Replace developer FAQ with a reference to the wiki, which is where

it now lives (per discussion). Leave the other FAQs alone for now.

2 files changed, 4 insertions, 1570 deletions

diff --git a/doc/FAQ_DEV b/doc/FAQ_DEV
index ae1b932268f..3f2070aff80 100644
--- a/doc/FAQ_DEV
+++ b/doc/FAQ_DEV
@@ -1,716 +1,3 @@
+The developer FAQ can be found on the PostgreSQL wiki:
 
-          Developer's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL
-                                       
-   Last updated: Tue Feb 10 10:16:31 EST 2004
-   
-   Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (pgman@candle.pha.pa.us)
-   
-   The most recent version of this document can be viewed at
-   http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html.
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-                             General Questions
-                                      
-   1.1) How do I get involved in PostgreSQL development?
-   1.2) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?
-   1.3) How do I download/update the current source tree?
-   1.4) How do I test my changes?
-   1.5) What tools are available for developers?
-   1.6) What books are good for developers?
-   1.7) What is configure all about?
-   1.8) How do I add a new port?
-   1.9) Why don't you use threads/raw devices/async-I/O, <insert your
-   favorite wizz-bang feature here>?
-   1.10) How are RPM's packaged?
-   1.11) How are CVS branches handled?
-   1.12) Where can I get a copy of the SQL standards?
-   
-                            Technical Questions
-                                      
-   2.1) How do I efficiently access information in tables from the
-   backend code?
-   2.2) Why are table, column, type, function, view names sometimes
-   referenced as Name or NameData, and sometimes as char *?
-   2.3) Why do we use Node and List to make data structures?
-   2.4) I just added a field to a structure. What else should I do?
-   2.5) Why do we use palloc() and pfree() to allocate memory?
-   2.6) What is ereport()?
-   2.7) What is CommandCounterIncrement()?
-     _________________________________________________________________
-   
-                             General Questions
-                                      
-  1.1) How go I get involved in PostgreSQL development?
-  
-   This was written by Lamar Owen:
-   
-   2001-06-22
-   What open source development process is used by the PostgreSQL team?
-   
-   Read HACKERS for six months (or a full release cycle, whichever is
-   longer). Really. HACKERS _is_the process. The process is not well
-   documented (AFAIK -- it may be somewhere that I am not aware of) --
-   and it changes continually.
-   What development environment (OS, system, compilers, etc) is required
-   to develop code?
-   
-   Developers Corner on the website has links to this information. The
-   distribution tarball itself includes all the extra tools and documents
-   that go beyond a good Unix-like development environment. In general, a
-   modern unix with a modern gcc, GNU make or equivalent, autoconf (of a
-   particular version), and good working knowledge of those tools are
-   required.
-   What areas need support?
-   
-   The TODO list.
-   
-   You've made the first step, by finding and subscribing to HACKERS.
-   Once you find an area to look at in the TODO, and have read the
-   documentation on the internals, etc, then you check out a current
-   CVS,write what you are going to write (keeping your CVS checkout up to
-   date in the process), and make up a patch (as a context diff only) and
-   send to the PATCHES list, prefereably.
-   
-   Discussion on the patch typically happens here. If the patch adds a
-   major feature, it would be a good idea to talk about it first on the
-   HACKERS list, in order to increase the chances of it being accepted,
-   as well as toavoid duplication of effort. Note that experienced
-   developers with a proven track record usually get the big jobs -- for
-   more than one reason. Also note that PostgreSQL is highly portable --
-   nonportable code will likely be dismissed out of hand.
-   
-   Once your contributions get accepted, things move from there.
-   Typically, you would be added as a developer on the list on the
-   website when one of the other developers recommends it. Membership on
-   the steering committee is by invitation only, by the other steering
-   committee members, from what I have gathered watching froma distance.
-   
-   I make these statements from having watched the process for over two
-   years.
-   
-   To see a good example of how one goes about this, search the archives
-   for the name 'Tom Lane' and see what his first post consisted of, and
-   where he took things. In particular, note that this hasn't been _that_
-   long ago -- and his bugfixing and general deep knowledge with this
-   codebase is legendary. Take a few days to read after him. And pay
-   special attention to both the sheer quantity as well as the
-   painstaking quality of his work. Both are in high demand.
-   
-  1.2) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?
-  
-   The source code is over 350,000 lines. Many fixes/features are
-   isolated to one specific area of the code. Others require knowledge of
-   much of the source. If you are confused about where to start, ask the
-   hackers list, and they will be glad to assess the complexity and give
-   pointers on where to start.
-   
-   Another thing to keep in mind is that many fixes and features can be
-   added with surprisingly little code. I often start by adding code,
-   then looking at other areas in the code where similar things are done,
-   and by the time I am finished, the patch is quite small and compact.
-   
-   When adding code, keep in mind that it should use the existing
-   facilities in the source, for performance reasons and for simplicity.
-   Often a review of existing code doing similar things is helpful.
-   
-   The usual process for source additions is:
-     * Review the TODO list.
-     * Discuss hackers the desirability of the fix/feature.
-     * How should it behave in complex circumstances?
-     * How should it be implemented?
-     * Submit the patch to the patches list.
-     * Answer email questions.
-     * Wait for the patch to be applied.
-       
-  1.3) How do I download/update the current source tree?
-  
-   There are several ways to obtain the source tree. Occasional
-   developers can just get the most recent source tree snapshot from
-   ftp.postgresql.org. For regular developers, you can use CVS. CVS
-   allows you to download the source tree, then occasionally update your
-   copy of the source tree with any new changes. Using CVS, you don't
-   have to download the entire source each time, only the changed files.
-   Anonymous CVS does not allows developers to update the remote source
-   tree, though privileged developers can do this. There is a CVS FAQ on
-   our web site that describes how to use remote CVS. You can also use
-   CVSup, which has similarly functionality, and is available from
-   ftp.postgresql.org.
-   
-   To update the source tree, there are two ways. You can generate a
-   patch against your current source tree, perhaps using the make_diff
-   tools mentioned above, and send them to the patches list. They will be
-   reviewed, and applied in a timely manner. If the patch is major, and
-   we are in beta testing, the developers may wait for the final release
-   before applying your patches.
-   
-   For hard-core developers, Marc(scrappy@postgresql.org) will give you a
-   Unix shell account on postgresql.org, so you can use CVS to update the
-   main source tree, or you can ftp your files into your account, patch,
-   and cvs install the changes directly into the source tree.
-   
-  1.4) How do I test my changes?
-  
-   First, use psql to make sure it is working as you expect. Then run
-   src/test/regress and get the output of src/test/regress/checkresults
-   with and without your changes, to see that your patch does not change
-   the regression test in unexpected ways. This practice has saved me
-   many times. The regression tests test the code in ways I would never
-   do, and has caught many bugs in my patches. By finding the problems
-   now, you save yourself a lot of debugging later when things are
-   broken, and you can't figure out when it happened.
-   
-  1.5) What tools are available for developers?
-  
-   Aside from the User documentation mentioned in the regular FAQ, there
-   are several development tools available. First, all the files in the
-   /tools directory are designed for developers.
-    RELEASE_CHANGES changes we have to make for each release
-    SQL_keywords    standard SQL'92 keywords
-    backend         description/flowchart of the backend directories
-    ccsym           find standard defines made by your compiler
-    entab           converts tabs to spaces, used by pgindent
-    find_static     finds functions that could be made static
-    find_typedef    finds typedefs in the source code
-    find_badmacros  finds macros that use braces incorrectly
-    make_ctags      make vi 'tags' file in each directory
-    make_diff       make *.orig and diffs of source
-    make_etags      make emacs 'etags' files
-    make_keywords   make comparison of our keywords and SQL'92
-    make_mkid       make mkid ID files
-    mkldexport      create AIX exports file
-    pgindent        indents C source files
-    pgjindent       indents Java source files
-    pginclude       scripts for adding/removing include files
-    unused_oids     in pgsql/src/include/catalog
-
-   Let me note some of these. If you point your browser at the
-   file:/usr/local/src/pgsql/src/tools/backend/index.html directory, you
-   will see few paragraphs describing the data flow, the backend
-   components in a flow chart, and a description of the shared memory
-   area. You can click on any flowchart box to see a description. If you
-   then click on the directory name, you will be taken to the source
-   directory, to browse the actual source code behind it. We also have
-   several README files in some source directories to describe the
-   function of the module. The browser will display these when you enter
-   the directory also. The tools/backend directory is also contained on
-   our web page under the title How PostgreSQL Processes a Query.
