Alvaro Herrera wrote: > Steve Crawford wrote: >> Is there a comprehensive (or semi-comprehensive) on-line list of >> commonly used PG-related abbreviations used in PostgreSQL documentation, >> mail-lists, etc.? If there is not, would such a list make a reasonable >> one-page addition to the PG manual? > > I don't think we have one, but IMHO it would be an excellent idea. We > do have some abbreviations, e.g. HOT, TOAST, WAL are the ones that > jump immediately to mind (besides the ones you mentioned). > My vote is to add "Appendix I. Abbreviations". Don't know if it's practical for 8.3 documentation but it would be nice to add even if it only has a few entries as additional ones could be collected via the user notes. I suggest as a discussion starting-point the following inclusion criteria: 1. Any abbreviation/acronym that appears in the PostgreSQL documentation (even if those terms may not be PG specific - we shouldn't assume that everyone knows them). Good documentation practice recommends defining abbreviations the first time they are used. Better still, ensure that they are in the abbreviation list. 2. PostgreSQL-specific abbreviations/acronyms commonly used in on-line conversations, news-releases, notes, etc. even if not (or not yet) in the official documentation. 3. Abbreviations/acronyms that do not meet criteria 1 or 2 but which are likely to clarify PG related conversations (optional, lower priority and within the limitations of avoiding appendix bloat). So BSD, STONITH, DBA, DBMS, RDBMS, GEQO would meet both criteria 1 and criteria 2. GUC and DDL (currently) only meet the second criteria. A starter list mostly gleaned from PG documentation (typing defs quickly and from memory - feel free to make corrections): BKI - Backend Interface CID - Command Identifier CLI - Call Level Interface / Command Line Interface CVE - Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures CVS - Concurrent Version System DBA - Database Administrator DBMS - Database Management System DDL - Data Definition Language DML - Data Manipulation Language DSN - Data Source Name ECPG - Embedded SQL in C ?? GEQO - Genetic Query Optimizer GIN - Generalized Inverted Index GIST - Generalized Search Tree GNU - Gnu's Not Unix GSSAPI - Generic Security Services Application Programming Interface GUC - Global User Configuration HOT - Heap Oriented Tuples IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission ISO - International Standards Organization JDBC - Java Database Connectivity JRT - Java Routines and Types LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol MED - Management of External Data MVCC - Multi Version Concurrency Control NLS - Natural Language Support ODBC - Open Database Connectivity OID - Object Identifier OLAP - Online Analytical Processing OLB - Object Language Bindings PAM - Pluggable Authentication Modules PITR - Point In Time Recovery POSIX - Portable Operating System Interface PSM - Persistent Stored Modules RPM - Redhat Package Manager SSPI - Security Support Provider Interface SQL - Structured Query Language SSL - Secure Sockets Layer STONITH - Shoot The Other Node In The Head TOAST - The Oversize Attribute Storage Technique UUID - Universally Unique Identifier WAL - Write Ahead Log XID - Transaction Identifier XML - Extensible Markup Language Cheers, Steve ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: In versions below 8.0, the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match