Re: [9.3] Should we mention "set_config(...)" in 18.1.3 in Server Configuration?

On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 10:49 AM, David Johnston <david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

>
> On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 4:37 PM, Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> wrote:
>>
>>> David G Johnston <david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
>>> > Section 18.1.3 is named "18.1.3. Other Ways to Set Parameters" yet
>>> does not
>>> > reference the ability to use "set_config(...)" to make changes to
>>> > configuration parameters.
>>>
>>> Hm, yeah, seems like an oversight.
>>>
>>> Another thing I've never been terribly happy about is that pg_settings is
>>> mentioned only in the next sub-section. Could we merge that sub-section
>>> with 18.1.3?
>>>
>>> regards, tom lane
>>>
>>
>> ​​
>
>> I am presuming that posting a doc-only patch here instead of -hackers is
>> acceptable.
>>
>> So I finally decided to setup a development environment and generate
>> actual patches. I have few in mind but I thought that these two changes
>> might be quick to implement. I thought wrong - mostly due to my desire to
>> improve things and not just "add and merge" some content.
>>
>> I focused my effort on 18.1.1 to 18.1.4 though the actual coverage of
>> sections 2-4 has changed considerably. I decided not to minimize
>> white-space changes in that region since because of the re-organization git
>> was unable, especially in a couple of instances, to match up before and
>> after anyway. The file itself does not have a consistent format and so I
>> just applied 2-space indentations at each level. I plan to go back and do
>> polishing but I first want to make sure that the end-user product is
>> acceptable.
>>
>> I've only hit this one file for the moment but figure on reviewing all of
>> the relevant cross-references for tweaks and consistency. I already did so
>> in passing and would not expect anything as invasive as what I am proposing
>> here - so if others feel these changes have merit I will plan on taking any
>> ideas and put forth a v2 patch that will hopefully be ready-to-commit.
>>
>> Thank you in advance for any attention and education you can provide.
>>
>> David J.
>>
> ​
>
>
​Updated the attached PDF (but not the patch) to include a suggested
wording to address floating point number rounding and zero treatment.

"disabling log_rotation_age feature."
http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/23802.1402584095@sss.pgh.pa.us

This addition still needs some work as well as the patch as a whole (see my
comments above). The attached PDF is the page that results from "make
html"; the original patch has been re-attached as well and -hackers copied
given the lack of response on -doc.

I am hoping this change would be something that could be included in 9.4; I
believe the enhancements would be most beneficial to newcomers who are just
getting started with PostgreSQL and would be using 9.4 as their starting
point.
​
​David J.​