Re: machine-readable explain output v4

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009, Mike wrote:

> Have any tool authors stepped up and committed resources to utilizing
> this feature in the near term?

Even before the easier to read format was available, there were already
multiple EXPLAIN analysis tools floating around, some of them web-based
like you're considering; a list is at
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Using_EXPLAIN

You might expect some of those tool authors would do the appropriate
overhaul to import the new format data, and perhaps make things more
powerful or simple in the process. You might want to collaborate within
someone writing one of those existing applications rather than start over
on your own.

> The reason I would like to provide this tool in a web-based form is that
> no additional software installation would be necessary for the user,
> reducing any hurdles to using it to zero.

I personally hate only having a web-based tool for this style of
application, because I'm always dealing with data I can't paste into
somebody else's site for EXPLAIN output--that's a common hurdle that's
impossible to clear given all the regulatory and business secret
restrictions people work under nowadays. Even when the source code is
available for the web app, that puts you back to needing to install the
tool locally, and I've found web apps tend to be more complicated to get
running than a typical standalone app.

--
* Greg Smith gsmith(at)gregsmith(dot)com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD