PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 Release Notes ============================================== Copyright (c) 2004 Red Hat, Inc. This document details the features that are new to PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0. Note: Red Hat recommends that you update your Red Hat Linux 9 or Fedora Core 1 environment to the latest update. There have been a number of issues addressed that could affect the operation of PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition. 1. Migration PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 uses an improved version of PostgreSQL 7.3.4. If you are updating from a PostgreSQL 7.3.x installation to PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0, no data migration is necessary. However, we strongly recommend users backup their databases before upgrading to PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0. A dump / restore is required to migrate data from Red Hat Database for Red Hat Linux 7.1.x, Red Hat Database 2.0, or Red Hat Database 2.1. 2. Enhancements and Changes Included in PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 . PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition now installs on Red Hat Linux 9 and Fedora Core 1. . PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition is now powered by PostgreSQL 7.3.4, plus specific enhancements back ported from PostgreSQL 7.4. Changes from Red Hat Database 2.x to PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 include, but are not limited to: . Support for Schemas, allowing users to create objects in separate namespaces . Support for Drop Column, allowing users to issue ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN . Support for Table Functions and Prepared Queries . Improved (object) dependency tracking, which improves functionality in many areas and allows commands such as DROP CASCADE | RESTRICT . Improved privilege support PostgreSQL 7.4 back port enhancements include, but are not limited to: . Optimization enhancements, such as collapsing of explicit JOINs rather than treating them as a forced join order . Various robustness enhancements . PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 contains the latest stable version of Administrator, 2.0. Administrator is completely rewritten in Java, and it includes many functional, usability, and robustness enhancements. Administrator 2.0 functional enhancements include, but are not limited to: . Support for version 7.3 backends. However, there is no longer support for backend versions 7.2 and below. . Full Schema support. . Support for Casts, Conversions, Domains, and Operator Classes. . A highly configurable Table/View data browser. . Composite Data Types can now be used as return types for functions. . All new options available for the CREATE/ALTER/DROP commands to various objects. . REINDEX and CLUSTER functionality has been added. . Full privilege support. . Backup/Restore functionality is now available. Administrator 2.0 usability enhancements include, but are not limited to: . The Table Constraint definition has been simplified by the creation of a dialog. . The ALTER COLUMN dialog has been redesigned for improved usability. . CREATE INDEX now allows selection of operator classes. . New navigation system, with a history feature, has been added. . The node structure in the Tree View has been rearranged to reflect correct grouping of various object types. . Quick shell (psql) access to a database. . Improved keyboard navigation. Administrator 2.0 robustness enhancements include, but are not limited to: . Various special ASCII characters are now handled correctly. . Object name handling is much more robust and secure. . If the connection to the backend breaks unexpectedly, Administrator now handles the error gracefully. . If the object has been dropped but is still visible in the Tree View, attempted operations on it are now handled gracefully. . PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 contains the latest stable version of Visual Explain, 2.0, which includes many functional, usability, and robustness enhancements. Visual Explain 2.0 functional enhancements include, but are not limited to: . Full support for PostgreSQL 7.3 backends. Additional information (such as "qualifying expressions" for the node's operation) is displayed for relevant nodes when connecting to a database backend of that version. . If available, percentages of the total cost and total time are now shown for each node, making it simple to compare the relative importance of the operations and also the accuracy of the planner estimates. . Save and restore the plan resulting from an EXPLAIN or EXPLAIN ANALYZE operation. . Dynamic modification of the value of PostgreSQL environment variables. . Tooltips for tree nodes show the total time (if available) or cost (otherwise) of the node under the cursor. This enables you to explore the plan and search for problem spots without having to explicitly select each node and look for data in the Detail Pane. . Navigating among the tree nodes by using the arrow keys with the [Shift] key pressed. Arrow keys by themselves still scroll the pane. The focus must be in the Tree View pane for this to work. . Time/cost of the node operation is now shown as the total node time/cost minus the sum of the children's time/cost. . A Help menu option is now provided. Visual Explain 2.0 usability enhancements include, but are not limited to: . The Stop button has been fixed. . Visual Explain now asks for confirmation before abandoning changes made to the query text area, so you can save the changes. . You have the option to have Visual Explain reload the query that was in place when you last exited the tool, and to reconnect to the database if required. . If a file from the most recently used list cannot be opened, it is now removed from the list. . The Status Bar now displays the host, port, and username of the currently opened connection. . The Save Password option is now per-database, instead of global. . The Plan Overview window always stays on top. Visual Explain 2.0 robustness enhancements include, but are not limited to: . Table cells in the Detail Pane are no longer selectable. . When enlarging the main window, the additional space goes entirely towards the Tree View (as the remaining information has fixed size). The Detail Pane and the query text area keep their size (if possible) when the window size is reduced. . Very large cost estimates are now handled properly. . Cost and time are now at the bottom of the Detail Pane, so they are easier to spot as you navigate among nodes. . PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 contains a beta version of Control Center, 1.0 Beta. Control Center provides System Administrators and Database Administrators with a grapical tool to create and manage PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition database services. 3. Documentation PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 includes the Graphical Tools Guide in HTML and PDF formats. This documentation can also be found on-line at: http://sources.redhat.com/rhdb/docs.html 4. Installer The PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition 3.0 ISO image features a new graphical installer, which makes it easy to install different groups of packages and to perform post-installation tasks. The installer is written in Java, using the SWT/JFace framework, and it is statically compiled using gcj to be fully self-contained. It is licensed under the Common Public License version 1.0. 5. PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition Project A community project site has been created for the PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition Project. This site, found at http://sources.redhat.com/rhdb, contains documentation, mailing lists, projects and utilities specific to PostgreSQL - Red Hat Edition.