Attached is a patch against current CVS that fixes both of the known
problems with sequences: failure to flush XLOG after a transaction
that only does "SELECT nextval()", and failure to force a new WAL
record to be written on the first nextval after a checkpoint.
(The latter uses Vadim's idea of looking at the sequence page LSN.)
I haven't tested it really extensively, but it seems to cure the
reported problems.

Some notes:

1. I found what I believe is another bug in the sequence logic:
                fetch = log = fetch - log + SEQ_LOG_VALS;
should be
                fetch = log = fetch + SEQ_LOG_VALS;
I can't see any reason to reduce the number of values prefetched
by the number formerly prefetched.  Also, if the sequence's "cache"
setting is large (more than SEQ_LOG_VALS), the original code could
easily fail to fetch as many values as it was supposed to cache,
let alone additional ones to be prefetched and logged.

2. I renamed XLogCtl->RedoRecPtr to SavedRedoRecPtr, and renamed
the associated routines to SetSavedRedoRecPtr/GetSavedRedoRecPtr,
in hopes of reducing confusion.

3. I believe it'd now be possible to remove SavedRedoRecPtr and
SetSavedRedoRecPtr/GetSavedRedoRecPtr entirely, in favor of letting
the postmaster fetch the updated pointer with GetRedoRecPtr just
like a backend would.  This would be cleaner and less code ... but
someone might object that it introduces a risk of postmaster hangup,
if some backend crashes whilst holding info_lck.  I consider that
risk minuscule given the short intervals in which info_lck is held,
but it can't be denied that the risk is not zero.  Thoughts?

Comments?  Unless I hear objections I will patch this in current
and the 7.2 branch.  (If we agree to remove SavedRedoRecPtr,
though, I don't think we should back-patch that change.)

                        regards, tom lane

*** src/backend/access/transam/xact.c.orig      Tue Mar 12 07:56:31 2002
--- src/backend/access/transam/xact.c   Thu Mar 14 20:00:50 2002
***************
*** 546,577 ****
        xid = GetCurrentTransactionId();
  
        /*
!        * We needn't write anything in xlog or clog if the transaction was
!        * read-only, which we check by testing if it made any xlog entries.
         */
!       if (MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff != 0)
        {
-               XLogRecData rdata;
-               xl_xact_commit xlrec;
                XLogRecPtr      recptr;
  
                BufmgrCommit();
  
-               xlrec.xtime = time(NULL);
-               rdata.buffer = InvalidBuffer;
-               rdata.data = (char *) (&xlrec);
-               rdata.len = SizeOfXactCommit;
-               rdata.next = NULL;
- 
                START_CRIT_SECTION();
  
!               /*
!                * SHOULD SAVE ARRAY OF RELFILENODE-s TO DROP
!                */
!               recptr = XLogInsert(RM_XACT_ID, XLOG_XACT_COMMIT, &rdata);
  
                /*
!                * Sleep before commit! So we can flush more than one commit
                 * records per single fsync.  (The idea is some other backend may
                 * do the XLogFlush while we're sleeping.  This needs work still,
                 * because on most Unixen, the minimum select() delay is 10msec or
--- 546,593 ----
        xid = GetCurrentTransactionId();
  
        /*
!        * We only need to log the commit in xlog and clog if the transaction made
!        * any transaction-controlled XLOG entries.  (Otherwise, its XID appears
!        * nowhere in permanent storage, so no one will ever care if it
!        * committed.)  However, we must flush XLOG to disk if we made any XLOG
!        * entries, whether in or out of transaction control.  For example, if we
!        * reported a nextval() result to the client, this ensures that any XLOG
!        * record generated by nextval will hit the disk before we report the
!        * transaction committed.
         */
!       if (MyXactMadeXLogEntry)
        {
                XLogRecPtr      recptr;
  
                BufmgrCommit();
  
                START_CRIT_SECTION();
  
!               if (MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff != 0)
!               {
!                       /* Need to emit a commit record */
!                       XLogRecData rdata;
!                       xl_xact_commit xlrec;
! 
!                       xlrec.xtime = time(NULL);
!                       rdata.buffer = InvalidBuffer;
!                       rdata.data = (char *) (&xlrec);
!                       rdata.len = SizeOfXactCommit;
!                       rdata.next = NULL;
! 
!                       /*
!                        * XXX SHOULD SAVE ARRAY OF RELFILENODE-s TO DROP
!                        */
!                       recptr = XLogInsert(RM_XACT_ID, XLOG_XACT_COMMIT, &rdata);
!               }
!               else
!               {
!                       /* Just flush through last record written by me */
!                       recptr = ProcLastRecEnd;
!               }
  
