Re: TODO questions

On Thu, Aug 25, 2005 at 02:09:10AM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> "Jim C. Nasby" <jnasby(at)pervasive(dot)com> writes:
> > On Wed, Aug 24, 2005 at 10:03:28PM -0700, Ron Mayer wrote:
> >> The most unambiguous behavior would be to not have
> >> commented out values in the config file at all.
>
> > That only makes sense if you also remove the concept of default values;
> > something I don't think we want to do.
>
> Well, the hardwired default values are really only there to ensure
> sanity if the config file fails to provide values. We already have to
> make sure that the hardwired defaults match what it says in
> postgresql.conf.sample, if only for documentation reasons. So I'm
> not seeing a strong argument here.

So then what happens if someone accidentally deletes something from the
config file? Or in-advertently comments it out?

IMHO, the best way to 'fix' this in the short term is to put a big
warning/notice in the config file letting people know what happens when
a setting is commented out/missing. In the long term we should go
through the same process for reading config settings on a reload as we
do on startup (with the obvious exception of startup-only parameters).
--
Jim C. Nasby, Sr. Engineering Consultant jnasby(at)pervasive(dot)com
Pervasive Software http://pervasive.com 512-569-9461