question on pg_ctl

Hi Everybody,

I want to change a line in postgresql.conf (shared_buffers)
and then issue a command:
pg_ctl reload

This forces the postmaster process to reread the configuration
file with new shared_buffer value. And the postgres process
that comes to life from this point on will execute with the
newly specified value. Correct?

I have jobs that have been running more than a week. Can somebody
please tell me what happens to these processes? Ie., (a) will they
keep running in the current mode? (b) will the postmaster assign
more memory while they are running?

Thank you.

Regards,

Tena Sakai
tsakai(at)gallo(dot)ucsf(dot)edu