From 66ef1b6ebd8e119ad9d80c1449c8c2c791a4e2ef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Thomas G. Lockhart" Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 06:12:31 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Minor changes to Fred Horsh's updates. --- doc/src/sgml/history.sgml | 496 +++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------- doc/src/sgml/info.sgml | 328 ++++++++++++++++-------------- 2 files changed, 441 insertions(+), 383 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/history.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/history.sgml index 506b7227b9..fc861e7a5a 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/history.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/history.sgml @@ -1,233 +1,267 @@ - -A Short History of <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> - - -The Object-Relational Database Management System now known as -PostgreSQL was originally called -Postgres, and briefly called -Postgres95. With over a decade of -development behind it, PostgreSQL -is the most advanced open-source database available anywhere, -offering multi-version concurrency control and supporting almost -all SQL constructs, including subselects, transactions, and -user-defined types and functions. - - - -The Berkeley <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> Project - - - Implementation of the Postgres -DBMS began in 1986. The - initial concepts for the system were presented in - - and the definition of the initial data model - appeared in -. -The design of the rule system at - that time was described in -. -The rationale - and architecture of the storage manager were detailed in -. - - - -Postgres has undergone several major releases since - then. The first "demoware" system became operational - in 1987 and was shown at the 1988 ACM-SIGMOD - Conference. We released Version 1, described in -, - to a few external users in June 1989. In response to a - critique of the first rule system -(), -the rule - system was redesigned -() -and Version 2 was - released in June 1990 with the new rule system. - Version 3 appeared in 1991 and added support for multiple - storage managers, an improved query executor, and a - rewritten rewrite rule system. For the most part, - releases until Postgres95 (see below) - focused on portability and reliability. - - - -Postgres has been used to implement many different - research and production applications. These include: a - financial data analysis system, a jet engine - performance monitoring package, an asteroid tracking - database, a medical information database, and several - geographic information systems. -Postgres has also been - used as an educational tool at several universities. - Finally, -Illustra Information Technologies -(since merged into -Informix) - - picked up - the code and commercialized it. - Postgres became the primary data manager - for the -Sequoia 2000 - scientific computing project in late 1992. - Furthermore, the size of the external user community - nearly doubled during 1993. It became increasingly - obvious that maintenance of the prototype code and - support was taking up large amounts of time that should - have been devoted to database research. In an effort - to reduce this support burden, the project officially - ended with Version 4.2. - - - - -<ProductName>Postgres95</ProductName> - - -In 1994, -Andrew Yu -and -Jolly Chen -added a SQL language interpreter to Postgres. -Postgres95 was subsequently released to -the Web to find its own way in the world as a public-domain, -open source descendant of the original Postgres -Berkeley code. - - - - Postgres95 code was completely - ANSI C and trimmed in size by 25%. Many - internal changes improved performance and maintainability. -Postgres95 v1.0.x ran about 30-50% - faster on the Wisconsin Benchmark compared to -Postgres v4.2. - Apart from bug fixes, these were the major enhancements: - - - - - The query language Postquel was replaced with - SQL (implemented in the server). Subqueries were not supported until PostgreSQL (see below), but they -could be imitated in Postgres95 with user-defined - SQL functions. Aggregates were - re-implemented. Support for ``GROUP BY'' was also added. - The libpq interface remained available for C - programs. - - - - -In addition to the monitor program, a new program -(psql) was provided for interactive SQL queries -using GNU readline. - - - - - A new front-end library, libpgtcl, - supported Tcl-based clients. A sample shell, - pgtclsh, provided new Tcl commands to interface tcl - programs with the Postgres95 backend. - - - - -The large object interface was overhauled. The Inversion large objects were -the only mechanism for storing large objects. -(The Inversion file system was removed.) - - - - - The instance-level rule system was removed. - Rules were still available as rewrite rules. - - - - - A short tutorial introducing regular SQL features as - well as those of Postgres95 was - distributed with the source code. - - - - -GNU make (instead of BSD make) was used -for the build. Also, Postgres95 could be -compiled with an unpatched gcc -(data alignment of doubles was fixed). - - - - - - - -<ProductName>PostgreSQL</ProductName> - - -By 1996, it became clear that the name Postgres95 would -not stand the test of time. We chose a new name, -PostgreSQL, to reflect the relationship -between the original Postgres and the more -recent versions with SQL capability. At the same -time, we set the version numbering to start at 6.0, putting the -numbers back into the sequence originally begun by the -Postgres Project. - - - -The emphasis during development of Postgres95 -was on identifying and understanding existing problems in the backend code. -With PostgreSQL, -the emphasis has shifted to augmenting features and capabilities, although -work continues in all areas. - - - -Major enhancements in PostgreSQL include: - - - - - -Table-level locking has been replaced with multi-version concurrency control, -which allows readers to continue reading consistent data during writer activity -and enables