postgresql/doc/src/sgml/release-9.1.sgml

<!-- doc/src/sgml/release-9.1.sgml -->

 <sect1 id="release-9-1">
  <title>Release 9.1alpha5</title>

  <sect2>
    <title>Overview</title>
    <para>
      PostgreSQL alpha releases are snapshots of development code.
      They are intended to preview and test upcoming features and to
      provide the possibility for early feedback. They should not be
      used in production installations or active development projects.
      While the PostgreSQL code is continuously subject to a number
      of automated and manual tests, alpha releases might have serious
      bugs. Also features may be changed incompatibly or removed at
      any time during the development cycle.
    </para>
    <para>
      The development cycle of a PostgreSQL major release alternates
      between periods of development and periods of integration work,
      called commit fests, normally one month each. Alpha releases are
      planned to be produced at the end of every commit fest, thus every
      two months. Since the first commit fest starts within a month from
      the beginning of development altogether, early alpha releases are
      not indicative of the likely feature set of the final release.
    </para>
  </sect2>
  <sect2>
    <title>Testing</title>
    <para>
      The primary reason we release alphas is to get users to test new
      features as early as possible.  If you are interested in helping
      with organized testing, please see
      <ulink url="http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/HowToBetaTest">the
      testing information page</ulink>.
      </para>
  </sect2>

<!--
  <note>
   <title>Release Date</title>
   <simpara>2011-??-??</simpara>
  </note>

  <sect2>
   <title>Overview</title>

   <para>
    This release of
    <productname>PostgreSQL</> adds ...  Major enhancements include:
    (This list duplicates items below, but without authors or details)
   </para>


   <para>
    The above items are explained in more detail in the sections below.
   </para>

  </sect2>
-->

  <sect2>

  <title>Migration to Version 9.1</title>

   <para>
    A dump/restore using <application>pg_dump</application>,
    or use of <application>pg_upgrade</application>, is required
    for those wishing to migrate data from any previous
    release.
   </para>

   <para>
    Version 9.1 contains a number of changes that may affect compatibility
    with previous releases.  Observe the following incompatibilities:
   </para>

   <sect3>
    <title>Strings</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change the default value of <link
       linkend="guc-standard-conforming-strings"><varname>standard_conforming_strings</></link>
       to on (Robert Haas)
      </para>

      <para>
       This removes a long-standing incompatibility with the SQL
       standard;  <link
       linkend="guc-escape-string-warning"><varname>escape_string_warning</></link>
       has produced warnings about this usage for years.  <literal>E''</>
       strings the proper way to embed escapes in strings and is
       unaffected by this change.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Casting</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Disallow function-style and attribute-style data type casts for
       composite types (Tom Lane)
      </para>

      <para>
       For example, disallow composite_name.text and text(composite_name).
       <literal>CAST</> and <literal>::</> are still available for
       casting.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Tighten casting checks for domains based on arrays (Tom Lane)
      </para>
    
      <para>
       **Details?
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Arrays</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change <link
       linkend="array-functions-table"><function>string_to_array()</></link>
       to return an empty array for a zero-length string (Pavel
       Stehule)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously this returned <literal>NULL</>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change <link
       linkend="array-functions-table"><function>string_to_array()</></link>
       so a <literal>NULL</> separator splits the string into characters
       (Pavel Stehule)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously this returned <literal>NULL</>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Object Modification</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Fix improper checks for before/after triggers (Tom Lane)
      </para>
     
      <para>
       **Tom, I need more details on the impact of this for existing
       installs.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Require superuser or <literal>CREATEROLE</> permissions in order to
        set role comments (Tom Lane)
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Server Settings</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change <link
       linkend="functions-recovery-info-table"><function>pg_last_xlog_receive_location()</></link>
       so it never moves backwards (Fujii Masao)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously <function>pg_last_xlog_receive_location()</> could
       move backward when streaming replication is restarted.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Have logging of replication connections honor <link
       linkend="guc-log-connections"><varname>log_connections</></link>
       (Magnus Hagander)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously replication connections were always logged.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title><link linkend="plpgsql">PL/pgSQL</link> Server-Side Language</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change PL/pgSQL's <literal>RAISE</> command without parameters
       to be catchable by the attached exception block (Piyush Newe)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously <literal>RAISE</> in a code block always scoped to
       an attached exception block, so it was uncatchable at the same
       scope.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Adjust PL/pgSQL's error line reporting code to be consistent
       with SQL error line reporting (Pavel Stehule)
      </para>
     
      <para>
       Previously error numbering was off by one.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Other Incompatibilities</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Have <link
       linkend="monitoring-stats-funcs-table"><function>pg_stat_reset()</></link>
       reset all database-level statistics (Tom Lane)
      </para>

      <para>
       Some counters were not being reset.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Fix some <link
        linkend="infoschema-triggers"><structname>information_schema.triggers</></link>
        column names to match the new SQL-standard names (Dean Rasheed)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Treat <application>ECPG</> cursor names as case-insensitive (Zoltan Boszormenyi)
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>
  </sect2>

  <sect2>
   <title>Changes, current as of 2011-03-15</title>
    <para>
     Version 9.1 has ...
    </para>

