Re: 7.2.1. The FROM Clause

On Mon, 2026-06-15 at 11:05 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Laurenz Albe <laurenz(dot)albe(at)cybertec(dot)at> writes:
> > I could not resist the temptation to remove the "now always" in
> > "searching descendant tables is now always the default".  That sounds
> > too much like this was a recent change.
>
> Hmm, phrasing that part that way sounds like it's always been so,
> which is not only false but is contradicted by the surrounding text.
> What do you think of saying
>
>     There is no real reason to use this syntax
>     any more, because searching descendant tables has been the default
>     behavior since PostgreSQL whatever-version-it-was.
>
> I can look up the version where it changed, if this seems like the way
> to go.

I did, and * became obsolete with 7.1. It's even in the release notes.

> I'm also tempted to replace "to use this syntax" with "to write *",
> just to be totally clear which syntax we are referring to.  After
> your rewrite of the prior sentence, someone might think the closest
> antecedent for "this" is "ONLY".

I am fine with both your suggestions.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe