Re: fixing LISTEN/NOTIFY

On Thu, Oct 06, 2005 at 09:12:58AM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Neil Conway <neilc@samurai.com> writes:
> > However, I don't really like the idea of blocking the backend for a
> > potentially significant amount of time in a state half-way between
> > "committed" and "ready for the next query".
> 
> I wonder whether we could use something comparable to pg_multixact
> or pg_subtrans, to convert the problem from one of "need to fit in
> fixed amount of memory" to one of "it's on disk with some buffers
> in memory".

The multixact mechanism seems a perfect fit to me (variable length
contents, identifiers produced serially and destroyed in a
not-too-distant future).  In fact I proposed it awhile back.

-- 
Alvaro Herrera                 http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/CTMLCN8V17R4
"At least to kernel hackers, who really are human, despite occasional
rumors to the contrary" (LWN.net)