Re: PG 14 release notes, first draft

On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 08:16:16AM +0200, Laurenz Albe wrote:
> On Mon, 2021-05-10 at 02:03 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > When using \e in psql, if the buffer is not modified by the editor, ignore the editor contents and leave the buffer unchanged (Laurenz Albe)
> > The \ef and \ev commands also now have this behavior. DOCS SAY BUFFER IS CLEARED.
>
> It's a bit more complicated: If you edit the current buffer with \e, the buffer is
> unchanged if you quit the editor.
> However, if you edit the previous statement, a file or the definition of a function
> or view, the query buffer is cleared if you quit the editor without saving.
>
> Suggested wording:
>
> When editing anything else than the current query buffer with \e, and you quit
> the editor, the query buffer is cleared. This makes the behavior less surprising
> and prevents the unintended re-execution of the previous statement.

OK, I figured it out. I was confused by \p because \? says:

test=> \?
Query Buffer
\e [FILE] [LINE] edit the query buffer (or file) with external editor
\ef [FUNCNAME [LINE]] edit function definition with external editor
\ev [VIEWNAME [LINE]] edit view definition with external editor
--> \p show the contents of the query buffer
\r reset (clear) the query buffer
...

but the documentaton says:

\p or \print
Print the current query buffer to the standard output. If
--> the current query buffer is empty, the most recently executed
--> query is printed instead.

I wasn't aware that \e loads the previous query if the buffer is empty.
I came up with this release note text:

<listitem>
<!--
Author: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
2021-04-03 [55873a00e] Improve psql's behavior when the editor is exited withou
-->

<para>
When editing the previous query or a file with psql's \e, ignore the
contents if the editor exits without saving (Laurenz Albe)
</para>

<para>
Previously, editing the previous query or a file and not saving the
editor contents would still execute the editor contents. The \ef and
\ev commands also now have this behavior.
</para>
</listitem>

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> https://momjian.us
EDB https://enterprisedb.com

If only the physical world exists, free will is an illusion.