Re: [HACKERS] pg_dump disaster

Patrick Welche <prlw1(at)newn(dot)cam(dot)ac(dot)uk> writes:
> Trying to load a 6 January pg_dumpall file with today's postgresql gives
> many
> invalid command \N
> probably because
> PQexec: you gotta get out of a COPY state yourself.
> db.out4:11621: invalid command \.
> Somehow psql is out of sync and thinks the \N isn't within a COPY block.

The answer appears to be that Perlstein's "nonblocking mode" patches
have broken psql copy, and doubtless a lot of other applications as
well, because pqPutBytes no longer feels any particular compulsion
to actually send the data it's been handed. (Moreover, if it does
do only a partial send, there is no way to discover how much it sent;
while its callers might be blamed for not having checked for an error
return, they'd have no way to recover anyhow.)

I thought these patches should not have been applied without more
peer review, and now I'm sure of it. I recommend reverting 'em.

regards, tom lane