   <sect3>
    <title>Server</title>

    <sect4>
     <title>Performance</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow unlogged tables using <link
        linkend="SQL-CREATETABLE-description"><literal>UNLOGGED</></link>
        during <link linkend="SQL-CREATETABLE"><command>CREATE
        TABLE</></link> (Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        These tables are optimized for performance but are cleared in
        case of a server crash.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <literal>FULL OUTER JOIN</literal> to be implemented as a
        hash join, and allow either side of a <literal>LEFT OUTER JOIN</>
        or <literal>RIGHT OUTER JOIN</> to be hashed (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously <literal>FULL OUTER JOIN</literal> could only be
        implemented as a merge join, and <literal>LEFT OUTER JOIN</literal>
        and <literal>RIGHT OUTER JOIN</literal> could has only the nullable
        side of the join.  These changes provide additional query optimization
        possibilities.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Merge duplicate fsync requests on busy systems (Robert Haas,
         Greg Smith)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Improve performance of <link
        linkend="guc-commit-siblings"><varname>commit_siblings</></link>
        (Greg Smith)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows the use of commit_siblings with less overhead.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Reduce the memory requirement for large ispell dictionaries
        (Pavel Stehule, Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Optimizer</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow inheritance table queries to return meaningfully-sorted
        results (Greg Stark, Hans-Jurgen Schonig, Robert Haas, Tom
        Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows optimization of <literal>ORDER BY</> and
        <literal>LIMIT</> clauses in inheritance table queries.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Allow optimizations of <literal>MIN</>/<literal>MAX</> for
         inheritance table queries (Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow hash joins for array values (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This provides additional query optimization possibilities.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Improve GIN index scan cost estimation (Teodor Sigaev)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Authentication</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Support host names and host suffixes (e.g. .example.com) in
        <link linkend="auth-pg-hba-conf"><filename>pg_hba.conf</></link>
        (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously only host <acronym>IP</> addresses and <acronym>CIDR</>
        values were supported.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Support the keyword <literal>all</> in the host column of <link
        linkend="auth-pg-hba-conf"><filename>pg_hba.conf</></link>
        (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously people used <literal>0.0.0.0/0</> or <literal>::/0</>
        for this.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="gssapi-auth"><acronym>GSSAPI</></link>
        to be used to authenticate to servers via <link
        linkend="sspi-auth"><acronym>SSPI</></link> (Christian Ullrich)
       </para>

       <para>
        Specifically this allows Unix-based <acronym>GSSAPI</> clients
        to <acronym>SSPI</> authenticate to Windows servers.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Monitoring</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add details to the logging of restartpoints and checkpoints,
        which is controlled by <link
        linkend="guc-log-checkpoints"><varname>log_checkpoints</></link>
        (Fujii Masao, Greg Smith)
       </para>

       <para>
        New details show <acronym>WAL</> file and sync activity.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <link
         linkend="guc-log-file-mode"><varname>log_file_mode</></link>
         which controls the permissions on log files created by the
         logging_collector (Martin Pihlak)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Statistical Views</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add client_hostname field to <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_activity</></link>
        (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously only the client address was reported.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_xact_*</></link>
        statistic functions and views (Joel Jacobson)
       </para>

       <para>
        These are like the database-wide statistics counter views but
        reflect counts for only the current transaction.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add the <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_database_conflicts</></link>
        system view to show queries that have been canceled and the
        reason (Magnus Hagander)
       </para>

       <para>
        Cancelations can occur because of dropped tablespaces, lock
        timeouts, old snapshots, pinned buffers, and deadlocks.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add a <literal>conflicts</> count to <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_database</></link>
        (Magnus Hagander)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is the number of conflicts that occurred in the database.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add record of last reset in database and background writer-level
         statistics views (Tomas Vondra)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add columns showing the number of vacuum and analyze operations
         in <link
         linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_*_tables</></link>
         views (Magnus Hagander)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add buffers_backend_fsync field to <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_bgwriter</></link>
        (Greg Smith)
       </para>

       <para>
        This new field counts the number of times a backend fsyncs a
        buffer.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Server Settings</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow auto-tuning of <link
        linkend="guc-wal-buffers"><varname>wal_buffers</></link> (Greg
        Smith)
       </para>

       <para>
        wal_buffers is now auto-tuned by default based on the size of
        shared_buffers.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link
        linkend="guc-restart-after-crash"><varname>restart_after_crash</></link>
        which disables server restart after a backend crash (Robert
        Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is designed for cluster managers that want to control
        restarts.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Increase the maximum values for
        <link linkend="guc-deadlock-timeout"><varname>deadlock_timeout</varname></link>,
        <link linkend="guc-max-standby-archive-delay"><varname>max_standby_archive_delay</varname></link>,
        <link linkend="guc-max-standby-streaming-delay"><varname>max_standby_streaming_delay</varname></link>,
        <link linkend="guc-log-min-duration-statement"><varname>log_min_duration_statement</varname></link>, and
        <link linkend="guc-log-autovacuum-min-duration"><varname>log_autovacuum_min_duration</varname></link>.
       </para>

       <para>
        The maximum value for each of these parameters was previously
        only about 35 minutes.  Much larger values are now allowed.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Streaming Replication and Continuous Archiving</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Allow <link linkend="synchronous-replication">synchronous
       replication</link> (Simon Riggs, Fujii Masao)
      </para>

