Re: 9.2.1 & index-only scans : abnormal heap fetches after VACUUM FULL

On 2014-02-15 12:50:14 -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:

> On Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 04:16:40PM +0100, Andres Freund wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > > *************** end_heap_rewrite(RewriteState state)
> > > *** 281,286 ****
> > > --- 284,290 ----
> > > true);
> > > RelationOpenSmgr(state->rs_new_rel);
> > >
> > > + update_page_vm(state->rs_new_rel, state->rs_buffer, state->rs_blockno);
> > > PageSetChecksumInplace(state->rs_buffer, state->rs_blockno);
> > >
> > > smgrextend(state->rs_new_rel->rd_smgr, MAIN_FORKNUM, state->rs_blockno,
> > > *************** raw_heap_insert(RewriteState state, Heap
> > > *** 633,638 ****
> > > --- 637,643 ----
> > > */
> > > RelationOpenSmgr(state->rs_new_rel);
> > >
> > > + update_page_vm(state->rs_new_rel, page, state->rs_blockno);
> > > PageSetChecksumInplace(page, state->rs_blockno);
> > >
> > > smgrextend(state->rs_new_rel->rd_smgr, MAIN_FORKNUM,
> >
> > I think those two cases should be combined.
>
> Uh, what I did was to pair the new update_page_vm with the existing
> PageSetChecksumInplace calls, figuring if we needed a checksum before we
> wrote the page we would need a update_page_vm too. Is that incorrect?
> It is that _last_ page write in the second instance.

What I mean is that there should be a new function handling the writeout
of a page.

> > > diff --git a/src/backend/access/heap/visibilitymap.c b/src/backend/access/heap/visibilitymap.c
> > > new file mode 100644
> > > index 899ffac..3e7546b
> > > *** a/src/backend/access/heap/visibilitymap.c
> > > --- b/src/backend/access/heap/visibilitymap.c
> > > *************** visibilitymap_set(Relation rel, BlockNum
> > > *** 257,263 ****
> > > #endif
> > >
> > > Assert(InRecovery || XLogRecPtrIsInvalid(recptr));
> > > - Assert(InRecovery || BufferIsValid(heapBuf));
> > >
> > > /* Check that we have the right heap page pinned, if present */
> > > if (BufferIsValid(heapBuf) && BufferGetBlockNumber(heapBuf) != heapBlk)
> > > --- 257,262 ----
> > > *************** visibilitymap_set(Relation rel, BlockNum
> > > *** 278,284 ****
> > > map[mapByte] |= (1 << mapBit);
> > > MarkBufferDirty(vmBuf);
> > >
> > > ! if (RelationNeedsWAL(rel))
> > > {
> > > if (XLogRecPtrIsInvalid(recptr))
> > > {
> > > --- 277,283 ----
> > > map[mapByte] |= (1 << mapBit);
> > > MarkBufferDirty(vmBuf);
> > >
> > > ! if (RelationNeedsWAL(rel) && BufferIsValid(heapBuf))
> > > {
> > > if (XLogRecPtrIsInvalid(recptr))
> > > {
> >
> > At the very least this needs to revise visibilitymap_set's comment about
> > the requirement of passing a buffer unless !InRecovery.
>
> Oh, good point, comment block updated.
>
> > Also, how is this going to work with replication if you're explicitly
> > not WAL logging this?
>
> Uh, I assumed that using the existing functions would handle this. If
> not, I don't know the answer.

Err. Read the block above again, where you added the
BufferIsValid(heapBuf) check. That's exactly the part doing the WAL
logging.

> > > *** a/src/backend/utils/time/tqual.c
> > > --- b/src/backend/utils/time/tqual.c
> > > *************** static inline void
> > > *** 108,113 ****
> > > --- 108,117 ----
> > > SetHintBits(HeapTupleHeader tuple, Buffer buffer,
> > > uint16 infomask, TransactionId xid)
> > > {
> > > + /* we might not have a buffer if we are doing raw_heap_insert() */
> > > + if (!BufferIsValid(buffer))
> > > + return;
> > > +
> > > if (TransactionIdIsValid(xid))
> > > {
> > > /* NB: xid must be known committed here! */
> >
> > This looks seriously wrong to me.
> >
> > I think the whole idea of doing this in private memory is bad. The
> > visibility routines aren't written for that, and the above is just one
> > instance of that, and I am far from convinced it's the only one. So you
> > either need to work out how to rely on the visibility checking done in
> > cluster.c, or you need to modify rewriteheap.c to write via
> > shared_buffers.
>
> I don't think we can change rewriteheap.c to use shared buffers --- that
> code was written to do things in private memory for performance reasons
> and I don't think setting hit bits justifies changing that.

I don't think that's necessarily contradictory. You'd need to use a
ringbuffer strategy for IO, like e.g. VACUUM does. But I admit it's not
a insignificant amount of work, and it might need some adjustements in
some places.

> Can you be more specific about the cluster.c idea? I see
> copy_heap_data() in cluster.c calling HeapTupleSatisfiesVacuum() with a
> 'buf' just like the code I am working in.

Yes, it does. But in contrast to your patch it does so on the *origin*
buffer. Which is in shared memory.
The idea would be to modify rewrite_heap_tuple() to get a new parameter
informing it it about the tuple's visibility. That'd allow you to avoid
doing any additional visibility checks.

Unfortunately that would still not fix the problem that
visibilitymap_set requires a real buffer to be passed in. If you're
going that route, you'll need to make a bit more sweeping changes. You'd
need to add new blockno parameter and a BufferIsValid() check to the
right places in log_heap_visible(). Pretty ugly if you ask me...

Greetings,

Andres Freund

--
Andres Freund http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
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