Re: 7.2b3 pg_dump, general 7.2b3 comments

Joe Conway <joseph(dot)conway(at)home(dot)com> writes:
> BTW, after your first reply, I started to load the new pg_dump into gdb
> and discovered it had no debug symbols (recall I installed from RPM). Is
> there a way to install the RPM with additional configure options without
> rebuilding it?

Don't know; certainly you'd have to recompile, but I dunno if you have
to modify the source RPM or not. Lamar?

> Is there any significant downside (performance or
> otherwise) to having --enable-debug on a production server?

If you're compiling with gcc then I believe the only cost is the disk
footprint of the debug info. On some other compilers, --enable-debug
disables most compiler optimizations, which can mean a significant
speed penalty. We currently have the following in the installation
guide:

--enable-debug

Compiles all programs and libraries with debugging
symbols. This means that you can run the programs through a
debugger to analyze problems. This enlarges the size of the
installed executables considerably, and on non-GCC compilers it
usually also disables compiler optimization, causing
slowdowns. However, having the symbols available is extremely
helpful for dealing with any problems that may
arise. Currently, this option is considered of marginal value
for production installations, but you should have it on if you
are doing development work or running a beta version.

--enable-cassert

Enables assertion checks in the server, which test for many
"can't happen" conditions. This is invaluable for code
development purposes, but the tests slow things down a
little. Also, having the tests turned on won't necessarily
enhance the stability of your server! The assertion checks are
not categorized for severity, and so what might be a relatively
harmless bug will still lead to server restarts if it triggers
an assertion failure. Currently, this option is not
recommended for production use, but you should have it on for
development work or when running a beta version.

Perhaps "marginal value" is too lukewarm an assessment, at least for
gcc users. Comments?

regards, tom lane