pg_total_relation_size() and CHECKPOINT

["Zubkovsky, Sergey" <Sergey(dot)Zubkovsky(at)transas(dot)com>]

Hello,

 

I’ve detected that a result value of pg_total_relation_size() for an actively updated table might be significantly differ from a result that is returned after explicit CHECKPOINT command execution.

 

select version();

"PostgreSQL 8.2.6 on i686-pc-mingw32, compiled by GCC gcc.exe (GCC) 3.4.2 (mingw-special)"

 

I understand the reasons of such behavior: cache buffers must be flushed in order to be sure that pg_total_relation_size() result will be like we expect.

Is this right?

If so I think it would be very useful to add a description of this peculiarity to the PG documentation.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

Zubkovsky Sergey