On Wed, 12 Sep 2007, Scott Marlowe wrote:
I'm getting more and more motivated to rewrite the vacuum docs. I think a rewrite from the ground up might be best... I keep seeing people doing vacuum full on this list and I'm thinking it's as much because of the way the docs represent vacuum full as anything.
I agree you shouldn't start thinking in terms of how to fix the existing documentation. I'd suggest instead writing a tutorial leading someone through what they need to know about their tables first and then going into how vacuum works based on that data.
As an example, people throw around terms like "index bloat" and "dead tuples" when talking about vacuuming. The tutorial I'd like to see somebody write would start by explaining those terms and showing how to measure them--preferably with a good and bad example to contrast. The way these terms are thrown around right now, I don't expect newcomers to understand either the documentation or the advice people are giving them; I think it's shooting over their heads and what's needed are some walkthroughs. Another example I'd like to see thrown in there is what it looks like when you don't have enough FSM slots.
-- * Greg Smith gsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 5: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