-   
-   Second, you really should have an editor that can handle tags, so you
-   can tag a function call to see the function definition, and then tag
-   inside that function to see an even lower-level function, and then
-   back out twice to return to the original function. Most editors
-   support this via tags or etags files.
-   
-   Third, you need to get id-utils from:
-    ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz
-    ftp://tug.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz
-    ftp://ftp.enst.fr/pub/gnu/gnits/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz
-
-   By running tools/make_mkid, an archive of source symbols can be
-   created that can be rapidly queried like grep or edited. Others prefer
-   glimpse.
-   
-   make_diff has tools to create patch diff files that can be applied to
-   the distribution. This produces context diffs, which is our preferred
-   format.
-   
-   Our standard format is to indent each code level with one tab, where
-   each tab is four spaces. You will need to set your editor to display
-   tabs as four spaces:
-    vi in ~/.exrc:
-            set tabstop=4
-            set sw=4
-    more:
-            more -x4
-    less:
-            less -x4
-    emacs:
-        M-x set-variable tab-width
-
-        or
-
-        (c-add-style "pgsql"
-                '("bsd"
-                        (indent-tabs-mode . t)
-                        (c-basic-offset   . 4)
-                        (tab-width . 4)
-                        (c-offsets-alist .
-                                ((case-label . +)))
-                )
-                nil ) ; t = set this style, nil = don't
-
-        (defun pgsql-c-mode ()
-                (c-mode)
-                (c-set-style "pgsql")
-        )
-
-        and add this to your autoload list (modify file path in macro):
-
-        (setq auto-mode-alist
-                (cons '("\\`/home/andrew/pgsql/.*\\.[chyl]\\'" . pgsql-c-mode)
-                auto-mode-alist))
-        or
-            /*
-             * Local variables:
-             *  tab-width: 4
-             *  c-indent-level: 4
-             *  c-basic-offset: 4
-             * End:
-             */
-
-   pgindent will the format code by specifying flags to your operating
-   system's utility indent. This article describes the value of a
-   constent coding style.
-   
-   pgindent is run on all source files just before each beta test period.
-   It auto-formats all source files to make them consistent. Comment
-   blocks that need specific line breaks should be formatted as block
-   comments, where the comment starts as /*------. These comments will
-   not be reformatted in any way.
-   
-   pginclude contains scripts used to add needed #include's to include
-   files, and removed unneeded #include's.
-   
-   When adding system types, you will need to assign oids to them. There
-   is also a script called unused_oids in pgsql/src/include/catalog that
-   shows the unused oids.
-   
-  1.6) What books are good for developers?
-  
-   I have four good books, An Introduction to Database Systems, by C.J.
-   Date, Addison, Wesley, A Guide to the SQL Standard, by C.J. Date, et.
-   al, Addison, Wesley, Fundamentals of Database Systems, by Elmasri and
-   Navathe, and Transaction Processing, by Jim Gray, Morgan, Kaufmann
-   
-   There is also a database performance site, with a handbook on-line
-   written by Jim Gray at http://www.benchmarkresources.com.
-   
-  1.7) What is configure all about?
-  
-   The files configure and configure.in are part of the GNU autoconf
-   package. Configure allows us to test for various capabilities of the
-   OS, and to set variables that can then be tested in C programs and
-   Makefiles. Autoconf is installed on the PostgreSQL main server. To add
-   options to configure, edit configure.in, and then run autoconf to
-   generate configure.
-   
-   When configure is run by the user, it tests various OS capabilities,
-   stores those in config.status and config.cache, and modifies a list of
-   *.in files. For example, if there exists a Makefile.in, configure
-   generates a Makefile that contains substitutions for all @var@
-   parameters found by configure.
-   
-   When you need to edit files, make sure you don't waste time modifying
-   files generated by configure. Edit the *.in file, and re-run configure
-   to recreate the needed file. If you run make distclean from the
-   top-level source directory, all files derived by configure are
-   removed, so you see only the file contained in the source
-   distribution.
-   
-  1.8) How do I add a new port?
-  
-   There are a variety of places that need to be modified to add a new
-   port. First, start in the src/template directory. Add an appropriate
-   entry for your OS. Also, use src/config.guess to add your OS to
-   src/template/.similar. You shouldn't match the OS version exactly. The
-   configure test will look for an exact OS version number, and if not
-   found, find a match without version number. Edit src/configure.in to
-   add your new OS. (See configure item above.) You will need to run
-   autoconf, or patch src/configure too.
-   
-   Then, check src/include/port and add your new OS file, with
-   appropriate values. Hopefully, there is already locking code in
-   src/include/storage/s_lock.h for your CPU. There is also a
-   src/makefiles directory for port-specific Makefile handling. There is
-   a backend/port directory if you need special files for your OS.
-   
-  1.9) Why don't you use threads/raw devices/async-I/O, <insert your favorite
-  wizz-bang feature here>?
-  
-   There is always a temptation to use the newest operating system
-   features as soon as they arrive. We resist that temptation.
-   
-   First, we support 15+ operating systems, so any new feature has to be
-   well established before we will consider it. Second, most new
-   wizz-bang features don't provide dramatic improvements. Third, they
-   usually have some downside, such as decreased reliability or
-   additional code required. Therefore, we don't rush to use new features
-   but rather wait for the feature to be established, then ask for
-   testing to show that a measurable improvement is possible.
-   
-   As an example, threads are not currently used in the backend code
-   because:
-     * Historically, threads were unsupported and buggy.
-     * An error in one backend can corrupt other backends.
-     * Speed improvements using threads are small compared to the
-       remaining backend startup time.
-     * The backend code would be more complex.
-       
-   So, we are not ignorant of new features. It is just that we are
-   cautious about their adoption. The TODO list often contains links to
-   discussions showing our reasoning in these areas.
-   
-  1.10) How are RPM's packaged?
-  
-   This was written by Lamar Owen:
-   
-   2001-05-03
-   
-   As to how the RPMs are built -- to answer that question sanely
-   requires me to know how much experience you have with the whole RPM
-   paradigm. 'How is the RPM built?' is a multifaceted question. The
-   obvious simple answer is that I maintain:
-    1. A set of patches to make certain portions of the source tree
-       'behave' in the different environment of the RPMset;
-    2. The initscript;
-    3. Any other ancilliary scripts and files;
-    4. A README.rpm-dist document that tries to adequately document both
-       the differences between the RPM build and the WHY of the
-       differences, as well as useful RPM environment operations (like,
-       using syslog, upgrading, getting postmaster to start at OS boot,
-       etc);
-    5. The spec file that throws it all together. This is not a trivial
-       undertaking in a package of this size.
-       
-   I then download and build on as many different canonical distributions
-   as I can -- currently I am able to build on Red Hat 6.2, 7.0, and 7.1
-   on my personal hardware. Occasionally I receive opportunity from
-   certain commercial enterprises such as Great Bridge and PostgreSQL,
-   Inc. to build on other distributions.
-   
-   I test the build by installing the resulting packages and running the
-   regression tests. Once the build passes these tests, I upload to the
-   postgresql.org ftp server and make a release announcement. I am also
-   responsible for maintaining the RPM download area on the ftp site.
-   
-   You'll notice I said 'canonical' distributions above. That simply
-   means that the machine is as stock 'out of the box' as practical --
-   that is, everything (except select few programs) on these boxen are
-   installed by RPM; only official Red Hat released RPMs are used (except
-   in unusual circumstances involving software that will not alter the
-   build -- for example, installing a newer non-RedHat version of the Dia
-   diagramming package is OK -- installing Python 2.1 on the box that has
-   Python 1.5.2 installed is not, as that alters the PostgreSQL build).
-   The RPM as uploaded is built to as close to out-of-the-box pristine as
-   is possible. Only the standard released 'official to that release'
-   compiler is used -- and only the standard official kernel is used as
-   well.
-   
-   For a time I built on Mandrake for RedHat consumption -- no more.
-   Nonstandard RPM building systems are worse than useless. Which is not
-   to say that Mandrake is useless! By no means is Mandrake useless --
-   unless you are building Red Hat RPMs -- and Red Hat is useless if
-   you're trying to build Mandrake or SuSE RPMs, for that matter. But I
-   would be foolish to use 'Lamar Owen's Super Special RPM Blend Distro
-   0.1.2' to build for public consumption! :-)
-   
-   I _do_ attempt to make the _source_ RPM compatible with as many
-   distributions as possible -- however, since I have limited resources
-   (as a volunteer RPM maintainer) I am limited as to the amount of
-   testing said build will get on other distributions, architectures, or
-   systems.