      <para>
       This allows the primary to wait for a standby to write the transaction
       information to disk before acknowledging the commit.
       One standby at a time can take the role of the synchronous standby,
       as controlled by the
       <link linkend="guc-synchronous-standby-names"><varname>synchronous_standby_names</varname></link>
       setting.  Synchronous replication can be enabled or disabled on a
       per-transaction basis using the
       <link linkend="guc-synchronous-commit"><varname>synchronous_commit</></link>
       setting.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add variable <link
       linkend="guc-hot-standby-feedback"><varname>hot_standby_feedback</></link>
       to enable standbys to postpone cleanup of old row versions on the
       primary (Simon Riggs)
      </para>

      <para>
       This helps avoid cancelling long-running queries on the standby.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add support for sending file system backups to standbys using
       the streaming replication network connection (Magnus Hagander,
       Heikki Linnakangas)
      </para>

      <para>
       This avoids the requirement of manually transferring a file
       system backup when creating a standby server.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add command-line tool <link
       linkend="app-pgbasebackup"><application>pg_basebackup</></link>
       for creating a new standby server or database backup (Magnus
       Hagander)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add replication <link linkend="SQL-CREATEROLE">permission</link>
       for roles (Magnus Hagander)
      </para>

      <para>
       This is a read-only permission used for streaming replication
       and allows non-superusers to initiate replication connections.
       Previously only superusers could initiate replication
       connections;  superusers have this permission by default.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <link linkend="auth-ident"><literal>ident</literal></link>
       authentication over local sockets is now known as
       <link linkend="auth-peer"><literal>peer</literal></link>
       (Magnus Hagander)
      </para>

      <para>
       The old term is still accepted for backward compatibility.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Monitoring</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add system view <link
        linkend="monitoring-stats-views-table"><structname>pg_stat_replication</></link>
        which displays activity of <acronym>WAL</> sender processes (Itagaki
        Takahiro, Simon Riggs)
       </para>

       <para>
        This reports the status of all connected standby servers.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add monitoring function <link
        linkend="functions-recovery-info-table"><function>pg_last_xact_replay_timestamp()</></link>
        (Fujii Masao)
       </para>

       <para>
        This returns the time on the primary that generated the most
        recent commit or abort record applied on the standby.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Recovery Control</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add functions to control streaming replication replay (Simon
        Riggs)
       </para>

       <para>
        The new functions are <link
        linkend="functions-recovery-control-table"><function>pg_xlog_replay_pause()</></link>,
        <link
        linkend="functions-recovery-control-table"><function>pg_xlog_replay_resume()</></link>,
        and the status function <link
        linkend="functions-recovery-control-table"><function>pg_is_xlog_replay_paused()</></link>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add the ability to create named restore points using <link
        linkend="functions-admin-backup-table"><function>pg_create_restore_point()</></link>
        (Jaime Casanova)
       </para>

       <para>
        These named restore points can be specified as recovery
        targets using the new <filename>recovery.conf</> setting
        <link linkend="recovery-target-name"><varname>recovery_target_name</></link>
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <filename>recovery.conf</> setting <link
        linkend="pause-at-recovery-target"><varname>pause_at_recovery_target</></link>
        to pause recovery at target (Simon Riggs)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows a recovery server to be queried to check if the
        recovery point is the one desired.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow standby recovery to switch to a new timeline automatically
        (Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        Now standby servers scan the archive directory for new
        timelines periodically.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link
        linkend="recovery-config"><filename>recovery.conf</></link>
        to use the same quoting behavior as <filename>postgresql.conf</>
        (Dimitri Fontaine)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously all values had to be quoted.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Queries</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow data-modification commands
        (<command>INSERT</>/<command>UPDATE</>/<command>DELETE)</> in
        <link linkend="queries-with"><literal>WITH</></link> clauses
        (Marko Tiikkaja, Hitoshi Harada)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows <command>INSERT</>/<command>UPDATE</>/<command>DELETE</>
        <literal>RETURNING</> in <literal>WITH</> clauses to pass rows
        to outer queries.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="queries-with"><literal>WITH</></link>
        clauses to be fed into <command>INSERT</>, <command>UPDATE</>,
        <command>DELETE </> statements (Marko Tiikkaja, Hitoshi Harada)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow non-<link linkend="queries-group"><literal>GROUP
        BY</></link> columns in the query target list when the primary
        key is specified in the <literal>GROUP BY</> clause (Peter
        Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Some other database system already allowed this behavior, and
        because of the primary key, the result is unambiguous.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow the use of the keyword <link
        linkend="queries-union"><literal>DISTINCT</></link> in
        <literal>UNION</>/<literal>INTERSECT</>/<literal>EXCEPT</>
        clauses (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        <literal>DISTINCT</> is the default behavior so use of this
        keyword is redundant.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Fix ordinary queries with rules to use the same snapshot behavior
        as <command>EXPLAIN ANALYZE</> (Marko Tiikkaja)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously <command>EXPLAIN ANALYZE</> used a slightly different
        snapshot for queries involving rules.  The <command>EXPLAIN ANALYZE</>
        behavior was judged to be more logical.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Strings</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add per-column <link
        linkend="collation">collation</link> support
        (Peter Eisentraut, Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously collation could only be set at the database level.
        Collation can now be set per column, domain, index, or
        expression.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Object Manipulation</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add support for <link linkend="SQL-CREATEFOREIGNTABLE">foreign
        tables</link> (Shigeru Hanada, Robert Haas, Jan Urbanski,
        Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows data stored in foreign sources to be used like
        native <productname>PostgreSQL</>-stored data.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
         Allow new values to be added to an existing enum type via
         <link linkend="SQL-ALTERTYPE"><command>ALTER TYPE</></link> (Andrew
         Dunstan)
      </para>
     </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="SQL-ALTERTYPE"><command>ALTER TYPE ...
        ADD/DROP/ALTER/RENAME ATTRIBUTE</></link> (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows modification of composite types.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title><command>ALTER</> Object</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <literal>RESTRICT</>/<literal>CASCADE</> to <link
        linkend="SQL-ALTERTYPE"><command>ALTER TYPE</></link> operations
        on typed tables (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        This controls
        <literal>ADD</>/<literal>DROP</>/<literal>ALTER</>/<literal>RENAME
        ATTRIBUTE</> cascading behavior.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add support for more object types in <command>ALTER ... SET
        SCHEMA</> commands (Dimitri Fontaine)
       </para>

