought that these two changes might be quick to implement.  I thought wrong - mostly due to my desire to improve things and not just "add and merge" some content.

I focused my effort on 18.1.1 to 18.1.4 though the actual coverage of sections 2-4 has changed considerably.  I decided not to minimize white-space changes in that region since because of the re-organization git was unable, especially in a couple of instances, to match up before and after anyway.  The file itself does not have a consistent format and so I just applied 2-space indentations at each level.  I plan to go back and do polishing but I first want to make sure that the end-user product is acceptable.

I've only hit this one file for the moment but figure on reviewing all of the relevant cross-references for tweaks and consistency.  I already did so in passing and would not expect anything as invasive as what I am proposing here - so if others feel these changes have merit I will plan on taking any ideas and put forth a v2 patch that will hopefully be ready-to-commit.

Thank you in advance for any attention and education you can provide.

David J.