Re: [GENERAL] NOT DEFERRABLE as default, why and how to manage it.

2008-08-19 Thread Peter Eisentraut
Am Tuesday, 19. August 2008 schrieb Ivan Sergio Borgonovo:
> > Is there any reason they put it that way in the standard other than
> > the mantra "stricter is better"?
>
> After reflecting a bit I think it is a matter of "failing earlier".

Deferrable constraints are an optional feature of SQL, and the reason this 
default is chosen is that systems with and without the feature behave the 
same.

> But it doesn't make things more transparent.
> Since there is no simple standard way to see which constraints are
> deferrable and no simple way to alter them.

Query information_schema.table_constraints to find out about existing 
constraints and their parameters.

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Re: [GENERAL] NOT DEFERRABLE as default, why and how to manage it.

2008-08-19 Thread Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:49:11 +0200
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:20:08 +0300
> Peter Eisentraut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> > Am Tuesday, 19. August 2008 schrieb Ivan Sergio Borgonovo:
> > > I just learnt that NOT DEFERRABLE is default.

> > > Is it mandated by SQL standard?

> > Yes.

> Is there any reason they put it that way in the standard other than
> the mantra "stricter is better"?

After reflecting a bit I think it is a matter of "failing earlier".
But it doesn't make things more transparent.
Since there is no simple standard way to see which constraints are
deferrable and no simple way to alter them.

If you expect a constraint to be deferrable and it is not there are
higher chances you'll have some warning.
If you expect a constraint to be not deferrable but it is...
the chances that something you're not expecting will silently happen
are higher.
But you can still get surprises in both cases.

It would be nice to know some way which constraint are checked
during a transaction so it would be easier to see wich ones you
really need to defer and which one were declared as not deferrable.

anyway are there guidelines on how/when changing directly the system
tables?

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Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
http://www.webthatworks.it


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Re: [GENERAL] NOT DEFERRABLE as default, why and how to manage it.

2008-08-19 Thread Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:20:08 +0300
Peter Eisentraut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Am Tuesday, 19. August 2008 schrieb Ivan Sergio Borgonovo:
> > I just learnt that NOT DEFERRABLE is default.
> 
> > Is it mandated by SQL standard?
> 
> Yes.

Is there any reason they put it that way in the standard other than
the mantra "stricter is better"?

> > Is there any shortcut if I've to change to deferrable most of my
> > constraints?
> 
> Probably not, short of writing a little script.

Reading the wiki an alter constraint is in the TODO.

What about a:
update pg_constraint set deeferrable=true where contype='f' and
confupdtype<>'r' and confdeltype<>'r' ...

BTW looking at pg_constraint and
http://www.alberton.info/postgresql_meta_info.html
was inspirational.

What are the general rules about modifying the system tables?
Where can I find what can be done and when and what can't be done?

> > Other than pgfoundry is there any other recipe repository where
> > to look for refactoring tools for postgresql?

> The wiki, I'd say.

Thanks

-- 
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
http://www.webthatworks.it


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Re: [GENERAL] NOT DEFERRABLE as default, why and how to manage it.

2008-08-19 Thread Peter Eisentraut
Am Tuesday, 19. August 2008 schrieb Ivan Sergio Borgonovo:
> I just learnt that NOT DEFERRABLE is default.

> Is it mandated by SQL standard?

Yes.

> Is there any shortcut if I've to change to deferrable most of my
> constraints?

Probably not, short of writing a little script.

> Other than pgfoundry is there any other recipe repository where to
> look for refactoring tools for postgresql?

The wiki, I'd say.

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[GENERAL] NOT DEFERRABLE as default, why and how to manage it.

2008-08-19 Thread Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
I just learnt that NOT DEFERRABLE is default.
I vaguely understand that generally stricter policies protect
distracted programmers from making mistakes... but missing an "alter
constraint" it makes refactoring a PITA.

Is it mandated by SQL standard?
Any other rational reason to make NOT DEFERRABLE default?

Is there any shortcut if I've to change to deferrable most of my
constraints?

Other than pgfoundry is there any other recipe repository where to
look for refactoring tools for postgresql?

-- 
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
http://www.webthatworks.it


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