Re: improve CREATE EXTENSION error message

> On 29 Nov 2021, at 20:54, Bossart, Nathan <bossartn@amazon.com> wrote:
>
> Hi hackers,
>
> Currently, if you attempt to use CREATE EXTENSION for an extension
> that is not installed, you'll see something like the following:
>
>        postgres=# CREATE EXTENSION does_not_exist;
>        ERROR:  could not open extension control file "/usr/local/pgsql/share/extension/does_not_exist.control": No
suchfile or directory 
>
> I suspect this ERROR message is confusing for novice users, so perhaps
> we should add a HINT.  With the attached patch, you'd see the
> following:
>
>        postgres=# CREATE EXTENSION does_not_exist;
>        ERROR:  could not open extension control file "/usr/local/pgsql/share/extension/does_not_exist.control": No
suchfile or directory 
>        HINT:  This typically indicates that the specified extension is not installed on the system.
>
> Thoughts?

I haven't given the suggested wording too much thought, but in general that
sounds like a good idea.

--
Daniel Gustafsson        https://vmware.com/