Re: Ambiguity in VALUES synopsis: LIMIT vs FETCH

On Tuesday, August 26, 2025, Cheng Ding <cheng(dot)ding(at)utexas(dot)edu> wrote:

> Hello docs team,
>
> I believe there’s an ambiguity in the VALUES command synopsis that can
> mislead readers into thinking LIMIT and FETCH can be used together.
>
> *…*
>
> Alternatively, add a short note right under the synopsis:
>
> Note: FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } … ONLY is an alternative to LIMIT and cannot
> be used together with it.
>
> The final paragraph in description explains the either-or nature of
limit/fetch. It also directs the user to the Select page for more
details. And the comparability section also explains that fetch is
standard while limit is PostgresSQL-specific.

IMO the choice of representation here is acceptable. The redundancy should
be a big tell even if you don’t read the docs carefully. And hopefully
whatever source you actually learn about the feature from covers the
material well and this quick reference page is just a reminder that both
exist.

David J.