Revise the original decision to expose a uint64-based interface and
use Size everywhere possible. Avoid assuming that MAXIMUM_ALIGNOF is
8, or making any assumption about the relationship between that value
and sizeof(Size). If MAXIMUM_ALIGNOF is bigger, we'll now insert
padding after the length word; if it's smaller, we are now prepared
to read and write the length word in chunks.
Per discussion with Tom Lane.
This code provides infrastructure for user backends to communicate
relatively easily with background workers. The message queue is
structured as a ring buffer and allows messages of arbitary length
to be sent and received.
Patch by me. Review by KaiGai Kohei and Andres Freund.
Robert Haas