Re: index file bloating still in 7.4 ?

Seum-Lim Gan <slgan@lucent.com> writes:
> We tried one more thing: with the table not being updated
> at all and we did vacuum. Each time a vacuum is done,
> the index file becomes bigger.

It is not possible for plain vacuum to make the index bigger.

VACUUM FULL possibly could make the index bigger, since it has to
transiently create duplicate index entries for every row it moves.

If you want any really useful comments on your situation, you're going
to have to offer considerably more detail than you have done so far ---
preferably, a test case that lets someone else reproduce your results.
So far, all we can do is guess on the basis of very incomplete
information.  When you aren't even bothering to mention whether a vacuum
is FULL or not, I have to wonder whether I have any realistic picture of
what's going on.

            regards, tom lane