odd planner again, pg 9.0.8

Hi,

Lacking index hints I have a bit of a problem with a slow select.

select
pic.objectid as pic_objectid
,pu.objectid as pu_objectid
,ppcr.preproc_me as pul_preproc_me
,pp.price_amount as pp_price_amount
,pim.aut_item_container as pim_aut_item_container
,COALESCE((select coalesce(pcg.name_preferred, pcg.name) from
codec_gfx pcg where pcg.objectid = pim.aut_codec_gfx), 'unknown') as
pcg_name
,COALESCE((select pis.name from item_snd pis where pis.objectid =
pim.aut_codec_snd), 'unknown') as pis_name
-- ,(select pii2.price_arr from item_image pii2 where
pii2.item_common = pic.objectid) as pii_price_arr
,pii.price_arr as pii_price_arr
from
(
select
ppcr.item_common
,pul.preproc_me as preproc_me
,pul.ul_finished_at as ul_finished_at
,pul.to_curator_at as to_curator_at
from
pic_curate ppc
,pic_curate_row ppcr
,uploading pul
where
ppc.user_curator = 2 AND
ppcr.pic_curate = ppc.objectid AND
ppcr.item_common = pul.item_common
) ppcr
,item_common pic
left outer join item_movieclip pim on (pim.item_common = pic.objectid)
left outer join item_soundclip pisc on (pisc.item_common =
pic.objectid)
left outer join item_image pii on (pii.item_common = pic.objectid)
,user pu
,pricing pp
where
pic.objectid = ppcr.item_common AND
pu.objectid = pic.user AND
pp.item_common = ppcr.item_common AND
date_trunc ('sec', current_timestamp) BETWEEN pp.startdate and
pp.stopdate
order by
ppcr.item_common

Item_common is the main table. It has some 10M rows

This query executes with...

Nested Loop (cost=256.16..2770236.40 rows=3028 width=523) (actual
time=0.141..64428.788 rows=919 l
oops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=256.16..2753774.01 rows=1066 width=515)
(actual time=0.095..64414.614 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=256.16..2753472.18 rows=1066 width=501)
(actual time=0.089..64411.782 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Merge Join (cost=256.16..2750791.56 rows=1066
width=477) (actual time=0.080..64318.897 rows=919 loops=1)
Merge Cond: (pic.objectid = ppcr.item_common)
-> Merge Left Join (cost=251.72..2733545.74
rows=10970452 width=473) (actual time=0.038..63075.673 rows=10831339
loops=1)
Merge Cond: (pic.objectid = pisc.item_common)
-> Merge Left Join (cost=251.72..2689409.45
rows=10970452 width=457) (actual time=0.031..59173.547 rows=10831339
loops=1)
Merge Cond: (pic.objectid =
pii.item_common)
-> Merge Left Join
(cost=251.72..1844762.76 rows=10970452 width=404) (actual
time=0.022..36763.334 rows=10831339 loops=1)
Merge Cond: (pic.objectid =
pim.item_common)
-> Index Scan using
item_common_pkey on item_common pic (cost=0.00..1764469.78
rows=10970452 width=380) (actual time=0.010..20389.141 rows=10831339
loops=1)
-> Index Scan using
item_movieclip_pkey on item_movieclip pim (cost=0.00..34287.89
rows=1486673 width=28) (actual time=0.007..839.065 rows=1440175 loops=1)
-> Index Scan using item_image_pkey
on item_image pii (cost=0.00..707403.77 rows=8785343 width=57) (actual
time=0.007..14972.056 rows=8701222 loops=1)
-> Index Scan using item_soundclip_pkey on
item_soundclip pisc (cost=0.00..10690.67 rows=481559 width=20) (actual
time=0.007..252.650 rows=478672 loops=1)
-> Materialize (cost=0.00..109.95 rows=1066
width=4) (actual time=0.019..1.792 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=0.00..107.28
rows=1066 width=4) (actual time=0.018..1.429 rows=919 loops=1)
Join Filter: (ppc.objectid =
ppcr.pic_curate)
-> Index Scan using
pic_curate_row_pkey on pic_curate_row ppcr (cost=0.00..58.27 rows=3199
width=8) (actual time=0.010..0.650 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Materialize (cost=0.00..1.03
rows=1 width=4) (actual time=0.000..0.000 rows=1 loops=919)
-> Seq Scan on pic_curate ppc
(cost=0.00..1.02 rows=1 width=4) (actual time=0.005..0.006 rows=1 loops=1)
Filter: (user_curator = 2)
-> Index Scan using uploading_x2 on uploading pul
(cost=0.00..2.50 rows=1 width=24) (actual time=0.100..0.100 rows=1
loops=919)
Index Cond: (pul.item_common = ppcr.item_common)
-> Index Scan using user_pkey on user pu (cost=0.00..0.27
rows=1 width=14) (actual time=0.002..0.002 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pu.objectid = pic.user)
-> Index Scan using pricing_x1 on pricing pp (cost=0.00..3.55
rows=3 width=16) (actual time=0.004..0.005 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pp.item_common = ppcr.item_common)
Filter: ((date_trunc('sec'::text, now()) >= pp.startdate) AND
(date_trunc('sec'::text, now()) <= pp.stopdate))
SubPlan 1
-> Index Scan using codec_gfx_pkey on codec_gfx pcg
(cost=0.00..2.26 rows=1 width=27) (actual time=0.000..0.000 rows=0
loops=919)
Index Cond: (objectid = $0)
SubPlan 2
-> Seq Scan on item_snd pis (cost=0.00..1.90 rows=1 width=15)
(actual time=0.007..0.008 rows=0 loops=919)
Filter: (objectid = $1)
Total runtime: 64429.074 ms
(36 rows)

...but if I comment out pii...

