Re: checking for table bloat

Hi

> As I'm sure many people know, check_postgres.pl has a wonderful (if rather
> arcane) query to check table bloat, which has been copied all over the
> intarwebz. When I try to use this query one one of my databases I'm told my
> table (which has had no deletes) is wasting a whole lot of bytes, but no
> amount of vacuuming or even clustering will make it less bloated.

You can use CTAS and re-create that table. The main issue with "check
bloat" query is that you can't relay on absolute numbers. You should
look the difference over the time (ie. run it once a day) and compare
that number to database activity (pg_stat_all_tables - n_tup_*
columns))

--
Ondrej Ivanic
(ondrej(dot)ivanic(at)gmail(dot)com)