                /*
!                * Sleep before flush! So we can flush more than one commit
                 * records per single fsync.  (The idea is some other backend may
                 * do the XLogFlush while we're sleeping.  This needs work still,
                 * because on most Unixen, the minimum select() delay is 10msec or
***************
*** 593,607 ****
  
                XLogFlush(recptr);
  
!               /* Break the chain of back-links in the XLOG records I output */
!               MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff = 0;
! 
!               /* Mark the transaction committed in clog */
!               TransactionIdCommit(xid);
  
                END_CRIT_SECTION();
        }
  
        /* Show myself as out of the transaction in PROC array */
        MyProc->logRec.xrecoff = 0;
  
--- 609,625 ----
  
                XLogFlush(recptr);
  
!               /* Mark the transaction committed in clog, if needed */
!               if (MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff != 0)
!                       TransactionIdCommit(xid);
  
                END_CRIT_SECTION();
        }
  
+       /* Break the chain of back-links in the XLOG records I output */
+       MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff = 0;
+       MyXactMadeXLogEntry = false;
+ 
        /* Show myself as out of the transaction in PROC array */
        MyProc->logRec.xrecoff = 0;
  
***************
*** 689,696 ****
        TransactionId xid = GetCurrentTransactionId();
  
        /*
!        * We needn't write anything in xlog or clog if the transaction was
!        * read-only, which we check by testing if it made any xlog entries.
         *
         * Extra check here is to catch case that we aborted partway through
         * RecordTransactionCommit ...
--- 707,717 ----
        TransactionId xid = GetCurrentTransactionId();
  
        /*
!        * We only need to log the abort in xlog and clog if the transaction made
!        * any transaction-controlled XLOG entries.  (Otherwise, its XID appears
!        * nowhere in permanent storage, so no one will ever care if it
!        * committed.)  We do not flush XLOG to disk in any case, since the
!        * default assumption after a crash would be that we aborted, anyway.
         *
         * Extra check here is to catch case that we aborted partway through
         * RecordTransactionCommit ...
***************
*** 714,724 ****
                 */
                recptr = XLogInsert(RM_XACT_ID, XLOG_XACT_ABORT, &rdata);
  
-               /*
-                * There's no need for XLogFlush here, since the default
-                * assumption would be that we aborted, anyway.
-                */
- 
                /* Mark the transaction aborted in clog */
                TransactionIdAbort(xid);
  
--- 735,740 ----
***************
*** 727,732 ****
--- 743,750 ----
  
        /* Break the chain of back-links in the XLOG records I output */
        MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff = 0;
+       MyXactMadeXLogEntry = false;
+ 
        /* Show myself as out of the transaction in PROC array */
        MyProc->logRec.xrecoff = 0;
  
*** src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c.orig      Tue Mar 12 07:56:31 2002
--- src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c   Thu Mar 14 20:29:51 2002
***************
*** 131,157 ****
  
  /*
   * MyLastRecPtr points to the start of the last XLOG record inserted by the
!  * current transaction.  If MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff == 0, then we are not in
!  * a transaction or the transaction has not yet made any loggable changes.
   *
   * Note that XLOG records inserted outside transaction control are not
!  * reflected into MyLastRecPtr.
   */
  XLogRecPtr    MyLastRecPtr = {0, 0};
  
  /*
   * ProcLastRecPtr points to the start of the last XLOG record inserted by the
   * current backend.  It is updated for all inserts, transaction-controlled
!  * or not.
   */
  static XLogRecPtr ProcLastRecPtr = {0, 0};
  
  /*
   * RedoRecPtr is this backend's local copy of the REDO record pointer
   * (which is almost but not quite the same as a pointer to the most recent
   * CHECKPOINT record).        We update this from the shared-memory copy,
   * XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr, whenever we can safely do so (ie, when we
!  * hold the Insert lock).  See XLogInsert for details.
   */
  static XLogRecPtr RedoRecPtr;
  
--- 131,166 ----
  
  /*
   * MyLastRecPtr points to the start of the last XLOG record inserted by the
!  * current transaction.  If MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff == 0, then the current
!  * xact hasn't yet inserted any transaction-controlled XLOG records.
   *
   * Note that XLOG records inserted outside transaction control are not
!  * reflected into MyLastRecPtr.  They do, however, cause MyXactMadeXLogEntry
!  * to be set true.  The latter can be used to test whether the current xact
!  * made any loggable changes (including out-of-xact changes, such as
!  * sequence updates).
   */
  XLogRecPtr    MyLastRecPtr = {0, 0};
  
