> and I can see whether a sequential scan or an index scan is > performed, but parsing the output of EXPLAIN programmatically > is nearly impossible. Anyway the words 'Index Scan' and 'Seq > Scan' can change without notice, maybe even from one locale to > another. I think you are operating under the faulty assumption that 'Index Scan' in EXPLAIN output signifies that a column is *indexed*. What it really tells you is whether an index is actually *used* when getting data from a column. That of course requires an index to be there. However, an index being there doesn't guarantee it being used.
Karsten -- GPG key ID E4071346 @ wwwkeys.pgp.net E167 67FD A291 2BEA 73BD 4537 78B9 A9F9 E407 1346 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match