       <para>
        This command is now supported for conversions, operators, operator
        classes, operator families, text search configurations, and text search
        dictionaries, text search parsers, and text search templates.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="SQL-CREATETABLE"><command>CREATE/ALTER TABLE</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <command>ALTER TABLE ...
        ADD UNIQUE/PRIMARY KEY USING INDEX</command>
        (Gurjeet Singh)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows a primary key or unique constraint to be added using an
        existing unique index, including a concurrently created unique index.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <command>ALTER TABLE</>
        to add foreign keys without validation (Simon Riggs)
       </para>

       <para>
        The new option is called <literal>NOT VALID</>, which can
        later be modified to <literal>VALIDATED</> and validation
        checks performed.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="SQL-ALTERTABLE"><command>ALTER TABLE
        ... SET DATA TYPE</command></link> to avoid table rewrites in
        appropriate cases (Noah Misch, Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        For example, converting a varchar column to text no longer
        requires a rewrite of the table.  However, increasing the length
        constraint on a varchar column still requires a table rewrite.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="SQL-CREATETABLE"><command>CREATE TABLE IF
        NOT EXISTS</></link> syntax (Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows table creation without causing an error if the
        table already exists.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Fix possible "tuple concurrently updated" error when two server
        backends attempted to add an inheritance parent to the same
        table at the same time (Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        <link linkend="sql-altertable"><command>ALTER TABLE</command></link>
        now takes a stronger lock on the parent table, so that both children do
        not try to update it simultaneously.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Object Permissions</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add a <link linkend="SQL-SECURITY-LABEL"><command>SECURITY
        LABEL</></link> command (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows security labels to be assigned to objects.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Utility Operations</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add a true <link linkend="xact-serializable"><literal>serializable</></link> isolation level (Kevin Grittner, Dan Ports)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously asking for serializable isolation guaranteed only that
       a single MVCC snapshot would be used for the entire transaction, which
       allowed certain documented anomalies.
       The old snapshot isolation level is still accessible by
       requesting the <link linkend="xact-repeatable-read"><literal>REPEATABLE
       READ</></link> isolation level.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add transaction-level <link linkend="advisory-locks">advisory
       locks</link> (Marko Tiikkaja)
      </para>

      <para>
       This is similar to the existing session-level advisory locks,
       but are freed at transaction end.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Make <link linkend="SQL-TRUNCATE"><command>TRUNCATE ... RESTART
       IDENTITY</></link> restart sequences transactionally (Steve
       Singer)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously the counter could have been left out of sync if a
       backend crashed between the on-commit truncation activity and
       commit completion.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="SQL-COPY"><command>COPY</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <literal>ENCODING</> option to <link
        linkend="SQL-COPY"><command>COPY TO/FROM</></link> (Hitoshi
        Harada, Itagaki Takahiro)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows the encoding of the <command>COPY</> file to be
        specified separately from client encoding.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add bidirectional <link linkend="SQL-COPY"><command>COPY</></link>
        protocol support (Fujii Masao)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is currently only used by streaming replication.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="SQL-EXPLAIN"><command>EXPLAIN</></link></title>

      <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Have <command>EXPLAIN VERBOSE</>
         show the function call expression (Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="SQL-VACUUM"><command>VACUUM</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add additional details to the output of <link
        linkend="SQL-VACUUM"><command>VACUUM FULL VERBOSE</></link>
        and <link linkend="SQL-CLUSTER"><command>CLUSTER VERBOSE</></link>
        (Itagaki Takahiro)
       </para>

       <para>
        New information includes the live and dead tuple count and
        whether <command>CLUSTER</> is using an index to rebuild.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Prevent <link linkend="autovacuum">autovacuum</link> from
        waiting if it cannot acquire a lock (Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        It will try to vacuum later.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="SQL-CLUSTER"><command>CLUSTER</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow CLUSTER to sort the table rather than scanning the index
        when it seems likely to be cheaper (Leonardo Francalanci)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Indexes</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add nearest-neighbor (order-by-operator) searching to <link
        linkend="GiST"><acronym>GiST</> indexes</link> (Teodor Sigaev, Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows <acronym>GiST</> indexes to quickly return
        <literal>LIMIT</>-specified closest values.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="GIN"><acronym>GIN</> indexes</link> to index null
        and empty values (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows full <acronym>GIN</> index scans.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="GIN"><acronym>GIN</> indexes</link> to
        better recognize duplicate search entries (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This reduces the cost of index scans, especially in cases where
        it avoids unnecessary full index scans.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Fix <link linkend="GiST"><acronym>GiST</> indexes</link> to be fully
        crash-safe (Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously there were rare cases where a <command>REINDEX</>
        would be required (you would be informed).
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Data Types</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Allow <type>numeric</> to use a more compact, two-byte header
       in many cases (Robert Haas)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously all <type>numeric</> values had four-byte headers;
       this saves on disk storage.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Add support for dividing <type>money</> by <type>money</>
        (Andy Balholm)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Allow binary I/O on type <type>void</type> (Radoslaw Smogura)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Improve hypotenuse calculations for geometric operators (Paul Matthews)
      </para>

      <para>
       This avoids unnecessary overflows, and may also be more accurate.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Casting</title>

     <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Add support for casting between <type>money</> and <type>numeric</>
        (Andy Balholm)
      </para>
     </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow casting a table's row type to the table's supertype if
        it's a typed table (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is analogous to the existing facility that allows casting a row
        type to a supertable's row type.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="functions-xml"><acronym>XML</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <acronym>XML</> function <link
        linkend="xml-exists"><literal>XMLEXISTS</></link> and <link
        linkend="xml-exists"><function>xpath_exists()</></link>
        functions (Mike Fowler)
       </para>

       <para>
        These are used for xpath matching.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <acronym>XML</> functions <link
        linkend="xml-is-well-formed"><function>xml_is_well_formed()</></link>,
        <link
        linkend="xml-is-well-formed"><function>xml_is_well_formed_document()</></link>,
        <link
        linkend="xml-is-well-formed"><function>xml_is_well_formed_content()</></link>
        (Mike Fowler)
       </para>

       <para>
        These check whether the input is properly-formed <acronym>XML</>.
        They supersede functionality that was previously available only using
        <filename>contrib/xml2</filename>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Functions</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add SQL function <link
        linkend="format"><function>format(text)</></link>, which
        behaves like C's <function>printf()</> (Pavel Stehule, Robert
        Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        It currently supports formats for strings, SQL literals, and
        SQL identifiers.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add string functions <link
        linkend="functions-string-other"><function>concat()</></link>,
        <link
        linkend="functions-string-other"><function>concat_ws()</></link>,
        <link linkend="functions-string-other"><function>left()</></link>,
        <link linkend="functions-string-other"><function>right()</></link>,
        and <link
        linkend="functions-string-other"><function>reverse()</></link>
        (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>

       <para>
        These improve compatibility with other database products.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add function <link
         linkend="functions-admin-genfile"><function>pg_read_binary_file()</></link>
         to read binary files (Dimitri Fontaine, Itagaki Takahiro)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add a single-parameter version of function <link
         linkend="functions-admin-genfile"><function>pg_read_file()</></link>
         to read an entire file (Dimitri Fontaine, Itagaki Takahiro)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add three-parameter forms of <link
         linkend="array-functions-table"><function>array_to_string()</></link>
         and <link
         linkend="array-functions-table"><function>string_to_array()</></link>
         for <literal>NULL</> processing control (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Object Information Functions</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add the <link
        linkend="functions-info-catalog-table"><function>pg_describe_object()</></link>
        function (Alvaro Herrera)
       </para>

       <para>
        This function is used to obtain a human-readable string describing an
        object, based on the <link linkend="catalog-pg-class"><structname>pg_class</structname></link> OID, object OID, and sub-object OID.  It can be used to
        help interpret the contents of <link linkend="catalog-pg-depend"><structname>pg_depend</structname></link>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Update comments for built-in operators and their underlying
         functions (Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add variable <link
        linkend="guc-quote-all-identifiers"><varname>quote_all_identifiers</></link>
        to force the quoting of all identifiers in <command>EXPLAIN</>
        and in system catalog functions like <link
        linkend="functions-info-catalog-table"><function>pg_get_viewdef()</></link>
        (Robert Haas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This makes exporting schemas to tools and other databases with
        different quoting rules easier.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add fields to the <link
        linkend="infoschema-sequences"><structname>information_schema.sequences</></link>
        system view (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously, though the view existed, all of these view fields
        were unimplemented.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <literal>public</> as a pseudo-role name in <link
        linkend="functions-info-access-table"><function>has_table_privilege()</></link>
        and related functions (Alvaro Herrera)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows checking for public permissions.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link
        linkend="errcodes-table"><literal>ERRCODE_T_R_DATABASE_DROPPED</></link>
        error code to report recovery conflicts due to dropped databases
        (Tatsuo Ishii)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is useful for connection pooling software.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Function and Trigger Creation</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <link linkend="SQL-CREATETRIGGER"><literal>INSTEAD
        OF</></link> triggers on views (Dean Rasheed)
       </para>

       <para>
        This feature can be used to implement updatable views.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Reduce lock levels for <link
        linkend="SQL-CREATETRIGGER"><command>CREATE TRIGGER</></link>
        and some <link linkend="SQL-ALTERTABLE"><command>ALTER
        TABLE</></link> and <link linkend="SQL-CREATERULE"><command>CREATE
        RULE</></link> operations (Simon Riggs)
       </para>

       <para>
        This improves concurrency.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Server-Side Languages</title>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="plpgsql">PL/pgSQL</link> Server-Side Language</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="plpgsql-foreach-array"><command>FOREACH IN
        ARRAY</></link> to <link linkend="plpgsql">PL/pgSQL</link> to
        allow array iteration (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is more efficient than previous methods.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="plpgsql-foreach-array"><command>FOREACH IN
        ARRAY</></link> to <link linkend="plpgsql">PL/pgSQL</link> to
        allow array iteration (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is more efficient than previous methods.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <command>RAISE</command> without parameters to be caught in
        the same places that could catch a <command>RAISE ERROR</command>
        from the same location.
       </para>

       <para>
        The new behavior is more consistent.
       </para>
      </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="plperl">PL/Perl</link> Server-Side Language</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow generic record arguments to PL/Perl functions (Andrew
        Dunstan)
       </para>

       <para>
        **Andrew, I need details on this.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Convert PL/Perl input arguments to Perl arrays (Alexey Klyukin,
        Alex Hunsaker)
       </para>

       <para>
        String representations are still available.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Convert PL/Perl row and composite type arguments to Perl hashes
        (Alexey Klyukin, Alex Hunsaker)
       </para>

       <para>
        String representations are still available.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="plpython">PL/Python</link> Server-Side Language</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add table function support for PL/Python (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        PL/Python now can return multiple <literal>OUT</> parameters
        and record sets.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add validator to PL/Python (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows PL/Python functions to be validated at function
        creation time.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow exceptions for SQL queries in PL/Python (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows access to SQL-generated exception error codes from
        PL/Python exception blocks.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow PL/Python to access <literal>SQLSTATE</> exception values
        (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        **Is this the same as the item above?
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add PL/Python explicit subtransactions (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add PL/Python functions for quoting strings (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        The functions are <link
        linkend="plpython-util"><literal>plpy.quote_ident</></link>,
        <link linkend="plpython-util"><literal>plpy.quote_literal</></link>,
        and <link
        linkend="plpython-util"><literal>plpy.quote_nullable</></link>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Report PL/Python errors from iterators with <literal>PLy_elog</> (Jan
         Urbanski)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        <function>plpy.Fatal</function> now raises <literal>FATAL</>, rather
        than <literal>ERROR</literal> (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        The old behavior was incorrect.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Overhaul of PL/Python (Jan Urbanski)
       </para>

       <para>
        This includes exception support for Python 3.  **More?
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Client Applications</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Mark <link
        linkend="APP-CREATELANG"><application>createlang</></link>
        and <link linkend="APP-DROPLANG"><application>droplang</></link>
        as deprecated now that they use the extension framework (Tom
        Lane)
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="APP-PSQL"><application>psql</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add the <literal>\conninfo</> command to <application>psql</>,
         to show current connection information (David Christensen)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <application>psql</> command <literal>\sf</> to
         show a function's definition (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <application>psql</> command <literal>\dL</> to list
         languages (Fernando Ike)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add system table <option>S</> option to <application>psql</>
        <literal>\dn</> (schemas) (Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        <literal>\dn</> without <literal>S</> now suppresses system
        schemas.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow <application>psql</>'s <literal>\e</> and <literal>\ef</>
        commands to accept a line number to be used to position the
        cursor in the editor (Pavel Stehule)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is passed to the editor using the
        <envar>EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH</> environment variable.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Have <application>psql</> set the client encoding from the
        operating system locale by default (Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This only happens if the <envar>PGCLIENTENCODING</> environment
        variable is not set.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Make <application>psql</application> distinguish between unique
        indices and unique constraints (Josh Kupershmidt)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Additional tab completion support (Itagaki Takahiro, Pavel Stehule,
        Andrey Popp, Christoph Berg, David Fetter, Josh Kupershmidt)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="APP-PGDUMP"><application>pg_dump</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <link linkend="APP-PGDUMP"><application>pg_dump</></link>
         and <link
         linkend="APP-PG-DUMPALL"><application>pg_dumpall</></link>
         option <option>--quote-all-identifiers</> to force quoting
         of all identifiers (Robert Haas)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <literal>directory</> format to <application>pg_dump</>
        (Joachim Wieland, Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is internally similar to the <literal>tar</>
        <application>pg_dump</> format.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="APP-PG-CTL"><application>pg_ctl</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Fix <application>pg_ctl</>
        so it no longer incorrectly reports that the server is not
        running (Bruce Momjian)
       </para>

       <para>
        Previously this could happen if the server was running but
        <application>pg_ctl</> could not authenticate.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Improve <application>pg_ctl</>
        start's "wait" (<option>-w</>) mode to handle non-standard
        port numbers, non-standard unix-domain socket locations,
        permission problems, and stale postmaster lock files (Bruce
        Momjian)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <literal>promote</> option to <application>pg_ctl</> to
         switch a standby server to primary (Fujii Masao)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title><application>Development Tools</></title>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="libpq"><application>libpq</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add a libpq connection option <literal>client_encoding</>
        which behaves like the <envar>PGCLIENTENCODING</> environment
        variable (Heikki Linnakangas)
       </para>

