Readd test/regress/README file, this time with a well-defined and simple

rule to remake it when necessary.

doc/src/sgml/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #
 #
 # IDENTIFICATION
-#    $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/Makefile,v 1.39 2001/09/18 12:08:26 petere Exp $
+#    $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/Makefile,v 1.40 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $
 #
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ $(addsuffix .tex, $(ALLBOOKS)): %.tex: %.sgml $(ALLSGML) stylesheet.dsl
 
 JADE.text = $(JADE) $(JADEFLAGS) $(SGMLINCLUDE) -c $(CATALOG) -d stylesheet.dsl -i output-text -t sgml
 
-INSTALL HISTORY: % : %.html
+INSTALL HISTORY regress_README: % : %.html
 	@echo "|";\
-	 echo "| You should now take \`$<', save it as a text file in Netscape,";\
+	 echo "| You should now take '$<', save it as a text file in Netscape,";\
-	 echo "| and put it in place of the existing \`$@' file.";\
+	 echo "| and put it in place of the existing '$@' file.";\
 	 echo "|"
 
 INSTALL.html: standalone-install.sgml installation.sgml
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ HISTORY.html: release.sgml
 	$(JADE.text) -V nochunks tempfile_HISTORY.sgml >$@
 	rm tempfile_HISTORY.sgml
 
+regress_README.html: regress.sgml
+	( echo '<!doctype chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" ['; \
+	  echo '<!entity % standalone-ignore "IGNORE"> ]>'; \
+	  cat $< ) >tempfile_regress_README.sgml
+	$(JADE.text) -V nochunks tempfile_regress_README.sgml >$@
+	rm tempfile_regress_README.sgml
+
 
 ##
 ## Check

doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml,v 1.33 2001/09/13 15:55:22 petere Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml,v 1.34 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $ -->
 
 <appendix label="DG2" id="docguide">
  <title>Documentation</title>
@@ -901,21 +901,9 @@ exit
 
    <para>
     The file <filename>HISTORY</filename> can be created similarly,
-    using the command <userinput>gmake HISTORY</userinput>.  The table
+    using the command <userinput>gmake HISTORY</userinput>.  For the
-    of contents should be removed manually from the resulting text
+    file <filename>src/test/regress/README</filename> the command is
-    file.
+    <userinput>gmake regress_README</userinput>.
-   </para>
-
-   <para>
-    Since it does not change very often, the generation of the file
-    <filename>src/test/regress/README</filename> is not fully
-    automated.  After building the <acronym>HTML</acronym> version of
-    the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle>, convert the
-    resulting files <filename>regress.html</filename> and
-    <filename>regress-platform.html</filename> to text, using
-    <productname>Netscape</productname>.  Then paste the text files
-    together and edit them to taste (e.g., remove the navigation
-    bars, remove the references to other chapters).
    </para>
 
 <!--

doc/src/sgml/filelist.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/filelist.sgml,v 1.15 2001/09/02 23:27:49 petere Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/filelist.sgml,v 1.16 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $ -->
 
 <!entity history    SYSTEM "history.sgml">
 <!entity info       SYSTEM "info.sgml">
@@ -100,6 +100,11 @@
 <!entity sources    SYSTEM "sources.sgml">
 <!entity nls        SYSTEM "nls.sgml">
 
-<!-- see standalone-install.sgml about these -->
+<!--
-<!entity % flattext-install-ignore  "INCLUDE">
+ Some parts of the documentation are also source for some plain-text
-<!entity % flattext-install-include "IGNORE">
+ files used during installation.  To selectively ignore or include
+ some parts (e.g., external xref's) when generating these files we use
+ these parameter entities.  See also standalone-install.sgml.
+ -->
+<!entity % standalone-ignore  "INCLUDE">
+<!entity % standalone-include "IGNORE">

doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml,v 1.56 2001/09/16 16:11:09 petere Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml,v 1.57 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $ -->
 
 <chapter id="installation">
- <title><![%flattext-install-include[<productname>PostgreSQL</>]]>
+ <title><![%standalone-include[<productname>PostgreSQL</>]]>
   Installation Instructions</title>
 
  <indexterm zone="installation">
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ su - postgres
 /usr/local/pgsql/bin/psql test
 </synopsis>
    The long version is the rest of this
-   <![%flattext-install-include;[document.]]>
+   <![%standalone-include;[document.]]>
-   <![%flattext-install-ignore;[chapter.]]>
+   <![%standalone-ignore;[chapter.]]>
   </para>
  </sect1>
 
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ su - postgres
   </para>
  </sect1>
 
-<![%flattext-install-ignore;[
+<![%standalone-ignore;[
  <sect1 id="install-getsource">
   <title>Getting The Source</title>
 
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ su - postgres
      foreign keys), then use the <option>-o</option> option when running
      <command>pg_dumpall</>.  <command>pg_dumpall</command> does not
      save large objects.  Check
-     <![%flattext-install-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</>]]>
+     <![%standalone-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</>]]>
-     <![%flattext-install-ignore[<xref linkend="backup-dump-caveats">]]>
+     <![%standalone-ignore[<xref linkend="backup-dump-caveats">]]>
      if you need to do this.
     </para>
 