-   
-   And, while I understand people's desire to immediately upgrade to the
-   newest version, realize that I do this as a side interest -- I have a
-   regular, full-time job as a broadcast
-   engineer/webmaster/sysadmin/Technical Director which occasionally
-   prevents me from making timely RPM releases. This happened during the
-   early part of the 7.1 beta cycle -- but I believe I was pretty much on
-   the ball for the Release Candidates and the final release.
-   
-   I am working towards a more open RPM distribution -- I would dearly
-   love to more fully document the process and put everything into CVS --
-   once I figure out how I want to represent things such as the spec file
-   in a CVS form. It makes no sense to maintain a changelog, for
-   instance, in the spec file in CVS when CVS does a better job of
-   changelogs -- I will need to write a tool to generate a real spec file
-   from a CVS spec-source file that would add version numbers, changelog
-   entries, etc to the result before building the RPM. IOW, I need to
-   rethink the process -- and then go through the motions of putting my
-   long RPM history into CVS one version at a time so that version
-   history information isn't lost.
-   
-   As to why all these files aren't part of the source tree, well, unless
-   there was a large cry for it to happen, I don't believe it should.
-   PostgreSQL is very platform-agnostic -- and I like that. Including the
-   RPM stuff as part of the Official Tarball (TM) would, IMHO, slant that
-   agnostic stance in a negative way. But maybe I'm too sensitive to
-   that. I'm not opposed to doing that if that is the consensus of the
-   core group -- and that would be a sneaky way to get the stuff into CVS
-   :-). But if the core group isn't thrilled with the idea (and my
-   instinct says they're not likely to be), I am opposed to the idea --
-   not to keep the stuff to myself, but to not hinder the
-   platform-neutral stance. IMHO, of course.
-   
-   Of course, there are many projects that DO include all the files
-   necessary to build RPMs from their Official Tarball (TM).
-   
-  1.11) How are CVS branches managed?
-  
-   This was written by Tom Lane:
-   
-   2001-05-07
-   
-   If you just do basic "cvs checkout", "cvs update", "cvs commit", then
-   you'll always be dealing with the HEAD version of the files in CVS.
-   That's what you want for development, but if you need to patch past
-   stable releases then you have to be able to access and update the
-   "branch" portions of our CVS repository. We normally fork off a branch
-   for a stable release just before starting the development cycle for
-   the next release.
-   
-   The first thing you have to know is the branch name for the branch you
-   are interested in getting at. To do this, look at some long-lived
-   file, say the top-level HISTORY file, with "cvs status -v" to see what
-   the branch names are. (Thanks to Ian Lance Taylor for pointing out
-   that this is the easiest way to do it.) Typical branch names are:
-    REL7_1_STABLE
-    REL7_0_PATCHES
-    REL6_5_PATCHES
-
-   OK, so how do you do work on a branch? By far the best way is to
-   create a separate checkout tree for the branch and do your work in
-   that. Not only is that the easiest way to deal with CVS, but you
-   really need to have the whole past tree available anyway to test your
-   work. (And you *better* test your work. Never forget that dot-releases
-   tend to go out with very little beta testing --- so whenever you
-   commit an update to a stable branch, you'd better be doubly sure that
-   it's correct.)
-   
-   Normally, to checkout the head branch, you just cd to the place you
-   want to contain the toplevel "pgsql" directory and say
-    cvs ... checkout pgsql
-
-   To get a past branch, you cd to whereever you want it and say
-    cvs ... checkout -r BRANCHNAME pgsql
-
-   For example, just a couple days ago I did
-    mkdir ~postgres/REL7_1
-    cd ~postgres/REL7_1
-    cvs ... checkout -r REL7_1_STABLE pgsql
-
-   and now I have a maintenance copy of 7.1.*.
-   
-   When you've done a checkout in this way, the branch name is "sticky":
-   CVS automatically knows that this directory tree is for the branch,
-   and whenever you do "cvs update" or "cvs commit" in this tree, you'll
-   fetch or store the latest version in the branch, not the head version.
-   Easy as can be.
-   
-   So, if you have a patch that needs to apply to both the head and a
-   recent stable branch, you have to make the edits and do the commit
-   twice, once in your development tree and once in your stable branch
-   tree. This is kind of a pain, which is why we don't normally fork the
-   tree right away after a major release --- we wait for a dot-release or
-   two, so that we won't have to double-patch the first wave of fixes.
-   
-  1.12) Where can I get a copy of the SQL standards?
-  
-   There are two pertinent standards, SQL92 and SQL99. These standards
-   are endorsed by ANSI and ISO. A draft of the SQL92 standard is
-   available at http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/. The SQL99
-   standard must be purchased from ANSI at
-   http://webstore.ansi.org/ansidocstore/default.asp. The main standards
-   documents are ANSI X3.135-1992 for SQL92 and ANSI/ISO/IEC 9075-2-1999
-   for SQL99. The SQL 200X standards are at
-   ftp://sqlstandards.org/SC32/WG3/Progression_Documents/FCD
-   
-   A summary of these standards is at
-   http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/en/lokal/standards.pdf and
-   http://db.konkuk.ac.kr/present/SQL3.pdf.
-   
-                            Technical Questions
-                                      
-  2.1) How do I efficiently access information in tables from the backend code?
-  
-   You first need to find the tuples(rows) you are interested in. There
-   are two ways. First, SearchSysCache() and related functions allow you
-   to query the system catalogs. This is the preferred way to access
-   system tables, because the first call to the cache loads the needed
-   rows, and future requests can return the results without accessing the
-   base table. The caches use system table indexes to look up tuples. A
-   list of available caches is located in
-   src/backend/utils/cache/syscache.c.
-   src/backend/utils/cache/lsyscache.c contains many column-specific
-   cache lookup functions.
-   
-   The rows returned are cache-owned versions of the heap rows.
-   Therefore, you must not modify or delete the tuple returned by
-   SearchSysCache(). What you should do is release it with
-   ReleaseSysCache() when you are done using it; this informs the cache
-   that it can discard that tuple if necessary. If you neglect to call
-   ReleaseSysCache(), then the cache entry will remain locked in the
-   cache until end of transaction, which is tolerable but not very
-   desirable.
-   
-   If you can't use the system cache, you will need to retrieve the data
-   directly from the heap table, using the buffer cache that is shared by
-   all backends. The backend automatically takes care of loading the rows
-   into the buffer cache.
-   
-   Open the table with heap_open(). You can then start a table scan with
-   heap_beginscan(), then use heap_getnext() and continue as long as
-   HeapTupleIsValid() returns true. Then do a heap_endscan(). Keys can be
-   assigned to the scan. No indexes are used, so all rows are going to be
-   compared to the keys, and only the valid rows returned.
-   
-   You can also use heap_fetch() to fetch rows by block number/offset.
-   While scans automatically lock/unlock rows from the buffer cache, with
-   heap_fetch(), you must pass a Buffer pointer, and ReleaseBuffer() it
-   when completed.
-   
-   Once you have the row, you can get data that is common to all tuples,
-   like t_self and t_oid, by merely accessing the HeapTuple structure
-   entries. If you need a table-specific column, you should take the
-   HeapTuple pointer, and use the GETSTRUCT() macro to access the
-   table-specific start of the tuple. You then cast the pointer as a
-   Form_pg_proc pointer if you are accessing the pg_proc table, or
-   Form_pg_type if you are accessing pg_type. You can then access the
-   columns by using a structure pointer:
-((Form_pg_class) GETSTRUCT(tuple))->relnatts
-
-   You must not directly change live tuples in this way. The best way is
-   to use heap_modifytuple() and pass it your original tuple, and the
-   values you want changed. It returns a palloc'ed tuple, which you pass
-   to heap_replace(). You can delete tuples by passing the tuple's t_self
-   to heap_destroy(). You use t_self for heap_update() too. Remember,
-   tuples can be either system cache copies, which may go away after you
-   call ReleaseSysCache(), or read directly from disk buffers, which go
-   away when you heap_getnext(), heap_endscan, or ReleaseBuffer(), in the
-   heap_fetch() case. Or it may be a palloc'ed tuple, that you must
-   pfree() when finished.
-   
-  2.2) Why are table, column, type, function, view names sometimes referenced
-  as Name or NameData, and sometimes as char *?
-  
-   Table, column, type, function, and view names are stored in system
-   tables in columns of type Name. Name is a fixed-length,
-   null-terminated type of NAMEDATALEN bytes. (The default value for
-   NAMEDATALEN is 64 bytes.)