hot backups from pg_dump while the database stays available for -queries. - - - - -Important backend features, including subselects, defaults, -constraints, and triggers, have been implemented. - - - - -Additional SQL92-compliant language features have been added, - including primary keys, quoted identifiers, literal string type coersion, -type casting, and binary and hexadecimal integer input. - - - - -Built-in types have been improved, including new wide-range date/time types -and additional geometric type support. - - - - - -Overall backend code speed has been increased by approximately 20-40%, -and backend startup time has decreased 80% since v6.0 was released. - - - - + + A Short History of <productname>Postgres</productname> + + The Object-Relational Database Management System now known as + PostgreSQL (and briefly called + Postgres95) is derived from the + Postgres package written at Berkeley. + With over a decade of + development behind it, PostgreSQL + is the most advanced open-source database available anywhere, + offering multi-version concurrency control, supporting almost + all SQL constructs (including subselects, transactions, and + user-defined types and functions), and having a wide range of + language bindings available (including C, C++, Java, perl, tcl, and python). + + + + The Berkeley <productname>Postgres</productname> Project + + + Implementation of the Postgres + DBMS began in 1986. The + initial concepts for the system were presented in + + and the definition of the initial data model + appeared in + . + The design of the rule system at + that time was described in + . + The rationale + and architecture of the storage manager were detailed in + . + + + + Postgres has undergone several major releases since + then. The first "demoware" system became operational + in 1987 and was shown at the 1988 ACM-SIGMOD + Conference. We released Version 1, described in + , + to a few external users in June 1989. In response to a + critique of the first rule system + (), + the rule + system was redesigned + () + and Version 2 was + released in June 1990 with the new rule system. + Version 3 appeared in 1991 and added support for multiple + storage managers, an improved query executor, and a + rewritten rewrite rule system. For the most part, + releases until Postgres95 (see below) + focused on portability and reliability. + + + + Postgres has been used + to implement many different + research and production applications. These include: a + financial data analysis system, a jet engine + performance monitoring package, an asteroid tracking + database, a medical information database, and several + geographic information systems. + Postgres has also been + used as an educational tool at several universities. + Finally, + Illustra Information Technologies + (since merged into + Informix) + picked up + the code and commercialized it. + Postgres became the primary data manager + for the + Sequoia 2000 + scientific computing project in late 1992. + + + + The size of the external user community + nearly doubled during 1993. It became increasingly + obvious that maintenance of the prototype code and + support was taking up large amounts of time that should + have been devoted to database research. In an effort + to reduce this support burden, the project officially + ended with Version 4.2. + + + + + <productname>Postgres95</productname> + + + In 1994, + Andrew Yu + and + Jolly Chen + added a SQL language interpreter to Postgres. + Postgres95 was subsequently released to + the Web to find its own way in the world as a public-domain, + open source descendant of the original Postgres + Berkeley code. + + + + Postgres95 code was completely + ANSI C and trimmed in size by 25%. Many + internal changes improved performance and maintainability. + Postgres95 v1.0.x ran about 30-50% + faster on the Wisconsin Benchmark compared to + Postgres v4.2. + Apart from bug fixes, these were the major enhancements: + + + + + The query language Postquel was replaced with + SQL (implemented in the server). + Subqueries were not supported until + PostgreSQL (see below), but they + could be imitated in Postgres95 with user-defined + SQL functions. Aggregates were + re-implemented. Support for the GROUP BY query clause was also added. + The libpq interface remained + available for C + programs. + + + + + + In addition to the monitor program, a new program + (psql) was provided for interactive SQL queries + using GNU readline. + + + + + + A new front-end library, libpgtcl, + supported Tcl-based clients. A sample shell, + pgtclsh, provided new Tcl commands to interface + tcl + programs with the Postgres95 backend. + + + + + + The large object interface was overhauled. The Inversion large objects were + the only mechanism for storing large objects. + (The Inversion file system was removed.) + + + + + + The instance-level rule system was removed. + Rules were still available as rewrite rules. + + + + + + A short tutorial introducing regular SQL features as + well as those of Postgres95 was + distributed with the source code. + + + + + + GNU make (instead of BSD make) was used + for the build. Also, Postgres95 could be + compiled with an unpatched gcc + (data alignment of doubles was fixed). + + + + + + + + <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> + + + By 1996, it became clear that the name Postgres95 would + not stand the test of time. We chose a new name, + PostgreSQL, to reflect the relationship + between the original Postgres and the more + recent versions with SQL capability. At the same + time, we set the version numbering to start at 6.0, putting the + numbers back into the sequence originally begun by the + Postgres Project. + + + + The emphasis during development of Postgres95 + was on identifying and understanding existing problems in the backend code. + With PostgreSQL, + the emphasis has shifted to augmenting features and capabilities, although + work continues in all areas. + + + + Major enhancements in PostgreSQL include: + + + + + + Table-level locking has been replaced with multi-version concurrency control, + which allows readers to continue reading consistent data during writer activity + and enables hot backups from pg_dump while the database stays available for + queries. + + + + + + Important backend features, including subselects, defaults, + constraints, and triggers, have been implemented. + + + + + + Additional SQL92-compliant language features have been added, + including primary keys, quoted identifiers, literal string type coersion, + type casting, and binary and hexadecimal integer input. + + + + + + Built-in types have been improved, including new wide-range date/time types + and additional geometric type support. + + + + + + Overall backend code speed has been increased by approximately 20-40%, + and backend startup time has decreased 80% since v6.0 was released. + + + + + + diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/info.