Re: pg_control_recovery() return value when not in recovery

On Sat, Oct 14, 2017 at 8:31 AM, Joe Conway <mail(at)joeconway(dot)com> wrote:
> Sorry for the slow response, but thinking back on this now, the idea of
> these functions, in my mind at least, was to provide as close to the
> same output as possible to what pg_controldata outputs. So:
>
> # pg_controldata
> ...
> Minimum recovery ending location: 0/0
> Min recovery ending loc's timeline: 0
> Backup start location: 0/0
> Backup end location: 0/0
> End-of-backup record required: no
> ...
>
> So if we make a change here, do we also change pg_controldata?

For a lot of folks on this list, it is clear that things like
InvalidXLogRecPtr map to 0/0, but what of end-users? Couldn't we
consider marking those fields as "undefined" for example. "invalid"
would mean that the state of the cluster is incorrect, so I am not
sure if that is most adapted.
--
Michael