-typedef struct nameData
-    {
-        char        data[NAMEDATALEN];
-    } NameData;
-    typedef NameData *Name;
-
-   Table, column, type, function, and view names that come into the
-   backend via user queries are stored as variable-length,
-   null-terminated character strings.
-   
-   Many functions are called with both types of names, ie. heap_open().
-   Because the Name type is null-terminated, it is safe to pass it to a
-   function expecting a char *. Because there are many cases where
-   on-disk names(Name) are compared to user-supplied names(char *), there
-   are many cases where Name and char * are used interchangeably.
-   
-  2.3) Why do we use Node and List to make data structures?
-  
-   We do this because this allows a consistent way to pass data inside
-   the backend in a flexible way. Every node has a NodeTag which
-   specifies what type of data is inside the Node. Lists are groups of
-   Nodes chained together as a forward-linked list.
-   
-   Here are some of the List manipulation commands:
-   
-   lfirst(i)
-          return the data at list element i.
-          
-   lnext(i)
-          return the next list element after i.
-          
-   foreach(i, list)
-          loop through list, assigning each list element to i. It is
-          important to note that i is a List *, not the data in the List
-          element. You need to use lfirst(i) to get at the data. Here is
-          a typical code snippet that loops through a List containing Var
-          *'s and processes each one:
-          
-List *i, *list;
-
-    foreach(i, list)
-    {
-        Var *var = lfirst(i);
-
-        /* process var here */
-    }
-
-   lcons(node, list)
-          add node to the front of list, or create a new list with node
-          if list is NIL.
-          
-   lappend(list, node)
-          add node to the end of list. This is more expensive that lcons.
-          
-   nconc(list1, list2)
-          Concat list2 on to the end of list1.
-          
-   length(list)
-          return the length of the list.
-          
-   nth(i, list)
-          return the i'th element in list.
-          
-   lconsi, ...
-          There are integer versions of these: lconsi, lappendi, etc.
-          Also versions for OID lists: lconso, lappendo, etc.
-          
-   You can print nodes easily inside gdb. First, to disable output
-   truncation when you use the gdb print command:
-(gdb) set print elements 0
-
-   Instead of printing values in gdb format, you can use the next two
-   commands to print out List, Node, and structure contents in a verbose
-   format that is easier to understand. List's are unrolled into nodes,
-   and nodes are printed in detail. The first prints in a short format,
-   and the second in a long format:
-(gdb) call print(any_pointer)
-    (gdb) call pprint(any_pointer)
-
-   The output appears in the postmaster log file, or on your screen if
-   you are running a backend directly without a postmaster.
-   
-  2.4) I just added a field to a structure. What else should I do?
-  
-   The structures passing around from the parser, rewrite, optimizer, and
-   executor require quite a bit of support. Most structures have support
-   routines in src/backend/nodes used to create, copy, read, and output
-   those structures. Make sure you add support for your new field to
-   these files. Find any other places the structure may need code for
-   your new field. mkid is helpful with this (see above).
-   
-  2.5) Why do we use palloc() and pfree() to allocate memory?
-  
-   palloc() and pfree() are used in place of malloc() and free() because
-   we find it easier to automatically free all memory allocated when a
-   query completes. This assures us that all memory that was allocated
-   gets freed even if we have lost track of where we allocated it. There
-   are special non-query contexts that memory can be allocated in. These
-   affect when the allocated memory is freed by the backend.
-   
-  2.6) What is ereport()?
-  
-   ereport() is used to send messages to the front-end, and optionally
-   terminate the current query being processed. The first parameter is an
-   ereport level of DEBUG (levels 1-5), LOG, INFO, NOTICE, ERROR, FATAL,
-   or PANIC. NOTICE prints on the user's terminal and the postmaster
-   logs. INFO prints only to the user's terminal and LOG prints only to
-   the server logs. (These can be changed from postgresql.conf.) ERROR
-   prints in both places, and terminates the current query, never
-   returning from the call. FATAL terminates the backend process. The
-   remaining parameters of ereport are a printf-style set of parameters
-   to print.
-   
-   ereport(ERROR) frees most memory and open file descriptors so you
-   don't need to clean these up before the call.
-   
-  2.7) What is CommandCounterIncrement()?
-  
-   Normally, transactions can not see the rows they modify. This allows
-   UPDATE foo SET x = x + 1 to work correctly.
-   
-   However, there are cases where a transactions needs to see rows
-   affected in previous parts of the transaction. This is accomplished
-   using a Command Counter. Incrementing the counter allows transactions
-   to be broken into pieces so each piece can see rows modified by
-   previous pieces. CommandCounterIncrement() increments the Command
-   Counter, creating a new part of the transaction.
+  http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Development_information
diff --git a/doc/src/FAQ/FAQ_DEV.html b/doc/src/FAQ/FAQ_DEV.html
index 9775e6c262b..09d02f6a73c 100644
--- a/doc/src/FAQ/FAQ_DEV.html
+++ b/doc/src/FAQ/FAQ_DEV.html
@@ -2,866 +2,13 @@
 
 <HTML>
   <HEAD>
-    <META name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org">
-
     <TITLE>PostgreSQL Developers FAQ</TITLE>
   </HEAD>
 
   <BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#FF0000" vlink="#A00000"
   alink="#0000FF">
-    <H1>Developer's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for
-    PostgreSQL</H1>
-
-    <P>Last updated: Tue Feb 10 10:16:31 EST 2004</P>
-
-    <P>Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (<A href=
-    "mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us">pgman@candle.pha.pa.us</A>)<BR>
-    </P>
-
-    <P>The most recent version of this document can be viewed at <A href=
-    "http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html">http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html</A>.</P>
-
-    <HR>
-    <BR>
-     
-
-    <CENTER>
-      <H2>General Questions</H2>
-    </CENTER>
-     <A href="#1.1">1.1</A>) How do I get involved in PostgreSQL
-    development?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.2">1.2</A>) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.3">1.3</A>) How do I download/update the current source
-    tree?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.4">1.4</A>) How do I test my changes?<BR>
-    <A href="#1.5">1.5</A>) What tools are available for developers?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.6">1.6</A>) What books are good for developers?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.7">1.7</A>) What is configure all about?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.8">1.8</A>) How do I add a new port?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.9">1.9</A>) Why don't you use threads/raw
-     devices/async-I/O, &lt;insert your favorite wizz-bang feature 
-     here&gt;?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.10">1.10</A>) How are RPM's packaged?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.11">1.11</A>) How are CVS branches handled?<BR>
-     <A href="#1.12">1.12</A>) Where can I get a copy of the SQL
-     standards?<BR>
-
-    <CENTER>
-      <H2>Technical Questions</H2>
-    </CENTER>
-     <A href="#2.1">2.1</A>) How do I efficiently access information in
-    tables from the backend code?<BR>
-     <A href="#2.2">2.2</A>) Why are table, column, type, function, view
-    names sometimes referenced as <I>Name</I> or <I>NameData,</I> and
-    sometimes as <I>char *?</I><BR>
-     <A href="#2.3">2.3</A>) Why do we use <I>Node</I> and <I>List</I> to
-    make data structures?<BR>
-     <A href="#2.4">2.4</A>) I just added a field to a structure. What else
-    should I do?<BR>
-     <A href="#2.5">2.5</A>) Why do we use <I>palloc</I>() and
-    <I>pfree</I>() to allocate memory?<BR>
-     <A href="#2.6">2.6</A>) What is ereport()?<BR>
-     <A href="#2.7">2.7</A>) What is CommandCounterIncrement()?<BR>
-     <BR>
-     
-    <HR>
-
-    <CENTER>
-      <H2>General Questions</H2>
-    </CENTER>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.1">1.1</A>) How go I get involved in PostgreSQL
-    development?</H3>
-
-    <P>This was written by Lamar Owen:</P>
-
-    <P>2001-06-22</P>
-
-    <B>What open source development process is used by the PostgreSQL
-    team?</B>
-
-    <P>Read HACKERS for six months (or a full release cycle, whichever
-    is longer). Really. HACKERS _is_the process. The process is not
-    well documented (AFAIK -- it may be somewhere that I am not aware
-    of) -- and it changes continually.</P>
-
-    <B>What development environment (OS, system, compilers, etc) is
-    required to develop code?</B>
-
-    <P><A href="http://developer.postgresql.org">Developers Corner</A> on the
-    website has links to this information. The distribution tarball
-    itself includes all the extra tools and documents that go beyond a
-    good Unix-like development environment. In general, a modern unix
-    with a modern gcc, GNU make or equivalent, autoconf (of a
-    particular version), and good working knowledge of those tools are
-    required.</P>
-
-    <B>What areas need support?</B>
-
-    <P>The TODO list.</P>
-
-    <P>You've made the first step, by finding and subscribing to
-    HACKERS. Once you find an area to look at in the TODO, and have
-    read the documentation on the internals, etc, then you check out a
-    current CVS,write what you are going to write (keeping your CVS
-    checkout up to date in the process), and make up a patch (as a
-    context diff only) and send to the PATCHES list, prefereably.</P>
-
-    <P>Discussion on the patch typically happens here. If the patch
-    adds a major feature, it would be a good idea to talk about it
-    first on the HACKERS list, in order to increase the chances of it
-    being accepted, as well as toavoid duplication of effort. Note that
-    experienced developers with a proven track record usually get the
-    big jobs -- for more than one reason. Also note that PostgreSQL is
-    highly portable -- nonportable code will likely be dismissed out of
-    hand.</P>
-
-    <P>Once your contributions get accepted, things move from there.
