Re: BUG #5488: pg_dump does not quote column names -> pg_restore may fail when upgrading

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 9:10 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
> Robert Haas wrote:
>> On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 2:53 PM, Dimitri Fontaine <dfontaine@hi-media.com=
> wrote:
>> > Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> writes:
>> >>> Well as Bruce said this option won't solve the OP's problem, unless =
the
>> >>> application he's using for managing the backups do use the option.
>> >>
>> >> Well, that's a pretty trivial change to the backup script. ?+1 from m=
e on
>> >> providing a pg_dump option.
>> >
>> > The application still have to have been using the option in the past.
>>
>> Well, if your point is that it's too late to help anyone upgrading
>> from 8.3 to 8.4, then I agree with you. =A0But we will likely add more
>> keywords at some point in the future, and while providing an output
>> format that quotes everything won't fix every potential problem, it
>> might make life easier for some people. =A0I certainly have had times
>> where it would have saved me hassle and aggravation.
>
> The point is that if WINDOW was not a reserved word in 8.3 but is in
> 8.4, then every reference to a user column of WINDOW in any 8.4
> application will need to be double-quoted, and odds are the user did not
> do that in 8.3.
>
> I think users would rather have the restore fail, and know right away
> they have an issue, than to do the upgrade, and find out later that some
> of their application queries fail and they need to run around fixing
> them. =A0(FYI, pg_upgrade would use the new pg_dump and would not fail.)
>
> In a way, the fact that the restore fails can be seen as a feature ---
> they get the error before the go live on 8.4. =A0(Yeah, I am serious.)

Eeh, I've had this happen to me on earlier releases, and it didn't
feel like a feature to me.  YMMV, of course.

--=20
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise Postgres Company