+ bool          MyXactMadeXLogEntry = false;
+ 
  /*
   * ProcLastRecPtr points to the start of the last XLOG record inserted by the
   * current backend.  It is updated for all inserts, transaction-controlled
!  * or not.  ProcLastRecEnd is similar but points to end+1 of last record.
   */
  static XLogRecPtr ProcLastRecPtr = {0, 0};
  
+ XLogRecPtr    ProcLastRecEnd = {0, 0};
+ 
  /*
   * RedoRecPtr is this backend's local copy of the REDO record pointer
   * (which is almost but not quite the same as a pointer to the most recent
   * CHECKPOINT record).        We update this from the shared-memory copy,
   * XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr, whenever we can safely do so (ie, when we
!  * hold the Insert lock).  See XLogInsert for details.  We are also allowed
!  * to update from XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr if we hold the info_lck;
!  * see GetRedoRecPtr.
   */
  static XLogRecPtr RedoRecPtr;
  
***************
*** 272,278 ****
        StartUpID       ThisStartUpID;
  
        /* This value is not protected by *any* lock... */
!       XLogRecPtr      RedoRecPtr;             /* see SetRedoRecPtr/GetRedoRecPtr */
  
        slock_t         info_lck;               /* locks shared 
LogwrtRqst/LogwrtResult */
  } XLogCtlData;
--- 281,288 ----
        StartUpID       ThisStartUpID;
  
        /* This value is not protected by *any* lock... */
!       /* see SetSavedRedoRecPtr/GetSavedRedoRecPtr */
!       XLogRecPtr      SavedRedoRecPtr;
  
        slock_t         info_lck;               /* locks shared 
LogwrtRqst/LogwrtResult */
  } XLogCtlData;
***************
*** 777,782 ****
--- 787,793 ----
                MyLastRecPtr = RecPtr;
        ProcLastRecPtr = RecPtr;
        Insert->PrevRecord = RecPtr;
+       MyXactMadeXLogEntry = true;
  
        Insert->currpos += SizeOfXLogRecord;
        freespace -= SizeOfXLogRecord;
***************
*** 855,860 ****
--- 866,873 ----
                SpinLockRelease_NoHoldoff(&xlogctl->info_lck);
        }
  
+       ProcLastRecEnd = RecPtr;
+ 
        END_CRIT_SECTION();
  
        return (RecPtr);
***************
*** 2538,2544 ****
  
        ThisStartUpID = checkPoint.ThisStartUpID;
        RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr =
!               XLogCtl->RedoRecPtr = checkPoint.redo;
  
        if (XLByteLT(RecPtr, checkPoint.redo))
                elog(PANIC, "invalid redo in checkpoint record");
--- 2551,2557 ----
  
        ThisStartUpID = checkPoint.ThisStartUpID;
        RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr =
!               XLogCtl->SavedRedoRecPtr = checkPoint.redo;
  
        if (XLByteLT(RecPtr, checkPoint.redo))
                elog(PANIC, "invalid redo in checkpoint record");
***************
*** 2824,2855 ****
  SetThisStartUpID(void)
  {
        ThisStartUpID = XLogCtl->ThisStartUpID;
!       RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->RedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  /*
   * CheckPoint process called by postmaster saves copy of new RedoRecPtr
!  * in shmem (using SetRedoRecPtr).    When checkpointer completes, postmaster
!  * calls GetRedoRecPtr to update its own copy of RedoRecPtr, so that
!  * subsequently-spawned backends will start out with a reasonably up-to-date
!  * local RedoRecPtr.  Since these operations are not protected by any lock
!  * and copying an XLogRecPtr isn't atomic, it's unsafe to use either of these
!  * routines at other times!
!  *
!  * Note: once spawned, a backend must update its local RedoRecPtr from
!  * XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr while holding the insert lock.  This is
!  * done in XLogInsert().
   */
  void
! SetRedoRecPtr(void)
  {
!       XLogCtl->RedoRecPtr = RedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  void
  GetRedoRecPtr(void)
  {
!       RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->RedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  /*
--- 2837,2883 ----
  SetThisStartUpID(void)
  {
        ThisStartUpID = XLogCtl->ThisStartUpID;
!       RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->SavedRedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  /*
   * CheckPoint process called by postmaster saves copy of new RedoRecPtr
!  * in shmem (using SetSavedRedoRecPtr).  When checkpointer completes,
!  * postmaster calls GetSavedRedoRecPtr to update its own copy of RedoRecPtr,
!  * so that subsequently-spawned backends will start out with a reasonably
!  * up-to-date local RedoRecPtr.  Since these operations are not protected by
!  * any lock and copying an XLogRecPtr isn't atomic, it's unsafe to use either
!  * of these routines at other times!
   */
  void
! SetSavedRedoRecPtr(void)
  {
!       XLogCtl->SavedRedoRecPtr = RedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  void
+ GetSavedRedoRecPtr(void)
+ {
+       RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->SavedRedoRecPtr;
+ }
+ 
+ /*
+  * Once spawned, a backend may update its local RedoRecPtr from
+  * XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr; it must hold the insert lock or info_lck
+  * to do so.  This is done in XLogInsert() or GetRedoRecPtr().
+  */
+ XLogRecPtr
  GetRedoRecPtr(void)
  {
!       /* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
!       volatile XLogCtlData *xlogctl = XLogCtl;
! 
!       SpinLockAcquire_NoHoldoff(&xlogctl->info_lck);
!       Assert(XLByteLE(RedoRecPtr, xlogctl->Insert.RedoRecPtr));
!       RedoRecPtr = xlogctl->Insert.RedoRecPtr;
!       SpinLockRelease_NoHoldoff(&xlogctl->info_lck);
! 
!       return RedoRecPtr;
  }
  
