Re: pg_class -> reltuples?

Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
> Neil Conway wrote:
>> Is there a reason why the reltuples column of pg_class is stored as a
>> "real", rather than one of the integer data types?

> That is an excellent question.  I assume it is related to having > 4
> billion rows, but we have int8 for that.

1. We support tables > 4G rows.

2. int8 is not available on all platforms.

3. The only use for reltuples is in the optimizer, which is perfectly  content with approximate values.
        regards, tom lane