| From: | Chao Li <li(dot)evan(dot)chao(at)gmail(dot)com> |
|---|---|
| To: | PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org> |
| Subject: | Fix numeric log() with an infinite value and 0<base<=1 |
| Date: | 2026-10-14 11:16:38 |
| Message-ID: | 08270B8B-634F-4381-9D6F-9BDB18DA82A0@gmail.com |
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| Lists: | pgsql-hackers |
Hi,
The SQL function log() returns incorrect results in these cases:
```
evantest=# SELECT log(0.5::numeric, 'Infinity'::numeric);
log
----------
Infinity
(1 row)
evantest=# SELECT log(1::numeric, 'Infinity'::numeric);
log
----------
Infinity
(1 row)
```
log(base, value) = ln(value) / ln(base)
ln(0.5) is negative, so the first should return negative infinity; ln(1) is zero, so the second should fail with division by zero.
Verifying in Python:
```
>>> print(math.log(math.inf, 0.5))
-inf
>>> print(math.log(math.inf, 1));
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<python-input-3>", line 1, in <module>
print(math.log(math.inf, 1));
~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ZeroDivisionError: division by zero
```
Also, verifying with PG itself using division:
```
evantest=# select ln('Infinity'::numeric)/ln(0.5::numeric);
?column?
-----------
-Infinity
(1 row)
evantest=# select ln('Infinity'::numeric)/ln(1::numeric);
ERROR: division by zero
```
This issue was introduced in v14.
Please see the attached patch for the fix.
Best regards,
--
Chao Li (Evan)
HighGo Software Co., Ltd.
https://www.highgo.com/
| Attachment | Content-Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| v1-0001-Fix-numeric-log-with-an-infinite-argument-and-a-b.patch | application/octet-stream | 3.4 KB |
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