diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_index.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_index.sgml index 43b6499..cb3334b 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_index.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_index.sgml @@ -381,7 +381,17 @@ CREATE [ UNIQUE ] INDEX [ CONCURRENTLY ] [ name In a concurrent index build, the index is actually entered into the system catalogs in one transaction, then the two table scans occur in a - second and third transaction. + second and third transaction. All active transactions at the time the + second table scan starts, not just ones that already involve the table, + have the potential to block the concurrent index creation for however + long it takes for them to finish. When checking for transactions that + could still use the original index, concurrent index creation advances + through potentially interfering older transactions one at a time, + obtaining locks on their virtual transaction identifiers to wait for + them to complete. + + + If a problem arises while scanning the table, such as a uniqueness violation in a unique index, the CREATE INDEX command will fail but leave behind an invalid index. This index