pg_dump new feature: exporting functions only. Bad or good idea ?

From: Lætitia Avrot <laetitia(dot)avrot(at)gmail(dot)com>
To: Pg Hackers <pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: pg_dump new feature: exporting functions only. Bad or good idea ?
Date: 2021-03-17 17:00:41
Message-ID: CAB_COdg3tUuymX2SxUF3G26-yxz7Frs2tEEdAfvvWizeiyOGsg@mail.gmail.com
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Hey hackers,

I had this idea, that I raised and cherished like my baby to add a switch
in `pg_dump` to allow exporting stored functions (and procedures) only.

However, when I finally got the time to look at it in detail, I found out
there was no way to solve the dependencies in the functions and procedures,
so that the exported file, when re-played could lead to invalid objects.

So, I decided this would not make Postgres better and decide to walk off
this patch.

Anyhow, when sharing my thoughts, several people told me to ask the
community about adding this feature because this could be useful in some
use cases. Another argument is that should you have all your functions in
one schema and your tables in another, exporting only the function schema
will lead to the same kind of file that could lead to invalid objects
created when the file is re-played against a database that does not have
the tables.

Of course, the documentation would add a warning against object invalidity
should only the stored functions/procedures be exported.

So, my question is: what do you think about such a feature? is it worth it?

Have a nice day,

Lætitia

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