Re: [HACKERS] dubious improvement in new psql

At 11:14 PM 12/28/99 +0100, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>On Sat, 25 Dec 1999, Tom Lane wrote:
>
>> The new psql automatically tries to reconnect if the backend disconnects
>> unexpectedly. This feature strikes me as ill-conceived; furthermore
>> it appears to be buggy.
>>
>> It's ill-conceived because:
>> (1) under WAL, following a backend crash the postmaster is going to be
>> spending a few seconds reinitializing; an immediate reconnect attempt
>> is almost guaranteed to fail.
>
>Good point.
>
>> (2) if I'm running an SQL script, I think it's extremely foolhardy
>> to press on with executing the script as though nothing had happened.
>> A backend crash is not an event to be lightly ignored.
>
>It only does the reconnect thing if it's used interactively.

This raises a question, then. What should drivers for (say) web
servers that are expected to stay up 24/7 do if reconnecting to a
broken db connection can't be made reliable?

I've currently rewritten the AOLserver driver to do just that, and
it's working fine with 6.5.3. The AOLserver driver for Oracle most
certainly can reconnect to a broken connection - to tell folks that
this can't be done with the WAL version of Postgres will simply
reinforce those of my friends who laugh at me for trying to use
Postgres instead of simply biting the bullet and buying an Oracle
license...

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza(at)pacifier(dot)com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, Pacific Northwest
Rare Bird Alert Service and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net.