Re: DOCS - Add missing EXCEPT parameter description to ALTER PUBLICATION

On Thu, Jun 11, 2026 at 8:28 AM Amit Kapila <amit(dot)kapila16(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jun 11, 2026 at 6:06 AM Peter Smith <smithpb2250(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 9:17 PM Amit Kapila <amit(dot)kapila16(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Tue, Jun 9, 2026 at 10:12 AM Nisha Moond <nisha(dot)moond412(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > As Peter noted in [1], the ALTER PUBLICATION documentation is missing
> > > > a parameter description for the EXCEPT clause. Ref: Commit fd36606
> > > > introduced the EXCEPT clause.
> > > >
> > >
> > > But, we also don't have an explanation for SET { publication_object [,
> > > ...] | publication_all_object ..} for which EXCEPT is a sub-command.
> > > So what justifies to add a separate explanation for EXCEPT in ALTER
> > > PUBLICATION docs?
> > >
> >
> > If not here, then the information about would have to be added in the
> > "Description" part instead. Yes, maybe that is OK for now.
> >
>
> I see that already information related to EXCEPT is present in the
> Description section.
>
> > I think this patch is also anticipating the other EXCEPT enhancements
> > "FOR ALL SEQUENCES EXCEPT..." [1] and "FOR TABLES IN SCHEMA EXCEPT..."
> > [2]. Those will also want to document special notes about altering
> > exclusions. Putting all those exclusion notes in the "Description"
> > part would cause too much clutter IMO.
> >
>
> Possible, but how to arrange that documentation is a separate
> discussion. I feel we may want to point the links to the relevant
> places in CREATE PUBLICATION.
>

I agree that this has become more a question of documentation
structure, while also trying to avoid duplication between CREATE
PUBLICATION and ALTER PUBLICATION, which share the same parameters.

My inclination would be to revisit this once the other EXCEPT
variants, such as FOR ALL SEQUENCES EXCEPT and FOR TABLES IN SCHEMA
EXCEPT, have progressed further and reached RFC. At that point, the
overall documentation requirements and the best way to organize the
information across all EXCEPT variants should become much clearer.

For now, I'd prefer to revisit it later and proceed based on feedback
from others.

--
Thanks,
Nisha