Re: db design question

From: Andrew McMillan <andrew(at)catalyst(dot)net(dot)nz>
To: jules(dot)alberts(at)arbodienst-limburg(dot)nl
Cc: pgsql-novice(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: db design question
Date: 2002-10-21 18:48:29
Message-ID: 1035226108.6376.8.camel@kant.mcmillan.net.nz
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On Thu, 2002-10-17 at 19:11, Jules Alberts wrote:
> Both OIDs and sequences exist and should do the job, but the question
> is, which one is more reliable? Which one will keep it's current
> syntax, functionality etc. longest? The db I'm designing will be the
> core of my companies IT and will be in use for at least 5 years (the
> current one is into its 7th) and a lot can change in that time. That's
> why these decisions are so important now, on what horse do I put my
> money?
Don't put your money on OID. These have changed in the past, are known
to change between dump/reload and offer no advantages.

In some databases the equivalent of the OID can provide fast access to a
record, but this is not the case in PostgreSQL where you will still need
to take normal measures (i.e. index on that column), just as you would a
SERIAL column, which would be invariant between dump/restore.

In more recent PostgreSQL versions you can create tables without OIDs,
so there is no longer even space savings involved.

For the large-object interface you are stuck with OID for now, of
course.

Regards,
Andrew.
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