Extend EXPLAIN to allow generic options to be specified.

The original syntax made it difficult to add options without making them
into reserved words.  This change parenthesizes the options to avoid that
problem, and makes provision for an explicit (and perhaps non-Boolean)
value for each option.  The original syntax is still supported, but only
for the two original options ANALYZE and VERBOSE.

As a test case, add a COSTS option that can suppress the planner cost
estimates.  This may be useful for including EXPLAIN output in the regression
tests, which are otherwise unable to cope with cross-platform variations in
cost estimates.

Robert Haas

Author: tglsfdc

contrib/auto_explain/auto_explain.c

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2008-2009, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/auto_explain/auto_explain.c,v 1.5 2009/06/11 14:48:50 momjian Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/contrib/auto_explain/auto_explain.c,v 1.6 2009/07/26 23:34:17 tgl Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -196,16 +196,17 @@ explain_ExecutorEnd(QueryDesc *queryDesc)
 		msec = queryDesc->totaltime->total * 1000.0;
 		if (msec >= auto_explain_log_min_duration)
 		{
-			StringInfoData buf;
+			ExplainState	es;
 
-			initStringInfo(&buf);
-			ExplainPrintPlan(&buf, queryDesc,
-						 queryDesc->doInstrument && auto_explain_log_analyze,
-							 auto_explain_log_verbose);
+			ExplainInitState(&es);
+			es.analyze = (queryDesc->doInstrument && auto_explain_log_analyze);
+			es.verbose = auto_explain_log_verbose;
+
+			ExplainPrintPlan(&es, queryDesc);
 
 			/* Remove last line break */
-			if (buf.len > 0 && buf.data[buf.len - 1] == '\n')
-				buf.data[--buf.len] = '\0';
+			if (es.str->len > 0 && es.str->data[es.str->len - 1] == '\n')
+				es.str->data[--es.str->len] = '\0';
 
 			/*
 			 * Note: we rely on the existing logging of context or
@@ -215,9 +216,9 @@ explain_ExecutorEnd(QueryDesc *queryDesc)
 			 */
 			ereport(LOG,
 					(errmsg("duration: %.3f ms  plan:\n%s",
-							msec, buf.data)));
+							msec, es.str->data)));
 
-			pfree(buf.data);
+			pfree(es.str->data);
 		}
 	}
 

doc/src/sgml/ref/explain.sgml

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/explain.sgml,v 1.44 2008/11/14 10:22:47 petere Exp $
+$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/explain.sgml,v 1.45 2009/07/26 23:34:17 tgl Exp $
 PostgreSQL documentation
 -->
 
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
 
  <refsynopsisdiv>
 <synopsis>
+EXPLAIN [ ( { ANALYZE <replaceable class="parameter">boolean</replaceable> | VERBOSE <replaceable class="parameter">boolean</replaceable> | COSTS <replaceable class="parameter">boolean</replaceable> } [, ...] ) ] <replaceable class="parameter">statement</replaceable>
 EXPLAIN [ ANALYZE ] [ VERBOSE ] <replaceable class="parameter">statement</replaceable>
 </synopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>
@@ -89,6 +90,14 @@ ROLLBACK;
 </programlisting>
    </para>
   </important>
+
+  <para>
+   Only the <literal>ANALYZE</literal> and <literal>VERBOSE</literal> options
+   can be specified, and only in that order, without surrounding the option
+   list in parentheses.  Prior to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 8.5,
+   the unparenthesized syntax was the only one supported.  It is expected that
+   all new options will be supported only in the parenthesized syntax.
+  </para>
  </refsect1>
 
  <refsect1>
@@ -99,7 +108,8 @@ ROLLBACK;
     <term><literal>ANALYZE</literal></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
-      Carry out the command and show the actual run times.
+      Carry out the command and show the actual run times.  This
+      parameter defaults to <command>FALSE</command>.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
@@ -108,7 +118,33 @@ ROLLBACK;
     <term><literal>VERBOSE</literal></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
-      Include the output column list for each node in the plan tree.
+      Include the output column list for each node in the plan tree.  This
+      parameter defaults to <command>FALSE</command>.
+     </para>
+    </listitem>
+   </varlistentry>
+
+   <varlistentry>
+    <term><literal>COSTS</literal></term>
+    <listitem>
+     <para>
+      Include information on the estimated startup and total cost of each
+      plan node, as well as the estimated number of rows and the estimated
+      width of each row.  This parameter defaults to <command>TRUE</command>.
+     </para>
+    </listitem>
+   </varlistentry>
+
+   <varlistentry>
+    <term><replaceable class="parameter">boolean</replaceable></term>
+    <listitem>
+     <para>
+      Specifies whether the selected option should be turned on or off.
+      You can write <literal>TRUE</literal>, <literal>ON</>, or
+      <literal>1</literal> to enable the option, and <literal>FALSE</literal>,
+      <literal>OFF</>, or <literal>0</literal> to disable it.  The
+      <replaceable class="parameter">boolean</replaceable> value can also
+      be omitted, in which case <literal>TRUE</literal> is assumed.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
@@ -149,14 +185,6 @@ ROLLBACK;
    might be chosen.
   </para>
 
-  <para>
-   Genetic query optimization (<acronym>GEQO</acronym>) randomly tests
-   execution plans.  Therefore, when the number of join relations
-   exceeds <xref linkend="guc-geqo-threshold"> causing genetic query
-   optimization to be used, the execution plan is likely to change
-   each time the statement is executed.
-  </para>
-
   <para>
    In order to measure the run-time cost of each node in the execution
    plan, the current implementation of <command>EXPLAIN
@@ -201,6 +229,20 @@ EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM foo WHERE i = 4;
 </programlisting>
   </para>
 
+  <para>
+   Here is the same plan with costs suppressed:
+
+<programlisting>
+EXPLAIN (COSTS FALSE) SELECT * FROM foo WHERE i = 4;
+
+        QUERY PLAN
+----------------------------
+ Index Scan using fi on foo
+   Index Cond: (i = 4)
+(2 rows)
+</programlisting>
+  </para>
+
   <para>
    Here is an example of a query plan for a query using an aggregate
    function:

src/backend/commands/define.c

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/commands/define.c,v 1.104 2009/04/04 21:12:31 tgl Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/commands/define.c,v 1.105 2009/07/26 23:34:17 tgl Exp $
  *
  * DESCRIPTION
  *	  The "DefineFoo" routines take the parse tree and pick out the
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ defGetBoolean(DefElem *def)
 		return true;
 
 	/*
-	 * Allow 0, 1, "true", "false"
+	 * Allow 0, 1, "true", "false", "on", "off"
 	 */
 	switch (nodeTag(def->arg))
 	{
@@ -153,11 +153,18 @@ defGetBoolean(DefElem *def)
 			{
 				char	   *sval = defGetString(def);
 
+				/*
+				 * The set of strings accepted here should match up with
+				 * the grammar's opt_boolean production.
+				 */
 				if (pg_strcasecmp(sval, "true") == 0)
 					return true;
 				if (pg_strcasecmp(sval, "false") == 0)
 					return false;
-
+				if (pg_strcasecmp(sval, "on") == 0)
+					return true;
+				if (pg_strcasecmp(sval, "off") == 0)
+					return false;
 			}
 			break;
 	}