Re: Non-text mode for pg_dumpall

Hi Mahendra,

Thank you for the fix. Please find my further review comments below.

### Restrict-Key Option

The `--restrict-key` option is currently being accepted by
`pg_dumpall` even when non-plain formats are specified,
which contradicts its intended use only with the plain format.

For example:

```
$ ./db/bin/pg_dump --format=d -f testdump_dir --restrict-key=RESTRICT_KEY
pg_dump: error: option --restrict-key can only be used with --format=plain
$ ./db/bin/pg_dumpall --format=d -f testdump_dir --restrict-key=RESTRICT_KEY
pg_dumpall: error: invalid restrict key
```

I have attached a delta patch that addresses the issue with the
`--restrict-key` option. It would be beneficial to include a dedicated
test case for this check.

### Use of Dump Options Structure (dopt)

Please ensure consistency by utilizing the main dump options
structure (`dopt`) instead of declaring and using individual variables
where the structure already provides fields. For example, the
`output_clean` variable seems redundant here:

```c
case 'c':
output_clean = true;
dopt.outputClean = 1;
break;
```

In my attached delta file, I have replaced the unnecessary
`restrict_key` variable with `dopt.restrict_key`.

### Cosmetic Issues

1. Please review the spacing around the pointer:
```c
+ ((ArchiveHandle * )fout) ->connection = conn;
+ ((ArchiveHandle * ) fout) -> public.numWorkers = 1;
```
2. Please be consistent with the punctuation of single-line comments;
some end with a full stop (`.`) and others do not.
3. In the SGML documentation changes, some new statements start
with one space, and others start with two. Please adhere to a single
standard for indentation across the patch.