  /*
***************
*** 2862,2867 ****
--- 2890,2896 ----
  
        /* suppress in-transaction check in CreateCheckPoint */
        MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff = 0;
+       MyXactMadeXLogEntry = false;
  
        CritSectionCount++;
        CreateDummyCaches();
***************
*** 2886,2892 ****
        uint32          _logId;
        uint32          _logSeg;
  
!       if (MyLastRecPtr.xrecoff != 0)
                elog(ERROR, "CreateCheckPoint: cannot be called inside transaction 
block");
  
        /*
--- 2915,2921 ----
        uint32          _logId;
        uint32          _logSeg;
  
!       if (MyXactMadeXLogEntry)
                elog(ERROR, "CreateCheckPoint: cannot be called inside transaction 
block");
  
        /*
***************
*** 2972,2980 ****
  
        /*
         * Here we update the shared RedoRecPtr for future XLogInsert calls;
!        * this must be done while holding the insert lock.
         */
!       RedoRecPtr = XLogCtl->Insert.RedoRecPtr = checkPoint.redo;
  
        /*
         * Get UNDO record ptr - this is oldest of PROC->logRec values. We do
--- 3001,3016 ----
  
        /*
         * Here we update the shared RedoRecPtr for future XLogInsert calls;
!        * this must be done while holding the insert lock AND the info_lck.
         */
!       {
!               /* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
!               volatile XLogCtlData *xlogctl = XLogCtl;
! 
!               SpinLockAcquire_NoHoldoff(&xlogctl->info_lck);
!               RedoRecPtr = xlogctl->Insert.RedoRecPtr = checkPoint.redo;
!               SpinLockRelease_NoHoldoff(&xlogctl->info_lck);
!       }
  
        /*
         * Get UNDO record ptr - this is oldest of PROC->logRec values. We do
*** src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c.orig      Tue Mar 12 07:56:32 2002
--- src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c   Thu Mar 14 20:19:51 2002
***************
*** 386,392 ****
                                InitDummyProcess();             /* needed to get 
LWLocks */
                        CreateDummyCaches();
                        CreateCheckPoint(false);
!                       SetRedoRecPtr();
                        proc_exit(0);           /* done */
  
                case BS_XLOG_STARTUP:
--- 386,392 ----
                                InitDummyProcess();             /* needed to get 
LWLocks */
                        CreateDummyCaches();
                        CreateCheckPoint(false);
!                       SetSavedRedoRecPtr(); /* pass redo ptr back to postmaster */
                        proc_exit(0);           /* done */
  
                case BS_XLOG_STARTUP:
*** src/backend/commands/sequence.c.orig        Tue Mar 12 07:56:35 2002
--- src/backend/commands/sequence.c     Thu Mar 14 22:06:22 2002
***************
*** 286,291 ****
--- 286,292 ----
        char       *seqname = get_seq_name(seqin);
        SeqTable        elm;
        Buffer          buf;
+       Page            page;
        Form_pg_sequence seq;
        int64           incby,
                                maxv,
***************
*** 316,321 ****
--- 317,323 ----
  
        seq = read_info("nextval", elm, &buf);          /* lock page' buffer and
                                                                                       
          * read tuple */
+       page = BufferGetPage(buf);
  
        last = next = result = seq->last_value;
        incby = seq->increment_by;
***************
*** 331,341 ****
                log--;
        }
  
        if (log < fetch)
        {
!               fetch = log = fetch - log + SEQ_LOG_VALS;
                logit = true;
        }
  
        while (fetch)                           /* try to fetch cache [+ log ] numbers 
*/
        {
--- 333,365 ----
                log--;
        }
  
