Re: BUG #12812: invalid attribute number <number> for <table_name>

John R Pierce <pierce(at)hogranch(dot)com> writes:
> On 2/28/2015 1:50 AM, IPN Bala GSS TVL wrote:
>> ERROR: invalid attribute number 24932 for transaction_set
>> LINE 1: SELECT * FROM AD_GSS_DMS_P.TRANSACTION_SET

> that looks like data corruption may have occurred.

Yeah :-(. The only occurrence of that message text in 9.3 is in
RelationBuildTupleDesc, and it's saying it found a row in pg_attribute
with that attnum and the mentioned table's attrelid. The attnum is
obviously bogus for any row in pg_attribute, ergo something has corrupted
data in pg_attribute. It's unlikely that only one row has been corrupted,
too :-(

Depending on how valuable that database is, you might want to go back
to your last backups, or you might want to seek professional help
--- there are assorted consulting companies that specialize in dealing
with data-corruption situations.

In any case you should try to identify the cause of the problem.
It's more than likely a hardware or OS problem --- there are few
known reasons for Postgres itself to cause this sort of failure.

regards, tom lane