Regards,
Vaibhav
EnterpriseDB

On Mon, Nov 3, 2025 at 5:24 PM Mahendra Singh Thalor <mahi6run(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> On Mon, 3 Nov 2025 at 12:06, Vaibhav Dalvi <vaibhav(dot)dalvi(at)enterprisedb(dot)com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Mahendra,
> >
> > Thank you for your work on this feature.
> > I have just begun reviewing the latest patch and
> > encountered the following errors during the initial setup:
> >
> > ```
> > $ ./db/bin/pg_restore testdump_dir -C -d postgres -F d -p 5556
> > pg_restore: error: could not execute query: ERROR: syntax error at or
> near "\\"
> > LINE 1: \restrict aO9K1gzVZTlafidF5fWx8ADGzUnIiAcguFz5qskGaFDygTCjCj...
> > ^
> > Command was: \restrict
> aO9K1gzVZTlafidF5fWx8ADGzUnIiAcguFz5qskGaFDygTCjCj9vg3Xxys1b3hb
> >
> > pg_restore: error: could not execute query: ERROR: syntax error at or
> near "\\"
> > LINE 1: \unrestrict aO9K1gzVZTlafidF5fWx8ADGzUnIiAcguFz5qskGaFDygTCj...
> > ^
> > Command was: \unrestrict
> aO9K1gzVZTlafidF5fWx8ADGzUnIiAcguFz5qskGaFDygTCjCj9vg3Xxys1b3hb
> >
> > pg_restore: error: could not execute query: ERROR: syntax error at or
> near "\\"
> > LINE 1: \connect template1
> > ^
> > Command was: \connect template1
> >
> > pg_restore: error: could not execute query: ERROR: syntax error at or
> near "\\"
> > LINE 1: \connect postgres
> > ^
> > Command was: \connect postgres
> > ```
> > To cross-check tried with plain dump(with pg_dumpall) and
> > restored(SQL file restore) without patch and didn't get above
> > connection errors.
> >
> > It appears there might be an issue with the dump file itself.
> > Please note that this is my first observation as I have just
> > started the review. I will continue with my assessment.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Vaibhav Dalvi
> > EnterpriseDB
>
> Thanks Vaibhav for the review.
> This change was added by me in v04. Only in the case of a file, we should
> restore these commands. Attached patch is fixing the same.
>
> If we dump and restore the same file with the same user, then we will get
> an error of ROLE CREATE as the same role is already created. I think,
> either we can ignore this error, or we can keep it as a restore can be done
> with different users.
>
>> mst(at)localhost bin]$ ./pg_restore d1 -C -d postgres
>> pg_restore: error: could not execute query: ERROR: role "mst" already
>> exists
>> Command was: CREATE ROLE mst;
>> ALTER ROLE mst WITH SUPERUSER INHERIT CREATEROLE CREATEDB LOGIN
>> REPLICATION BYPASSRLS;
>>
>>
>> pg_restore: warning: errors ignored on restore: 1
>
>
>
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM Mahendra Singh Thalor <
> mahi6run(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> >>
> >> On Tue, 28 Oct 2025 at 11:32, Mahendra Singh Thalor <mahi6run(at)gmail(dot)com>
> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > On Thu, 16 Oct 2025 at 16:24, Mahendra Singh Thalor <
> mahi6run(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> >> > >
> >> > > On Wed, 15 Oct 2025 at 23:05, Mahendra Singh Thalor <
> mahi6run(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> >> > > >
> >> > > > On Sun, 24 Aug 2025 at 22:12, Andrew Dunstan <andrew(at)dunslane(dot)net>
> wrote:
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > On 2025-08-23 Sa 9:08 PM, Noah Misch wrote:
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > On Wed, Jul 30, 2025 at 02:51:59PM -0400, Andrew Dunstan wrote:
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > OK, now that's reverted we should discuss how to proceed. I had
> two thoughts
> >> > > > > - we could use invent a JSON format for the globals, or we
> could just use
> >> > > > > the existing archive format. I think the archive format is
> pretty flexible,
> >> > > > > and should be able to accommodate this. The downside is it's
> not humanly
> >> > > > > readable. The upside is that we don't need to do anything
> special either to
> >> > > > > write it or parse it.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > I would first try to use the existing archiver API, because
> that makes it
> >> > > > > harder to miss bugs. Any tension between that API and
> pg_dumpall is likely to
> >> > > > > have corresponding tension on the pg_restore side. Resolving
> that tension
> >> > > > > will reveal much of the project's scope that remained hidden
> during the v18
> >> > > > > attempt. Perhaps more important than that, using the archiver
> API means
> >> > > > > future pg_dump and pg_restore options are more likely to
> cooperate properly
> >> > > > > with $SUBJECT. In other words, I want it to be hard to add
> pg_dump/pg_restore
> >> > > > > features that malfunction only for $SUBJECT archives. The
> strength of the
> >> > > > > archiver architecture shows in how rarely new features need
> format-specific
> >> > > > > logic and how rarely format-specific bugs get reported. We've
> had little or
> >> > > > > no trouble with e.g. bugs that appear in -Fd but not in -Fc.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > Yeah, that's what we're going to try.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > cheers
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > andrew
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > --
> >> > > > > Andrew Dunstan
> >> > > > > EDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Thanks Andrew, Noah and all others for feedback.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Based on the above suggestions and discussions, I removed sql
> commands
> >> > > > from the global.dat file. For global commands, now we are making
> >> > > > toc.dat/toc.dmp/toc.tar file based on format specified and based
> on
> >> > > > format specified, we are making archive entries for these global
> >> > > > commands. By this approach, we removed the hard-coded parsing
> part of
> >> > > > the global.dat file and we are able to skip DROP DATABASE with the
> >> > > > globals-only option.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Here, I am attaching a patch for review, testing and feedback.
> This is
> >> > > > a WIP patch. I will do some more code cleanup and will add some
> more
> >> > > > comments also. Please review this and let me know design level
> >> > > > feedback. Thanks Tushar Ahuja for some internal testing and
> feedback.
> >> > > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Hi,
> >> > > Here, I am attaching an updated patch. In offline discussion, Andrew
> >> > > reported some test-case failures(Thanks Andrew). I fixed those.
> >> > > Please let me know feedback for the patch.
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> > Hi,
> >> > Here I am attaching a re-based patch as v02 was failing on head.
> >> > Thanks Tushar for the testing.
> >> > Please review this and let me know feedback.
> >> >
> >>
> >> Hi all,
> >> Here I am attaching an updated patch for review and testing. Based on
> >> some offline comments by Andrew, I did some code cleanup.
> >> Please consider this patch for feedback.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Thanks and Regards
> >> Mahendra Singh Thalor
> >> EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>
>
>
> --
> Thanks and Regards
> Mahendra Singh Thalor
> EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>