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/info.sgml index 5b52927823..90deb9b67f 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/info.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/info.sgml @@ -1,152 +1,176 @@ - -Resources - - -This manual set is organized into several parts: - - - - -Tutorial - - -An introduction for new users. Does not cover advanced features. - - - - - -User's Guide - - -General information for users, including available commands and data types. - - - - - -Programmer's Guide - - -Advanced information for application programmers. Topics include -type and function extensibility, library interfaces, and application design issues. - - - - - -Administrator's Guide - - -Installation and management information. List of supported machines. - - - - - -Developer's Guide - - -Information for Postgres developers. This is intended -for those who are contributing to the Postgres -project; application development information should appear in the -Programmer's Guide. -Currently included in the Programmer's Guide. - - - - - -Reference Manual - - -Detailed reference information on command syntax. -Currently included in the User's Guide. - - - - - - -In addition to this manual set, there are other resources to help you with -Postgres installation and use: - - - - -man pages - - -The man pages have general information on command syntax. - - - - - -FAQs - - -The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents address both general issues -and some platform-specific issues. - - - - - -READMEs - - -README files are available for some contributed packages. - - - - - -Web Site - - -The Postgres web site has some information -not appearing in the distribution. There is a mhonarc catalog of mailing list traffic -which is a rich resource for many topics. - - - - - -Mailing Lists - - -The pgsql-general -mailing list is a good place to have user questions answered. -Other mailing lists are available; consult the Info Central section of the -PostgreSQL web site for details. - - - - - -Yourself! - - -Postgres is an open source product. -As such, it depends on the user community for -ongoing support. As you begin to use Postgres, -you will rely on others -for help, either through the documentation or through the mailing lists. -Consider contributing your -knowledge back. If you learn something which is not in the documentation, -write it up and contribute it. -If you add features to the code, contribute it. - - -Even those without a lot of experience can provide corrections and -minor changes in the documentation, and that is a good way to start. -The -pgsql-docs -mailing list is the place to get going. - - - - - - + + Resources + + + This manual set is organized into several parts: + + + + + Tutorial + + + An introduction for new users. Does not cover advanced features. + + + + + + User's Guide + + + General information for users, including available commands and data types. + + + + + + Programmer's Guide + + + Advanced information for application programmers. Topics include + type and function extensibility, library interfaces, + and application design issues. + + + + + + Administrator's Guide + + + Installation and management information. List of supported machines. + + + + + + Developer's Guide + + + Information for Postgres developers. + This is intended for those who are contributing to the + Postgres project; + application development information should appear in the + Programmer's Guide. + Currently included in the Programmer's Guide. + + + + + + Reference Manual + + + Detailed reference information on command syntax. + Currently included in the User's Guide. + + + + + + + In addition to this manual set, there are other resources to help you with + Postgres installation and use: + + + + + man pages + + + The man pages have general information on command syntax. + + + + + + FAQs + + + The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents address both general issues + and some platform-specific issues. + + + + + + READMEs + + + README files are available for some contributed packages. + + + + + + Web Site + + + The + Postgres + web site might have some information not appearing in the distribution. + There is a mhonarc catalog of mailing list traffic + which is a rich resource for many topics. + + + + + + Mailing Lists + + + The + pgsql-general + (archive) + mailing list is a good place to have user questions answered. + Other mailing lists are available; consult the Info Central section of the + PostgreSQL web site for details. + + + + + + Yourself! + + + Postgres is an open source product. + As such, it depends on the user community for ongoing support. + As you begin to use Postgres, + you will rely on others for help, either through the + documentation or through the mailing lists. + Consider contributing your knowledge back. If you learn something + which is not in the documentation, write it up and contribute it. + If you add features to the code, contribute it. + + + + Even those without a lot of experience can provide corrections and + minor changes in the documentation, and that is a good way to start. + The + pgsql-docs + (archive) + mailing list is the place to get going. + + + + + + + + -- 2.11.0