Re: backup.sgml patch that adds information on custom format backups

On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Ivan Lezhnjov IV <iliv(at)commandprompt(dot)com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'd like to submit the following patch that extends backup.sgml with a bit of practical but important information.
>
> Project: postgresql
> Patch filename: backup.sgml-cmd-v001.patch
>
> The patch extends backup.sgml and adds practical information on custom format backups approach. Basically, we believe that plaintext backup format is suitable for a very limited range of use cases, and that in real world people are usually better off with a custom format backup. This is what we want PostgreSQL users to be aware of and provide some hands-on examples of how to do backups using this approach.
>
> It is meant for application, and is against master branch.
>
> The patch does pass 'make check' and 'make html' successfully.
>
> PS: this is my first submission ever. So, if I'm missing something or not doing it as expected, please, do let me know. Thank you.

Generally it's a good idea to discuss whatever you'd like to change
before you actually write the patch, so as to get consensus on it.
I'm not sure what others think, but the proposed wording seems a bit
hard on plain text dumps to me. For many people, the advantage of
having a file in a format you can read may outweigh the disadvantages
of being unable to do a selective restore. Not that custom-format
dumps aren't great; they certainly are. But it isn't a bug that we
support more than one format.

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company