Re: Overhauling GUCS

David E. Wheeler wrote:
>
> How about a simple rule, such as that machine-generated comments start 
> with "##", while user comments start with just "#"? I think that I've 
> seen such a rule used before. At any rate, I think that, unless you 
> have some sort of line marker for machine-generated comments, there 
> will be no way to tell them apart from user comments. 

Two heretical questions:
Do we need user generated comments at all?
I can't remember ever having used any comment in postgresql.conf.

Why do so many people here insist on editing postgresql.conf as primary 
means of changing config params?
Isn't a psql -c "SET foo=bar; MAKE PERSISTENT" just as good as sed'ing 
postgresql.conf or doing it manually?


Looking around for different approaches, network appliances come to my 
mind, e.g. Cisco routers and PIX. You have 3 ways to configure a pix:
- use a command line (using ssh or telnet, eqivalent to psql); WRITE 
MEMORY to make the changes survive a reboot.
- use a web interface (or similar tool)
- use tftp to up/download the complete config in and out, editing the 
file. User comments will be lost, with the exception of those that have 
been applied with special comment commands (equivalent to "comment on").



Regards,
Andreas