Re: [HACKERS] Adding support for Default partition in partitioning

On Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 4:24 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Rahila Syed <rahilasyed90@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Following can also be considered as it specifies more clearly that the
>> partition holds default values.
>>
>> CREATE TABLE ...PARTITION OF...FOR VALUES DEFAULT;
>
> Yes, that could be done.  But I don't think it's correct to say that
> the partition holds default values.  Let's back up and ask what the
> word "default" means.  The relevant definition (according to Google or
> whoever they stole it from) is:
>
> a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism
> when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer.
>
> So, a default *value* is the value that is used when no alternative is
> specified by the user or programmer. We have that concept, but it's
> not what we're talking about here: that's configured by applying the
> DEFAULT property to a column.  Here, we're talking about the default
> *partition*, or in other words the *partition* that is used when no
> alternative is specified by the user or programmer.  So, that's why I
> proposed the syntax I did.  The partition doesn't contain default
> values; it is itself a default.

Is CREATE TABLE ... DEFAULT PARTITION OF ... feasible? That sounds more natural.