+       /*
+        * Decide whether we should emit a WAL log record.  If so, force up
+        * the fetch count to grab SEQ_LOG_VALS more values than we actually
+        * need to cache.  (These will then be usable without logging.)
+        *
+        * If this is the first nextval after a checkpoint, we must force
+        * a new WAL record to be written anyway, else replay starting from the
+        * checkpoint would fail to advance the sequence past the logged
+        * values.  In this case we may as well fetch extra values.
+        */
        if (log < fetch)
        {
!               /* forced log to satisfy local demand for values */
!               fetch = log = fetch + SEQ_LOG_VALS;
                logit = true;
        }
+       else
+       {
+               XLogRecPtr      redoptr = GetRedoRecPtr();
+ 
+               if (XLByteLE(PageGetLSN(page), redoptr))
+               {
+                       /* last update of seq was before checkpoint */
+                       fetch = log = fetch + SEQ_LOG_VALS;
+                       logit = true;
+               }
+       }
  
        while (fetch)                           /* try to fetch cache [+ log ] numbers 
*/
        {
***************
*** 386,391 ****
--- 410,418 ----
                }
        }
  
+       log -= fetch;                           /* adjust for any unfetched numbers */
+       Assert(log >= 0);
+ 
        /* save info in local cache */
        elm->last = result;                     /* last returned number */
        elm->cached = last;                     /* last fetched number */
***************
*** 396,402 ****
                xl_seq_rec      xlrec;
                XLogRecPtr      recptr;
                XLogRecData rdata[2];
-               Page            page = BufferGetPage(buf);
  
                xlrec.node = elm->rel->rd_node;
                rdata[0].buffer = InvalidBuffer;
--- 423,428 ----
***************
*** 417,431 ****
  
                PageSetLSN(page, recptr);
                PageSetSUI(page, ThisStartUpID);
- 
-               if (fetch)                              /* not all numbers were 
fetched */
-                       log -= fetch;
        }
  
        /* update on-disk data */
        seq->last_value = last;         /* last fetched number */
        seq->is_called = true;
-       Assert(log >= 0);
        seq->log_cnt = log;                     /* how much is logged */
        END_CRIT_SECTION();
  
--- 443,453 ----
*** src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c.orig    Tue Mar 12 07:57:01 2002
--- src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c Thu Mar 14 20:20:01 2002
***************
*** 1683,1689 ****
                        {
                                checkpointed = time(NULL);
                                /* Update RedoRecPtr for future child backends */
!                               GetRedoRecPtr();
                        }
                }
                else
--- 1683,1689 ----
                        {
                                checkpointed = time(NULL);
                                /* Update RedoRecPtr for future child backends */
!                               GetSavedRedoRecPtr();
                        }
                }
                else
*** src/include/access/xlog.h.orig      Fri Nov 16 12:17:19 2001
--- src/include/access/xlog.h   Thu Mar 14 20:20:51 2002
***************
*** 178,183 ****
--- 178,185 ----
  extern StartUpID ThisStartUpID; /* current SUI */
  extern bool InRecovery;
  extern XLogRecPtr MyLastRecPtr;
+ extern bool MyXactMadeXLogEntry;
+ extern XLogRecPtr ProcLastRecEnd;
  
  /* these variables are GUC parameters related to XLOG */
  extern int    CheckPointSegments;
***************
*** 205,212 ****
  extern void CreateCheckPoint(bool shutdown);
  extern void SetThisStartUpID(void);
  extern void XLogPutNextOid(Oid nextOid);
! extern void SetRedoRecPtr(void);
! extern void GetRedoRecPtr(void);
  
  /* in storage/ipc/sinval.c, but don't want to declare in sinval.h because
   * we'd have to include xlog.h into that ...
--- 207,215 ----
  extern void CreateCheckPoint(bool shutdown);
  extern void SetThisStartUpID(void);
  extern void XLogPutNextOid(Oid nextOid);
! extern void SetSavedRedoRecPtr(void);
! extern void GetSavedRedoRecPtr(void);
! extern XLogRecPtr GetRedoRecPtr(void);
  
  /* in storage/ipc/sinval.c, but don't want to declare in sinval.h because
   * we'd have to include xlog.h into that ...

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