From: | Philip Warner <pjw(at)rhyme(dot)com(dot)au> |
---|---|
To: | Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> |
Cc: | pgsql-hackers(at)postgreSQL(dot)org |
Subject: | Re: pg_backup symlink? |
Date: | 2000-07-12 01:50:51 |
Message-ID: | 3.0.5.32.20000712115051.009b8e00@mail.rhyme.com.au |
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Lists: | pgsql-general pgsql-hackers |
At 02:23 12/07/00 +0200, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>
>IMHO, it's a bad strategy to add symlinks as shortcuts to certain
>options. Where would that ever lead?
I suppose the glib answer is "to a more convenient and easy to use tool" 8-}.
>There are tons of options settings I
>use "most often" in various programs, but for that you can use shells
>aliases or scripts, or the program provides an environment variable for
>default options.
In this case I view pg_dump's default behaviour as an anachronism caused by
compatibility issues, not a feature. Dumping to text without blobs is like
asking ls to only list files whose names are in lower case.
>The default behaviour of pg_dump (or pg_backup or whatever) should be to
>write plain text to stdout. If you want to write format "foo", use the
>-Ffoo option. If you want to dump blobs, use the --blob option. That makes
>sense.
With a symlink, that's what you get. You will still be able to add '-Ffoo'
to pg_dump (or -Fp to pg_backup)
>You're really trying to force certain usage patterns by labeling one
>invocation "backup" and another "dump". I can foresee the user problems:
>"No, you have to use pg_dump for that, not pg_backup!"
The actualy answer to the question is: "either use 'pg_dump -Fc --blob', or
just use pg_backup, whichever you find easiest to remember".
This works both ways: "I used pg_dump to backup my db, but it doesn't
contain the blobs" - I've certainly seen that message a few times. Both
issues are solved by documentation.
Until a scipt file can import blob data directly from stdin, a text file
can not be used to backup blobs, so the default behaviour of pg_dump is
unsuitable for backups.
>We're still
>battling that sympton in the createdb vs CREATE DATABASE case.
My guess is these issues were also created by legacy code.
>What's wrong with just having pg_dump, period? After all pg_dump isn't
>something you use like `ls' or `cat' where every extra keystroke is a
>pain.
No, but for less commonly used utilities, it's probably more important to
have a simple way invoke a basic, important, function.
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