-    Typically, you would be added as a developer on the list on the
-    website when one of the other developers recommends it. Membership
-    on the steering committee is by invitation only, by the other
-    steering committee members, from what I have gathered watching
-    froma distance.</P>
-
-    <P>I make these statements from having watched the process for over
-    two years.</P>
-
-    <P>To see a good example of how one goes about this, search the
-    archives for the name 'Tom Lane' and see what his first post
-    consisted of, and where he took things. In particular, note that
-    this hasn't been _that_ long ago -- and his bugfixing and general
-    deep knowledge with this codebase is legendary. Take a few days to
-    read after him. And pay special attention to both the sheer
-    quantity as well as the painstaking quality of his work. Both are
-    in high demand.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.2">1.2</A>) How do I add a feature or fix a bug?</H3>
-
-    <P>The source code is over 350,000 lines. Many fixes/features
-    are isolated to one specific area of the code. Others require
-    knowledge of much of the source. If you are confused about where to
-    start, ask the hackers list, and they will be glad to assess the
-    complexity and give pointers on where to start.</P>
-
-    <P>Another thing to keep in mind is that many fixes and features
-    can be added with surprisingly little code. I often start by adding
-    code, then looking at other areas in the code where similar things
-    are done, and by the time I am finished, the patch is quite small
-    and compact.</P>
-
-    <P>When adding code, keep in mind that it should use the existing
-    facilities in the source, for performance reasons and for
-    simplicity. Often a review of existing code doing similar things is
-    helpful.</P>
-
-    <P>The usual process for source additions is:
-    <UL>
-    <LI>Review the TODO list.</LI>
-    <LI>Discuss hackers the desirability of the fix/feature.</LI>
-    <LI>How should it behave in complex circumstances?</LI>
-    <LI>How should it be implemented?</LI>
-    <LI>Submit the patch to the patches list.</LI>
-    <LI>Answer email questions.</LI>
-    <LI>Wait for the patch to be applied.</LI>
-    </UL></P>
-    <H3><A name="1.3">1.3</A>) How do I download/update the current source
-    tree?</H3>
-
-    <P>There are several ways to obtain the source tree. Occasional
-    developers can just get the most recent source tree snapshot from
-    ftp.postgresql.org. For regular developers, you can use CVS. CVS
-    allows you to download the source tree, then occasionally update
-    your copy of the source tree with any new changes. Using CVS, you
-    don't have to download the entire source each time, only the
-    changed files. Anonymous CVS does not allows developers to update
-    the remote source tree, though privileged developers can do this.
-    There is a CVS FAQ on our web site that describes how to use remote
-    CVS. You can also use CVSup, which has similarly functionality, and
-    is available from ftp.postgresql.org.</P>
-
-    <P>To update the source tree, there are two ways. You can generate
-    a patch against your current source tree, perhaps using the
-    make_diff tools mentioned above, and send them to the patches list.
-    They will be reviewed, and applied in a timely manner. If the patch
-    is major, and we are in beta testing, the developers may wait for
-    the final release before applying your patches.</P>
-
-    <P>For hard-core developers, Marc(scrappy@postgresql.org) will give
-    you a Unix shell account on postgresql.org, so you can use CVS to
-    update the main source tree, or you can ftp your files into your
-    account, patch, and cvs install the changes directly into the
-    source tree.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.4">1.4</A>) How do I test my changes?</H3>
-
-    <P>First, use <I>psql</I> to make sure it is working as you expect.
-    Then run <I>src/test/regress</I> and get the output of
-    <I>src/test/regress/checkresults</I> with and without your changes,
-    to see that your patch does not change the regression test in
-    unexpected ways. This practice has saved me many times. The
-    regression tests test the code in ways I would never do, and has
-    caught many bugs in my patches. By finding the problems now, you
-    save yourself a lot of debugging later when things are broken, and
-    you can't figure out when it happened.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.5">1.5</A>) What tools are available for
-    developers?</H3>
-
-    <P>Aside from the User documentation mentioned in the regular FAQ,
-    there are several development tools available. First, all the files
-    in the <I>/tools</I> directory are designed for developers.</P>
-<PRE>
-    RELEASE_CHANGES changes we have to make for each release
-    SQL_keywords    standard SQL'92 keywords
-    backend         description/flowchart of the backend directories
-    ccsym           find standard defines made by your compiler
-    entab           converts tabs to spaces, used by pgindent
-    find_static     finds functions that could be made static
-    find_typedef    finds typedefs in the source code
-    find_badmacros  finds macros that use braces incorrectly
-    make_ctags      make vi 'tags' file in each directory
-    make_diff       make *.orig and diffs of source
-    make_etags      make emacs 'etags' files
-    make_keywords   make comparison of our keywords and SQL'92
-    make_mkid       make mkid ID files
-    mkldexport      create AIX exports file
-    pgindent        indents C source files
-    pgjindent       indents Java source files
-    pginclude       scripts for adding/removing include files
-    unused_oids     in pgsql/src/include/catalog
-</PRE>
-    Let me note some of these. If you point your browser at the
-    <I>file:/usr/local/src/pgsql/src/tools/backend/index.html</I>
-    directory, you will see few paragraphs describing the data flow,
-    the backend components in a flow chart, and a description of the
-    shared memory area. You can click on any flowchart box to see a
-    description. If you then click on the directory name, you will be
-    taken to the source directory, to browse the actual source code
-    behind it. We also have several README files in some source
-    directories to describe the function of the module. The browser
-    will display these when you enter the directory also. The
-    <I>tools/backend</I> directory is also contained on our web page
-    under the title <I>How PostgreSQL Processes a Query.</I> 
-
-    <P>Second, you really should have an editor that can handle tags,
-    so you can tag a function call to see the function definition, and
-    then tag inside that function to see an even lower-level function,
-    and then back out twice to return to the original function. Most
-    editors support this via <I>tags</I> or <I>etags</I> files.</P>
-
-    <P>Third, you need to get <I>id-utils</I> from:</P>
-<PRE>
-    <A href=
-"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz">ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz</A>
-    <A href=
-"ftp://tug.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz">ftp://tug.org/gnu/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz</A>
-    <A href=
-"ftp://ftp.enst.fr/pub/gnu/gnits/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz">ftp://ftp.enst.fr/pub/gnu/gnits/id-utils-3.2d.tar.gz</A>
-</PRE>
-    By running <I>tools/make_mkid</I>, an archive of source symbols can
-    be created that can be rapidly queried like <I>grep</I> or edited.
-    Others prefer <I>glimpse.</I> 
-
-    <P><I>make_diff</I> has tools to create patch diff files that can
-    be applied to the distribution. This produces context diffs, which
-    is our preferred format.</P>
-
-    <P>Our standard format is to indent each code level with one tab,
-    where each tab is four spaces. You will need to set your editor to
-    display tabs as four spaces:<BR>
-    </P>
-<PRE>
-    vi in ~/.exrc:
-            set tabstop=4
-            set sw=4
-    more:
-            more -x4
-    less:
-            less -x4
-    emacs:
-        M-x set-variable tab-width
-
-        or
-
-	(c-add-style "pgsql"
-		'("bsd"
-			(indent-tabs-mode . t)
-			(c-basic-offset   . 4)
-			(tab-width . 4)
-			(c-offsets-alist .
