Re: pgping?

On Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM Ron Johnson <ronljohnsonjr(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> On Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 1:19 PM David G. Johnston <
> david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> On Saturday, December 13, 2025, Ron Johnson <ronljohnsonjr(at)gmail(dot)com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> pg_isready is "ncat -zv $host 5432" for systems which don't have ncat
>>> installed.
>>>
>>
>> Pretty sure this is also an incorrect, or at least incomplete statement.
>> pg_isready uses the PostgreSQL wire protocol to make a better
>> determination as to readiness than ncat does. People are just complaining
>> that it doesn’t go further than it does. They see “user” and “database”
>> and misinterpret why those options exist.
>>
>
> We've had this discussion before: people see the --dbname and --username
> options, then quite reasonably think "ah, those options must mean you can
> test whether a specific database and/or role can connect; otherwise, why
> the heck would you put them in the --help output?"
>
> Bottom line: the purpose of --dbname is to specify a database name; the
> purpose of --username is to specify a username. Having them in the --help
> output *misleads the user*.
>
>
Yes, here.

https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/CANzqJaCSbqU3QUqMhfv5ivYww%3DJQNwyYnKWnEJoO_onCiCrhSg%40mail.gmail.com#3c4b13e8cf1116697e7e7338047728c5

It's unfortunate that the default assumption about those options is
incorrect and one needs to read the notes to understand their purpose.

David J.