Re: Unexpected sort order.

From: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: Jeff Davis <pgsql(at)j-davis(dot)com>
Cc: Ron Mayer <rm_pg(at)cheapcomplexdevices(dot)com>, pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: Unexpected sort order.
Date: 2006-11-27 22:05:27
Message-ID: 24807.1164665127@sss.pgh.pa.us
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Jeff Davis <pgsql(at)j-davis(dot)com> writes:
> On Mon, 2006-11-27 at 12:44 -0800, Ron Mayer wrote:
>> Shouldn't the results of this query shown here been sorted by "b" rather than by "a"?

>> li=# select * from (select (random()*10)::int as a, (random()*10)::int as b from generate_series(1,10) order by a) as x order by b;

> It looks like a planner bug.

It looks to me like the planner thinks that order by a and order by b
are equivalent because the expressions are equal(); hence it discards
what it thinks is a redundant second sort step.

I suppose we could add a check for whether the sort expression contains
volatile functions before believing this, but I'm having a hard time
believing that there are any real-world cases where the check wouldn't
be a waste of cycles. What's the use-case for sorting by a volatile
expression in the first place?

regards, tom lane

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