-				((case-label . +)))
-		)
-		nil ) ; t = set this style, nil = don't
-
-	(defun pgsql-c-mode ()
-      		(c-mode)
-		(c-set-style "pgsql")
-	)
-
-        and add this to your autoload list (modify file path in macro):
-
-	(setq auto-mode-alist
-		(cons '("\\`/home/andrew/pgsql/.*\\.[chyl]\\'" . pgsql-c-mode)
-		auto-mode-alist))
-        or
-            /*
-             * Local variables:
-             *  tab-width: 4
-             *  c-indent-level: 4
-             *  c-basic-offset: 4
-             * End:
-             */
-</PRE>
-    <BR>
-     <I>pgindent</I> will the format code by specifying flags to your
-    operating system's utility <I>indent.</I>  This 
-    <A HREF="http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200112/single_coding_style.html">
-    article</A> describes the value of a constent coding style.
-
-    <P><I>pgindent</I> is run on all source files just before each beta
-    test period. It auto-formats all source files to make them
-    consistent. Comment blocks that need specific line breaks should be
-    formatted as <I>block comments,</I> where the comment starts as
-    <CODE>/*------</CODE>. These comments will not be reformatted in
-    any way.</P>
-
-    <P><I>pginclude</I> contains scripts used to add needed
-    <CODE>#include</CODE>'s to include files, and removed unneeded
-    <CODE>#include</CODE>'s.</P>
-
-    <P>When adding system types, you will need to assign oids to them.
-    There is also a script called <I>unused_oids</I> in
-    <I>pgsql/src/include/catalog</I> that shows the unused oids.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.6">1.6</A>) What books are good for developers?</H3>
-
-    <P>I have four good books, <I>An Introduction to Database
-    Systems,</I> by C.J. Date, Addison, Wesley, <I>A Guide to the SQL
-    Standard,</I> by C.J. Date, et. al, Addison, Wesley,
-    <I>Fundamentals of Database Systems,</I> by Elmasri and Navathe,
-    and <I>Transaction Processing,</I> by Jim Gray, Morgan,
-    Kaufmann</P>
-
-    <P>There is also a database performance site, with a handbook
-    on-line written by Jim Gray at <A href=
-    "http://www.benchmarkresources.com">http://www.benchmarkresources.com.</A></P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.7">1.7</A>) What is configure all about?</H3>
-
-    <P>The files <I>configure</I> and <I>configure.in</I> are part of
-    the GNU <I>autoconf</I> package. Configure allows us to test for
-    various capabilities of the OS, and to set variables that can then
-    be tested in C programs and Makefiles. Autoconf is installed on the
-    PostgreSQL main server. To add options to configure, edit
-    <I>configure.in,</I> and then run <I>autoconf</I> to generate
-    <I>configure.</I></P>
-
-    <P>When <I>configure</I> is run by the user, it tests various OS
-    capabilities, stores those in <I>config.status</I> and
-    <I>config.cache,</I> and modifies a list of <I>*.in</I> files. For
-    example, if there exists a <I>Makefile.in,</I> configure generates
-    a <I>Makefile</I> that contains substitutions for all @var@
-    parameters found by configure.</P>
-
-    <P>When you need to edit files, make sure you don't waste time
-    modifying files generated by <I>configure.</I> Edit the <I>*.in</I>
-    file, and re-run <I>configure</I> to recreate the needed file. If
-    you run <I>make distclean</I> from the top-level source directory,
-    all files derived by configure are removed, so you see only the
-    file contained in the source distribution.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.8">1.8</A>) How do I add a new port?</H3>
-
-    <P>There are a variety of places that need to be modified to add a
-    new port. First, start in the <I>src/template</I> directory. Add an
-    appropriate entry for your OS. Also, use <I>src/config.guess</I> to
-    add your OS to <I>src/template/.similar.</I> You shouldn't match
-    the OS version exactly. The <I>configure</I> test will look for an
-    exact OS version number, and if not found, find a match without
-    version number. Edit <I>src/configure.in</I> to add your new OS.
-    (See configure item above.) You will need to run autoconf, or patch
-    <I>src/configure</I> too.</P>
-
-    <P>Then, check <I>src/include/port</I> and add your new OS file,
-    with appropriate values. Hopefully, there is already locking code
-    in <I>src/include/storage/s_lock.h</I> for your CPU. There is also
-    a <I>src/makefiles</I> directory for port-specific Makefile
-    handling. There is a <I>backend/port</I> directory if you need
-    special files for your OS.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.9">1.9</A>) Why don't you use threads/raw
-     devices/async-I/O, &lt;insert your favorite wizz-bang feature 
-     here&gt;?</H3>
-
-    <P>There is always a temptation to use the newest operating system
-    features as soon as they arrive.  We resist that temptation.</P>
-
-    <P>First, we support 15+ operating systems, so any new feature has
-    to be well established before we will consider it. Second, most new
-    <I>wizz-bang</I> features don't provide <I>dramatic</I>
-    improvements. Third, they usually have some downside, such as
-    decreased reliability or additional code required. Therefore, we
-    don't rush to use new features but rather wait for the feature to be
-    established, then ask for testing to show that a measurable
-    improvement is possible.</P>
-
-    <P>As an example, threads are not currently used in the backend code
-    because:</P>
-
-    <UL>
-      <LI>Historically, threads were unsupported and buggy.</LI>
-
-      <LI>An error in one backend can corrupt other backends.</LI>
-
-      <LI>Speed improvements using threads are small compared to the
-      remaining backend startup time.</LI>
-
-      <LI>The backend code would be more complex.</LI>
-    </UL>
-
-    <P>So, we are not ignorant of new features.  It is just that
-    we are cautious about their adoption.  The TODO list often
-    contains links to discussions showing our reasoning in
-    these areas.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.10">1.10</A>) How are RPM's packaged?</H3>
-
-    <P>This was written by Lamar Owen:</P>
-
-    <P>2001-05-03</P>
-
-    <P>As to how the RPMs are built -- to answer that question sanely
-    requires me to know how much experience you have with the whole RPM
-    paradigm. 'How is the RPM built?' is a multifaceted question. The
-    obvious simple answer is that I maintain:</P>
-
-    <OL>
-      <LI>A set of patches to make certain portions of the source tree
-      'behave' in the different environment of the RPMset;</LI>
-
-      <LI>The initscript;</LI>
-
-      <LI>Any other ancilliary scripts and files;</LI>
-
-      <LI>A README.rpm-dist document that tries to adequately document
-      both the differences between the RPM build and the WHY of the
-      differences, as well as useful RPM environment operations (like,
-      using syslog, upgrading, getting postmaster to start at OS boot,
-      etc);</LI>
-
-      <LI>The spec file that throws it all together. This is not a
-      trivial undertaking in a package of this size.</LI>
-    </OL>
-
-    <P>I then download and build on as many different canonical
-    distributions as I can -- currently I am able to build on Red Hat
-    6.2, 7.0, and 7.1 on my personal hardware. Occasionally I receive
-    opportunity from certain commercial enterprises such as Great
-    Bridge and PostgreSQL, Inc. to build on other distributions.</P>
-
-    <P>I test the build by installing the resulting packages and
-    running the regression tests. Once the build passes these tests, I
-    upload to the postgresql.org ftp server and make a release
-    announcement. I am also responsible for maintaining the RPM
-    download area on the ftp site.</P>
-
-    <P>You'll notice I said 'canonical' distributions above. That
-    simply means that the machine is as stock 'out of the box' as
-    practical -- that is, everything (except select few programs) on
-    these boxen are installed by RPM; only official Red Hat released
-    RPMs are used (except in unusual circumstances involving software
-    that will not alter the build -- for example, installing a newer
-    non-RedHat version of the Dia diagramming package is OK --
-    installing Python 2.1 on the box that has Python 1.5.2 installed is
-    not, as that alters the PostgreSQL build). The RPM as uploaded is
-    built to as close to out-of-the-box pristine as is possible. Only
-    the standard released 'official to that release' compiler is used
-    -- and only the standard official kernel is used as well.</P>
-
-    <P>For a time I built on Mandrake for RedHat consumption -- no
-    more. Nonstandard RPM building systems are worse than useless.
-    Which is not to say that Mandrake is useless! By no means is
-    Mandrake useless -- unless you are building Red Hat RPMs -- and Red
-    Hat is useless if you're trying to build Mandrake or SuSE RPMs, for
-    that matter. But I would be foolish to use 'Lamar Owen's Super
-    Special RPM Blend Distro 0.1.2' to build for public consumption!
