Re: Using temp tables with web apps (No State)

Danny Aldham <danny(at)lennon(dot)postino(dot)com> writes:
> I am wondering if anyone has a decent method of cleaning up
> these temporary tables after use.
> I am considering creating a table called Temp_Tables, and inserting the
> name of the temp_tables into it, and having a cron job read Temp_Tables
> for a list of temp_tables to drop. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Are you able to choose the table names freely? If so, consider encoding
the needed info right into the table name:

myapp_temp_200111301003_1234

(I'm imagining the current timestamp and PID as the variable components
here, but you could alter that to suit your needs.) Then a scan of
pg_class tells the cron job what to do. This avoids the overhead of an
extra table insert/delete, and more importantly avoids any possibility of
the Temp_Tables table getting out of sync with reality.

regards, tom lane