-- ,pii.price_arr as pii_price_arr
...
-- left outer join item_image pii on (pii.item_common = pic.objectid)

I get...

Nested Loop (cost=0.00..9808.71 rows=1307 width=36) (actual
time=0.073..23.335 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=0.00..2681.09 rows=460 width=32) (actual
time=0.037..11.289 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop Left Join (cost=0.00..2550.85 rows=460
width=32) (actual time=0.033..9.001 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=0.00..2404.77 rows=460 width=20)
(actual time=0.029..6.987 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=0.00..1226.38 rows=460
width=12) (actual time=0.025..4.065 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Nested Loop (cost=0.00..50.26 rows=460
width=4) (actual time=0.018..1.095 rows=919 loops=1)
Join Filter: (ppc.objectid =
ppcr.pic_curate)
-> Index Scan using
pic_curate_row_pkey on pic_curate_row ppcr (cost=0.00..35.45 rows=919
width=8) (actual time=0.008..0.360 rows=919 loops=1)
-> Materialize (cost=0.00..1.03
rows=1 width=4) (actual time=0.000..0.000 rows=1 loops=919)
-> Seq Scan on pic_curate ppc
(cost=0.00..1.02 rows=1 width=4) (actual time=0.005..0.005 rows=1 loops=1)
Filter: (user_curator = 2)
-> Index Scan using uploading_x2 on
uploading pul (cost=0.00..2.54 rows=1 width=8) (actual
time=0.002..0.003 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pul.item_common =
ppcr.item_common)
-> Index Scan using item_common_pkey on
item_common pic (cost=0.00..2.55 rows=1 width=8) (actual
time=0.002..0.003 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pic.objectid = ppcr.item_common)
-> Index Scan using item_movieclip_pkey on
item_movieclip pim (cost=0.00..0.31 rows=1 width=16) (actual
time=0.002..0.002 rows=0 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pim.item_common = pic.objectid)
-> Index Scan using user_pkey on user pu (cost=0.00..0.27
rows=1 width=4) (actual time=0.002..0.002 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pu.objectid = pic.user)
-> Index Scan using pricing_x1 on pricing pp (cost=0.00..3.63
rows=3 width=12) (actual time=0.003..0.004 rows=1 loops=919)
Index Cond: (pp.item_common = ppcr.item_common)
Filter: ((date_trunc('sec'::text, now()) >= pp.startdate) AND
(date_trunc('sec'::text, now()) <= pp.stopdate))
SubPlan 1
-> Index Scan using codec_gfx_pkey on codec_gfx pcg
(cost=0.00..2.26 rows=1 width=27) (actual time=0.000..0.000 rows=0
loops=919)
Index Cond: (objectid = $0)
SubPlan 2
-> Seq Scan on item_snd pis (cost=0.00..1.90 rows=1 width=15)
(actual time=0.007..0.008 rows=0 loops=919)
Filter: (objectid = $1)
Total runtime: 23.564 ms
(29 rows)

root(at)pg9:/usr/local/pgsql90/data# grep -v '^#' postgresql.conf | tr '\t'
' ' | grep -v '^ ' | sort -u
checkpoint_completion_target = 0.9 # checkpoint target duration, 0.0 - 1.0
cpu_index_tuple_cost = 0.00001 # same scale as above
datestyle = 'iso, mdy'
default_text_search_config = 'pg_catalog.english'
effective_cache_size = 32GB
lc_messages = 'en_US.UTF-8' # locale for system error message
lc_monetary = 'en_US.UTF-8' # locale for monetary formatting
lc_numeric = 'en_US.UTF-8' # locale for number formatting
lc_time = 'en_US.UTF-8' # locale for time formatting
listen_addresses = 'localhost,10.0.0.3' # what IP address(es) to listen on;
maintenance_work_mem = 2GB # min 1MB
max_connections = 500 # (change requires restart)
port = 5440 # (change requires restart)
random_page_cost = 1.0 # same scale as above
shared_buffers = 12GB # min 128kB
temp_buffers = 64MB # min 800kB
wal_buffers = 16MB # min 32kB
work_mem = 64MB # min 64kB

Without improvement i tried
enable_seqscan = off
cpu_index_tuple_cost = 0
seq_page_cost = 2.0

There are several selects looking similar to this in our application
that suddenly jumped from a handfull of ms to many seconds. Can I
workaround this by config instead of rewriting the sql to an
inrecognizable nightmare? Preferrable I'd like to turn off full table
scan completely (where indexes are present), but that didn't bite.

Thanks,
Marcus