       <para>
        The value <literal>auto</> sets the client encoding based on
        the operating system locale.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link
        linkend="libpq-pqlibversion"><function>PQlibVersion()</></link>
        function which returns the libpq library version (Magnus
        Hagander)
       </para>

       <para>
        libpq already had <function>PQserverVersion()</> which returns
        the server version.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Allow libpq database clients to use Unix-domain sockets to
        check the user name of the server process using <link
        linkend="libpq-connect-requirepeer"><literal>requirepeer</></link>
        (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        <productname>PostgreSQL</> already allowed servers to determine
        the client user name via Unix-domain sockets.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="libpq-pqping"><function>PQping()</></link>
        and <link
        linkend="libpq-pqpingparams"><function>PQpingParams()</></link>
        to libpq (Bruce Momjian, Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        The allow detection of the server's status without creating
        a new session.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title><link linkend="ecpg"><application>ECPG</></link></title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Allow ecpg to accept dynamic cursor names even in
         <literal>WHERE CURRENT OF</literal> clauses
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>
    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Build Options</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="extension">extensions</link> which simplify
        packaging of additions to <productname>PostgreSQL</> (Dimitri
        Fontaine, Tom Lane)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is controlled by the new <link
        linkend="SQL-CREATEEXTENSION"><command>CREATE</></link>/<link
        linkend="SQL-ALTEREXTENSION"><command>ALTER</></link>/<link
        linkend="SQL-DROPEXTENSION"><command>DROP EXTENSION </></link>
        command;  this replaces a more manual method of adding features
        to <productname>PostgreSQL</>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Makefiles</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Require <acronym>GNU</> <link
         linkend="install-requirements"><application>make</></link>
         3.80 or newer (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Improved parallel make support (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows for faster compiles.  Also, make <option>-k</>
        and make <option>-q</> now work properly.  **When was recursive
        make supported?
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Windows</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         On Windows, allow <link
         linkend="app-pg-ctl"><application>pg_ctl</></link> to register
         the service as auto-start or start-on-demand (Quan Zongliang)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add support for collecting <link linkend="windows-crash-dumps">crash
        dumps</link> on Windows (Craig Ringer, Magnus Hagander)
       </para>

       <para>
        <productname>minidumps</> can now be generated by non-debug
        Windows binaries and analyzed by standard debugging tools.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Enable building with the Mingw64 compiler (Andrew Dunstan)
       </para>

       <para>
        This allows building 64-bit Windows binaries even on non-Windows
        platforms with cross-compiling.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Source Code</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add latches to the source code to wait for events (Heikki
         Linnakangas)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Centralize data modification permissions-checking logic
         (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add missing get_{object}_oid() functions, for consistency
         (Robert Haas)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Improve ability to use C++ compilers for <link
         linkend="xfunc-c">backend compiles</link> by removing
         conflicting keywords (Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add support for DragonFly <acronym>BSD</> (Rumko)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Expose <function>quote_literal_cstr()</> for backend use
         (Robert Haas)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Run <link linkend="build">regression tests</link> in the
        default encoding (Peter Eisentraut)
       </para>

       <para>
        Regression tests were previously always run with
        <literal>SQL_ASCII</> encoding.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <application>src/tools/git_changelog</> to replace
         <application>cvs2cl</> and <application>pgcvslog</> (Robert
         Haas, Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <application>git-external-diff</> script to
        <filename>src/tools</> (Bruce Momjian)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is used to generate context diffs from git.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Server Hooks</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add source code hooks to check permissions (Robert Haas,
         Stephen Frost)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add post-object-creation function hooks for use by security
         frameworks (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add a client authentication hook (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Contrib</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Modify <filename>/contrib</> modules and stored procedure
       languages to install via the new <link
       linkend="extension">extension</link> mechanism (Tom Lane,
       Dimitri Fontaine)
      </para>

      <para>
       This replaces a more manual method of installation.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add <link linkend="file-fdw"><filename>contrib/file_fdw</></link>
       foreign-data wrapper (Shigeru Hanada)
      </para>

      <para>
       Foreign tables using this foreign data wrapper will read flat files
       in a matter very similar to <command>COPY</>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Add nearest-neighbor support to <link
        linkend="pgtrgm"><filename>contrib/pg_trgm</></link> and <link
        linkend="btree-gist"><filename>contrib/btree_gist</></link>
        (Teodor Sigaev)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Add <link
        linkend="btree-gist"><filename>contrib/btree_gist</></link>
        support for searching on not equals (Jeff Davis)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Allow <link
        linkend="fuzzystrmatch"><filename>contrib/fuzzystrmatch</></link>'s
        <function>levenshtein()</> function handle multi-byte characters
        (Alexander Korotkov)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Add <function>ssl_cipher()</> and <function>ssl_version()</>
        functions to <link
        linkend="sslinfo"><filename>contrib/sslinfo</></link> (Robert
        Haas)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Fix <link linkend="intarray"><filename>contrib/intarray</></link>
       and <link linkend="hstore"><filename>contrib/hstore</></link>
       to give consistent results with indexed empty arrays (Tom Lane)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously an empty-array query that used an index might return
       different results from one that used a sequential scan.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Allow <link linkend="intarray"><filename>contrib/intarray</></link>
       to work properly on multi-dimensional arrays (Tom Lane)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       In
       <link linkend="intarray"><filename>contrib/intarray</></link>,
       avoid errors complaining about the presence nulls in cases where no
       nulls are actually present (Tom Lane)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       In
       <link linkend="intarray"><filename>contrib/intarray</></link>,
       fix behavior of containment operators with respect to empty arrays
       (Tom Lane)
      </para>

