Re: pg_dump -X

On Friday 24 December 2010 05:35:26 Robert Haas wrote:
> Back in 2006, we have this commit:
> 
> commit 2b25e1169f44368c120931787628d51731b5cc8c
> Author: Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>
> Date:   Sat Oct 7 20:59:05 2006 +0000
> 
>     The -X option in pg_dump was supposed to be a workaround for the lack
> of portable long options.  But we have had portable long options for a
> long time now, so this is obsolete.  Now people have added options which
> *only* work with -X but not as regular long option, so I'm putting a stop
> to this: -X is deprecated; it still works, but it has been removed from
> the documentation, and please don't add more of them.
> 
> Since then, two additional -X options have crept in, doubtless due to
> mimicry of the existing options without examination of the commit
> logs.  I think we should either (a) remove the -X option altogether or
> (b) change the comment so that it clearly states the same message that
> appears here in the commit log, namely, that no new -X options are to
> be created.  The existing comment says that -X is deprecated, but that
> doesn't make it entirely 100% clear that the code isn't intended to be
> further updated, at least judging by the results.
Just a thought, but wouldn't a bit warning that appears when someone actually 
uses the "-X" option informing the user that it's deprecated prevent further 
ones to appear?

Are there situations where the -X option are actually required? Can't the code 
be adapted to use different options then the "-X" one?

Also, unless Gentoo actually strips the man-page and "--help" page (which I do 
seriously doubt), I do not see the "-X" option in the documentation.

--
Joost