Re: pg_dumping large objects

On Sep 24, 2007, at 12:48 PM, Morris Goldstein wrote:

> pg_dump --help says:
>
>     -b, --blobs     include large objects in dump
>
> What is the definition of "large object"? Is it a certain set of types
> (e.g. text)? Long values stored in these types? What qualifies as
> long? In general, how can I tell if I need the -b flag (postgres 7.4).

The short answer is that if you don't know, you don't need it.  The
longer answer is that large objects are a specialized data type that
allows you store values/datum up to 2GB in size whereas the normal,
behind the scenes TOAST mechanism only handles up to 1GB values.  So,
they are not specialized versions of any other data type, they are
their own, separate data type.

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/largeobjects.html

Erik Jones

Software Developer | Emma®
erik@myemma.com
800.595.4401 or 615.292.5888
615.292.0777 (fax)

Emma helps organizations everywhere communicate & market in style.
Visit us online at http://www.myemma.com