      <para>
       Empty arrays are now correctly considered to be contained in any other
       array.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       In <link linkend="xml2"><filename>contrib/xml2</></link>, remove
       arbitrary limit on the number of parameter=value pairs that
       can be handled by <function>xslt_process()</> (Pavel Stehule)
      </para>

      <para>
       The previous limit was 20.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       In <link linkend="pageinspect"><filename>contrib/pageinspect</></link>,
       fix heap_page_item to return infomasks as 32-bit values (Alvaro Herrera)
      </para>

      <para>
       This avoids returning negative values, which was confusing.  The
       underlying value is a 16-bit unsigned integer.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

    <sect4>
     <title>Security</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="sepgsql"><filename>contrib/sepgsql</></link>
        to interface permission checks with <acronym>SE</>-Linux (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>

       <para>
        This uses the new <link
        linkend="SQL-SECURITY-LABEL"><command>SECURITY LABEL</></link>
        facility.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add contrib module <link
        linkend="auth-delay"><filename>auth_delay</></link> (KaiGai
        Kohei)
       </para>

       <para>
        This causes the server to pause before returning authentication
        failure;  it is designed to make brute force password attacks
        more difficult.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <link linkend="dummy-seclabel">dummy_seclabel</link>
        contrib module (KaiGai Kohei)
       </para>

       <para>
        This is used for permission regression testing.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Performance</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add support for <literal>LIKE</> and <literal>ILIKE</> index
         searches to <link
         linkend="pgtrgm"><filename>contrib/pg_trgm</></link> (Alexander
         Korotkov)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add <function>levenshtein_less_equal()</> function to <link
         linkend="fuzzystrmatch"><filename>contrib/fuzzystrmatch</></link>,
         which is optimized for small distances (Alexander Korotkov)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Improve performance of index lookups on <link
        linkend="seg"><filename>contrib/seg</></link> columns (Alexander
        Korotkov)
       </para>

       <para>
        **Confirm this does not affect <application>pg_upgrade</>
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Improve performance of <link
         linkend="pgupgrade"><application>pg_upgrade</></link> for
         databases with many relations (Bruce Momjian)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add flag to <link
         linkend="pgbench"><filename>contrib/pgbench</></link> to
         report per-statement latencies (Florian Pflug)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

    <sect4>
     <title>Fsync Testing</title>

     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Move <filename>src/tools/test_fsync</> to <link
         linkend="pgtestfsync"><filename>contrib/pg_test_fsync</></link>
         (Bruce Momjian, Tom Lane)
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        Add <literal>O_DIRECT</> support to <link
        linkend="pgtestfsync"><filename>contrib/pg_test_fsync</></link>
        (Bruce Momjian)
       </para>

       <para>
        This matches the use of <literal>O_DIRECT</> by <link
        linkend="guc-wal-sync-method"><varname>wal_sync_method</></link>.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
         Add new tests to <link
         linkend="pgtestfsync"><filename>contrib/pg_test_fsync</></link>
         (Bruce Momjian)
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

    </sect4>

   </sect3>

   <sect3>
    <title>Documentation</title>

    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
        Extensive <link linkend="ecpg"><application>ECPG</> documentation</link>
        improvements (Satoshi Nagayasu)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add documentation for <link
       linkend="guc-exit-on-error"><varname>exit_on_error</></link>
       (Robert Haas)
      </para>

      <para>
       This parameter causes sessions to exit on any error.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add documentation for <link
       linkend="functions-info-catalog-table"><function>pg_options_to_table()</></link>
       (Josh Berkus)
      </para>

      <para>
       This parameter shows table storage options.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Document that it is possible to access all composite fields
       using <link linkend="field-selection"><literal>(compositeval).*
       syntax</></link> (Peter Eisentraut)
      </para>

      <para>
       **Is this syntax new in 9.1?
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Document that <link
       linkend="functions-string-other"><function>translate()</></link>
       removes characters in <literal>from</> that don't have a
       corresponding <literal>to</> character (Josh Kupershmidt)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Merge docs for <command>CREATE CONSTRAINT TRIGGER</> and <link
       linkend="SQL-CREATETRIGGER"><command>CREATE TRIGGER</></link>
       (Alvaro Herrera)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Centralize <link linkend="ddl-priv">permission</link> and <link
       linkend="upgrading">upgrade</link> documentation (Bruce Momjian)
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Add <link linkend="sysvipc-parameters">kernel tuning
       documentation</link> for Solaris 10 (Josh Berkus)
      </para>

      <para>
       Previously only Solaris 9 kernel tuning was documented.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>

   </sect3>

  </sect2>
 </sect1>