-    :-)</P>
-
-    <P>I _do_ attempt to make the _source_ RPM compatible with as many
-    distributions as possible -- however, since I have limited
-    resources (as a volunteer RPM maintainer) I am limited as to the
-    amount of testing said build will get on other distributions,
-    architectures, or systems.</P>
-
-    <P>And, while I understand people's desire to immediately upgrade
-    to the newest version, realize that I do this as a side interest --
-    I have a regular, full-time job as a broadcast
-    engineer/webmaster/sysadmin/Technical Director which occasionally
-    prevents me from making timely RPM releases. This happened during
-    the early part of the 7.1 beta cycle -- but I believe I was pretty
-    much on the ball for the Release Candidates and the final
-    release.</P>
-
-    <P>I am working towards a more open RPM distribution -- I would
-    dearly love to more fully document the process and put everything
-    into CVS -- once I figure out how I want to represent things such
-    as the spec file in a CVS form. It makes no sense to maintain a
-    changelog, for instance, in the spec file in CVS when CVS does a
-    better job of changelogs -- I will need to write a tool to generate
-    a real spec file from a CVS spec-source file that would add version
-    numbers, changelog entries, etc to the result before building the
-    RPM. IOW, I need to rethink the process -- and then go through the
-    motions of putting my long RPM history into CVS one version at a
-    time so that version history information isn't lost.</P>
-
-    <P>As to why all these files aren't part of the source tree, well,
-    unless there was a large cry for it to happen, I don't believe it
-    should. PostgreSQL is very platform-agnostic -- and I like that.
-    Including the RPM stuff as part of the Official Tarball (TM) would,
-    IMHO, slant that agnostic stance in a negative way. But maybe I'm
-    too sensitive to that. I'm not opposed to doing that if that is the
-    consensus of the core group -- and that would be a sneaky way to
-    get the stuff into CVS :-). But if the core group isn't thrilled
-    with the idea (and my instinct says they're not likely to be), I am
-    opposed to the idea -- not to keep the stuff to myself, but to not
-    hinder the platform-neutral stance. IMHO, of course.</P>
-
-    <P>Of course, there are many projects that DO include all the files
-    necessary to build RPMs from their Official Tarball (TM).</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.11">1.11</A>) How are CVS branches managed?</H3>
-
-    <P>This was written by Tom Lane:</P>
-
-    <P>2001-05-07</P>
-
-    <P>If you just do basic "cvs checkout", "cvs update", "cvs commit",
-    then you'll always be dealing with the HEAD version of the files in
-    CVS. That's what you want for development, but if you need to patch
-    past stable releases then you have to be able to access and update
-    the "branch" portions of our CVS repository. We normally fork off a
-    branch for a stable release just before starting the development
-    cycle for the next release.</P>
-
-    <P>The first thing you have to know is the branch name for the
-    branch you are interested in getting at. To do this, look at some
-    long-lived file, say the top-level HISTORY file, with "cvs status
-    -v" to see what the branch names are. (Thanks to Ian Lance Taylor
-    for pointing out that this is the easiest way to do it.) Typical
-    branch names are:</P>
-<PRE>
-    REL7_1_STABLE
-    REL7_0_PATCHES
-    REL6_5_PATCHES
-</PRE>
-
-    <P>OK, so how do you do work on a branch? By far the best way is to
-    create a separate checkout tree for the branch and do your work in
-    that. Not only is that the easiest way to deal with CVS, but you
-    really need to have the whole past tree available anyway to test
-    your work. (And you *better* test your work. Never forget that
-    dot-releases tend to go out with very little beta testing --- so
-    whenever you commit an update to a stable branch, you'd better be
-    doubly sure that it's correct.)</P>
-
-    <P>Normally, to checkout the head branch, you just cd to the place
-    you want to contain the toplevel "pgsql" directory and say</P>
-<PRE>
-    cvs ... checkout pgsql
-</PRE>
-
-    <P>To get a past branch, you cd to whereever you want it and
-    say</P>
-<PRE>
-    cvs ... checkout -r BRANCHNAME pgsql
-</PRE>
-
-    <P>For example, just a couple days ago I did</P>
-<PRE>
-    mkdir ~postgres/REL7_1
-    cd ~postgres/REL7_1
-    cvs ... checkout -r REL7_1_STABLE pgsql
-</PRE>
-
-    <P>and now I have a maintenance copy of 7.1.*.</P>
-
-    <P>When you've done a checkout in this way, the branch name is
-    "sticky": CVS automatically knows that this directory tree is for
-    the branch, and whenever you do "cvs update" or "cvs commit" in
-    this tree, you'll fetch or store the latest version in the branch,
-    not the head version. Easy as can be.</P>
-
-    <P>So, if you have a patch that needs to apply to both the head and
-    a recent stable branch, you have to make the edits and do the
-    commit twice, once in your development tree and once in your stable
-    branch tree. This is kind of a pain, which is why we don't normally
-    fork the tree right away after a major release --- we wait for a
-    dot-release or two, so that we won't have to double-patch the first
-    wave of fixes.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="1.12">1.12</A>) Where can I get a copy of the SQL
-    standards?</H3>
-
-    <P>There are two pertinent standards, SQL92 and SQL99. These
-    standards are endorsed by ANSI and ISO. A draft of the SQL92
-    standard is available at <a
-    href="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/">
-    http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/</a>. The SQL99 standard
-    must be purchased from ANSI at <a
-    href="http://webstore.ansi.org/ansidocstore/default.asp">
-    http://webstore.ansi.org/ansidocstore/default.asp</a>. The main
-    standards documents are ANSI X3.135-1992 for SQL92 and ANSI/ISO/IEC
-    9075-2-1999 for SQL99.  The SQL 200X standards are at <a href=
-    "ftp://sqlstandards.org/SC32/WG3/Progression_Documents/FCD">
-    ftp://sqlstandards.org/SC32/WG3/Progression_Documents/FCD</A></P>
-
-    <P>A summary of these standards is at <a
-    href="http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/en/lokal/standards.pdf">
-    http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/en/lokal/standards.pdf</a> and <a
-    href="http://db.konkuk.ac.kr/present/SQL3.pdf">
-    http://db.konkuk.ac.kr/present/SQL3.pdf</a>.</P>
-
-    <CENTER>
-      <H2>Technical Questions</H2>
-    </CENTER>
-
-    <H3><A name="2.1">2.1</A>) How do I efficiently access information in
-    tables from the backend code?</H3>
-
-    <P>You first need to find the tuples(rows) you are interested in.
-    There are two ways. First, <I>SearchSysCache()</I> and related
-    functions allow you to query the system catalogs. This is the
-    preferred way to access system tables, because the first call to
-    the cache loads the needed rows, and future requests can return the
-    results without accessing the base table. The caches use system
-    table indexes to look up tuples. A list of available caches is
-    located in <I>src/backend/utils/cache/syscache.c.</I>
-    <I>src/backend/utils/cache/lsyscache.c</I> contains many
-    column-specific cache lookup functions.</P>
-
-    <P>The rows returned are cache-owned versions of the heap rows.
