It now appears that I was presumptuous in blaming libpq for my
application's shutdown. It probably was down to a problem with the way
I was remote debugging the application - a fluke.
I can now get the message to appear, and then re-establish a
connection by either disconnecting and reconnecting the ethernet cable
that connects the postgreSQL server to its switch, or by walking out
of and into range of the wi-fi access point with the handheld. Both
work consistently. I was able to consistently lose and regain a
connection as desired.
I guess I'm happy so. Can my approach be improved upon?
Regards,
Peter Geoghegan