Re: Column Filtering in Logical Replication

On Fri, Aug 26, 2022 at 7:33 AM Peter Smith <smithpb2250(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>

Few comments on both the patches:
v4-0001*
=========
1.
Furthermore, if the table uses
+ <literal>REPLICA IDENTITY FULL</literal>, specifying a column list is not
+ allowed (it will cause publication errors for <command>UPDATE</command> or
+ <command>DELETE</command> operations).

This line sounds a bit unclear to me. From this like it appears that
the following operation is not allowed:

postgres=# create table t1(c1 int, c2 int, c3 int);
CREATE TABLE
postgres=# Alter Table t1 replica identity full;
ALTER TABLE
postgres=# create publication pub1 for table t1(c1);
CREATE PUBLICATION

However, what is not allowed is the following:
postgres=# delete from t1;
ERROR: cannot delete from table "t1"
DETAIL: Column list used by the publication does not cover the
replica identity.

I am not sure if we really need this line but if so then please try to
make it more clear. I think the similar text is present in 0002 patch
which should be modified accordingly.

V4-0002*
=========
2.
However, if a
+ <firstterm>column list</firstterm> is specified then only the columns named
+ in the list will be replicated. This means the subscriber-side table only
+ needs to have those columns named by the column list. A user might choose to
+ use column lists for behavioral, security or performance reasons.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="logical-replication-col-list-rules">
+ <title>Column List Rules</title>
+
+ <para>
+ A column list is specified per table following the table name, and enclosed
+ by parentheses. See <xref linkend="sql-createpublication"/> for details.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ When a column list is specified, only the named columns are replicated.
+ The list order is not important.

It seems like "When a column list is specified, only the named columns
are replicated." is almost a duplicate of the line in the first para.
So, I think we can remove it. And if we do so then the second line
could be changed to something like: "While specifying column list, the
order of columns is not important."

3. It seems information about initial table synchronization is
missing. We copy only columns specified in the column list. Also, it
would be good to add a Note similar to Row Filter to indicate that
this list won't be used by pre-15 publishers.

--
With Regards,
Amit Kapila.