-    Therefore, you must not modify or delete the tuple returned by
-    <I>SearchSysCache()</I>. What you <I>should</I> do is release it
-    with <I>ReleaseSysCache()</I> when you are done using it; this
-    informs the cache that it can discard that tuple if necessary. If
-    you neglect to call <I>ReleaseSysCache()</I>, then the cache entry
-    will remain locked in the cache until end of transaction, which is
-    tolerable but not very desirable.</P>
-
-    <P>If you can't use the system cache, you will need to retrieve the
-    data directly from the heap table, using the buffer cache that is
-    shared by all backends. The backend automatically takes care of
-    loading the rows into the buffer cache.</P>
-
-    <P>Open the table with <I>heap_open().</I> You can then start a
-    table scan with <I>heap_beginscan(),</I> then use
-    <I>heap_getnext()</I> and continue as long as
-    <I>HeapTupleIsValid()</I> returns true. Then do a
-    <I>heap_endscan().</I> <I>Keys</I> can be assigned to the
-    <I>scan.</I> No indexes are used, so all rows are going to be
-    compared to the keys, and only the valid rows returned.</P>
-
-    <P>You can also use <I>heap_fetch()</I> to fetch rows by block
-    number/offset. While scans automatically lock/unlock rows from the
-    buffer cache, with <I>heap_fetch(),</I> you must pass a
-    <I>Buffer</I> pointer, and <I>ReleaseBuffer()</I> it when
-    completed.</P>
-
-    <P>Once you have the row, you can get data that is common to all
-    tuples, like <I>t_self</I> and <I>t_oid,</I> by merely accessing
-    the <I>HeapTuple</I> structure entries. If you need a
-    table-specific column, you should take the HeapTuple pointer, and
-    use the <I>GETSTRUCT()</I> macro to access the table-specific start
-    of the tuple. You then cast the pointer as a <I>Form_pg_proc</I>
-    pointer if you are accessing the pg_proc table, or
-    <I>Form_pg_type</I> if you are accessing pg_type. You can then
-    access the columns by using a structure pointer:</P>
-<PRE>
-<CODE>((Form_pg_class) GETSTRUCT(tuple))-&gt;relnatts
-</CODE>
-</PRE>
-    You must not directly change <I>live</I> tuples in this way. The
-    best way is to use <I>heap_modifytuple()</I> and pass it your
-    original tuple, and the values you want changed. It returns a
-    palloc'ed tuple, which you pass to <I>heap_replace().</I> You can
-    delete tuples by passing the tuple's <I>t_self</I> to
-    <I>heap_destroy().</I> You use <I>t_self</I> for
-    <I>heap_update()</I> too. Remember, tuples can be either system
-    cache copies, which may go away after you call
-    <I>ReleaseSysCache()</I>, or read directly from disk buffers, which
-    go away when you <I>heap_getnext()</I>, <I>heap_endscan</I>, or
-    <I>ReleaseBuffer()</I>, in the <I>heap_fetch()</I> case. Or it may
-    be a palloc'ed tuple, that you must <I>pfree()</I> when finished. 
-
-    <H3><A name="2.2">2.2</A>) Why are table, column, type, function, view
-    names sometimes referenced as <I>Name</I> or <I>NameData,</I> and
-    sometimes as <I>char *?</I></H3>
-
-    <P>Table, column, type, function, and view names are stored in
-    system tables in columns of type <I>Name.</I> Name is a
-    fixed-length, null-terminated type of <I>NAMEDATALEN</I> bytes.
-    (The default value for NAMEDATALEN is 64 bytes.)</P>
-<PRE>
-<CODE>typedef struct nameData
-    {
-        char        data[NAMEDATALEN];
-    } NameData;
-    typedef NameData *Name;
-</CODE>
-</PRE>
-    Table, column, type, function, and view names that come into the
-    backend via user queries are stored as variable-length,
-    null-terminated character strings. 
-
-    <P>Many functions are called with both types of names, ie.
-    <I>heap_open().</I> Because the Name type is null-terminated, it is
-    safe to pass it to a function expecting a char *. Because there are
-    many cases where on-disk names(Name) are compared to user-supplied
-    names(char *), there are many cases where Name and char * are used
-    interchangeably.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="2.3">2.3</A>) Why do we use <I>Node</I> and <I>List</I> to
-    make data structures?</H3>
-
-    <P>We do this because this allows a consistent way to pass data
-    inside the backend in a flexible way. Every node has a
-    <I>NodeTag</I> which specifies what type of data is inside the
-    Node. <I>Lists</I> are groups of <I>Nodes chained together as a
-    forward-linked list.</I></P>
-
-    <P>Here are some of the <I>List</I> manipulation commands:</P>
-
-    <BLOCKQUOTE>
-      <DL>
-        <DT>lfirst(i)</DT>
-
-        <DD>return the data at list element <I>i.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>lnext(i)</DT>
-
-        <DD>return the next list element after <I>i.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>foreach(i, list)</DT>
-
-        <DD>
-          loop through <I>list,</I> assigning each list element to
-          <I>i.</I> It is important to note that <I>i</I> is a List *,
-          not the data in the <I>List</I> element. You need to use
-          <I>lfirst(i)</I> to get at the data. Here is a typical code
-          snippet that loops through a List containing <I>Var *'s</I>
-          and processes each one: 
-<PRE>
-<CODE>List *i, *list;
-    
-    foreach(i, list)
-    {
-        Var *var = lfirst(i);
-
-        /* process var here */
-    }
-</CODE>
-</PRE>
-        </DD>
-
-        <DT>lcons(node, list)</DT>
-
-        <DD>add <I>node</I> to the front of <I>list,</I> or create a
-        new list with <I>node</I> if <I>list</I> is <I>NIL.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>lappend(list, node)</DT>
-
-        <DD>add <I>node</I> to the end of <I>list.</I> This is more
-        expensive that lcons.</DD>
-
-        <DT>nconc(list1, list2)</DT>
-
-        <DD>Concat <I>list2</I> on to the end of <I>list1.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>length(list)</DT>
-
-        <DD>return the length of the <I>list.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>nth(i, list)</DT>
-
-        <DD>return the <I>i</I>'th element in <I>list.</I></DD>
-
-        <DT>lconsi, ...</DT>
-
-        <DD>There are integer versions of these: <I>lconsi, lappendi</I>,
-        etc. Also versions for OID lists: <I>lconso, lappendo</I>, etc.</DD>
-      </DL>
-    </BLOCKQUOTE>
-    You can print nodes easily inside <I>gdb.</I> First, to disable
-    output truncation when you use the gdb <I>print</I> command: 
-<PRE>
-<CODE>(gdb) set print elements 0
-</CODE>
-</PRE>
-    Instead of printing values in gdb format, you can use the next two
-    commands to print out List, Node, and structure contents in a
-    verbose format that is easier to understand. List's are unrolled
-    into nodes, and nodes are printed in detail. The first prints in a
-    short format, and the second in a long format: 
-<PRE>
-<CODE>(gdb) call print(any_pointer)
-    (gdb) call pprint(any_pointer)
-</CODE>
-</PRE>
-    The output appears in the postmaster log file, or on your screen if
-    you are running a backend directly without a postmaster. 
-
-    <H3><A name="2.4">2.4</A>) I just added a field to a structure. What
-    else should I do?</H3>
-
-    <P>The structures passing around from the parser, rewrite,
-    optimizer, and executor require quite a bit of support. Most
-    structures have support routines in <I>src/backend/nodes</I> used
-    to create, copy, read, and output those structures. Make sure you
-    add support for your new field to these files. Find any other
-    places the structure may need code for your new field. <I>mkid</I>
-    is helpful with this (see above).</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="2.5">2.5</A>) Why do we use <I>palloc</I>() and
-    <I>pfree</I>() to allocate memory?</H3>
-
-    <P><I>palloc()</I> and <I>pfree()</I> are used in place of malloc()
-    and free() because we find it easier to automatically free all
-    memory allocated when a query completes. This assures us that all
-    memory that was allocated gets freed even if we have lost track of
-    where we allocated it. There are special non-query contexts that
-    memory can be allocated in. These affect when the allocated memory
-    is freed by the backend.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="2.6">2.6</A>) What is ereport()?</H3>
-
-    <P><I>ereport()</I> is used to send messages to the front-end, and
-    optionally terminate the current query being processed. The first
-    parameter is an ereport level of <I>DEBUG</I> (levels 1-5), <I>LOG,</I>
-    <I>INFO,</I> <I>NOTICE,</I> <I>ERROR,</I> <I>FATAL,</I> or
-    <I>PANIC.</I> <I>NOTICE</I> prints on the user's terminal and the
-    postmaster logs. <I>INFO</I> prints only to the user's terminal and
-    <I>LOG</I> prints only to the server logs. (These can be changed
-    from <I>postgresql.conf.</I>) <I>ERROR</I> prints in both places,
-    and terminates the current query, never returning from the call.
-    <I>FATAL</I> terminates the backend process. The remaining
-    parameters of <I>ereport</I> are a <I>printf</I>-style set of
-    parameters to print.</P>
-
-    <P><I>ereport(ERROR)</I> frees most memory and open file descriptors so
-    you don't need to clean these up before the call.</P>
-
-    <H3><A name="2.7">2.7</A>) What is CommandCounterIncrement()?</H3>
-
-    <P>Normally, transactions can not see the rows they modify. This
-    allows <CODE>UPDATE foo SET x = x + 1</CODE> to work correctly.</P>
-
-    <P>However, there are cases where a transactions needs to see rows
-    affected in previous parts of the transaction. This is accomplished
-    using a Command Counter. Incrementing the counter allows
-    transactions to be broken into pieces so each piece can see rows
-    modified by previous pieces. <I>CommandCounterIncrement()</I>
-    increments the Command Counter, creating a new part of the
-    transaction.</P>
+    <P>The developer FAQ can be found on the PostgreSQL wiki:</P>
 
+<P><A href="http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Development_information">http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Development_information</A></P>
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