@@ -290,8 +290,8 @@ su - postgres
   <para>
    You can also install the new version in parallel with the old one
    to decrease the downtime. These topics are discussed at length in
-   <![%flattext-install-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</>,]]>
+   <![%standalone-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</>,]]>
-   <![%flattext-install-ignore[<xref linkend="migration">,]]>
+   <![%standalone-ignore[<xref linkend="migration">,]]>
    which you are encouraged
    to read in any case.
   </para>
@@ -531,8 +531,8 @@ su - postgres
        <listitem>
         <para>
          Enables single-byte character set recode support. See
-         <![%flattext-install-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle>]]>
+         <![%standalone-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle>]]>
-         <![%flattext-install-ignore[<xref linkend="recode">]]> about this feature.
+         <![%standalone-ignore[<xref linkend="recode">]]> about this feature.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
@@ -544,8 +544,8 @@ su - postgres
          Allows the use of multibyte character encodings. This is
          primarily for languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
          Read 
-         <![%flattext-install-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle>]]>
+         <![%standalone-include[the <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle>]]>
-         <![%flattext-install-ignore[<xref linkend="multibyte">]]>
+         <![%standalone-ignore[<xref linkend="multibyte">]]>
          for details.
         </para>
        </listitem>
@@ -902,10 +902,10 @@ All of PostgreSQL is successfully made. Ready to install.
 </screen>
     It is possible that some tests fail, due to differences in error
     message wording or floating point results.
-    <![%flattext-install-include[The file
+    <![%standalone-include[The file
     <filename>src/test/regress/README</> and the
     <citetitle>Administrator's Guide</citetitle> contain]]>
-    <![%flattext-install-ignore[<xref linkend="regress"> contains]]>
+    <![%standalone-ignore[<xref linkend="regress"> contains]]>
     detailed information about interpreting the test results. You can
     repeat this test at any later time by issuing the same command.
    </para>
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ MANPATH=$MANPATH:/usr/local/pgsql/man
  </sect1>
 
 
-<![%flattext-install-include;[
+<![%standalone-include;[
  <sect1 id="install-getting-started">
   <title>Getting Started</title>
 
@@ -1634,8 +1634,8 @@ gunzip -c user.ps.gz \
       <entry>2001-03-26, Magnus Hagander (<email>mha@sollentuna.net</email>)</entry>
       <entry>
        client-side libraries (<application>libpq</> and <application>psql</>) or ODBC/JDBC, no server-side;
-<![%flattext-install-include[see Administrator's Guide]]>
+<![%standalone-include[see Administrator's Guide]]>
-<![%flattext-install-ignore[see <xref linkend="install-win32">]]>
+<![%standalone-ignore[see <xref linkend="install-win32">]]>
        for instructions
       </entry>
      </row>

doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml

@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
-<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml,v 1.20 2001/09/11 02:24:52 ishii Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml,v 1.21 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $ -->
 
  <chapter id="regress">
   <title id="regress-title">Regression Tests</title>
 
-  <abstract>
+  <sect1 id="regress-intro">
-   <para>
+   <title>Introduction</title>
-    Regression test instructions and analysis
-   </para>
-  </abstract>
 
   <para>
    The regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the SQL
@@ -20,6 +17,11 @@
    the regression tests are current for every official release.
   </para>
 
+  </sect1>
+
+  <sect1 id="regress-run">
+   <title>Running the Tests</title>
+
   <para>
    The regression test can be run against an already installed and
    running server, or using a temporary installation within the build
@@ -97,9 +99,9 @@
   </tip>
 
   <para>
-   To run the tests after installation (see <xref
+   To run the tests after installation<![%standalone-ignore;[ (see <xref linkend="installation">)]]>,
-   linkend="installation">), initialize a data area and start the
+   initialize a data area and start the
-   server, as explained in <xref linkend="runtime">, then type
+   server, <![%standalone-ignore;[as explained in <xref linkend="runtime">, ]]> then type
 <screen>
 <prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>gmake installcheck</userinput>
 </screen>
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@
    default port number, unless directed otherwise by <envar>PGHOST</envar> and <envar>PGPORT</envar>
    environment variables.
   </para>
+  </sect1>
 
   <sect1 id="regress-evaluation">
    <title>Test Evaluation</title> 
@@ -255,7 +258,7 @@ PGTZ='PST8PDT7,M04.01.0,M10.05.03'; export PGTZ
       
     <para>
      Several of the tests involve operations on geographic data about
-     the Oakland/Berkeley, CA street map. The map data is expressed as
+     the Oakland/Berkeley, California street map. The map data is expressed as
      polygons whose vertices are represented as pairs of <type>double
      precision</type> numbers (decimal latitude and
      longitude). Initially, some tables are created and loaded with
@@ -277,15 +280,15 @@ SELECT * from iexit;
    </sect2>
 
    <sect2>
-    <title>Tuple ordering differences</title>
+    <title>Row ordering differences</title>
       
     <para>
-You might see differences in which the same tuples are output in a
+You might see differences in which the same rows are output in a
 different order than what appears in the expected file.  In most cases
 this is not, strictly speaking, a bug.  Most of the regression test
 scripts are not so pedantic as to use an ORDER BY for every single
-SELECT, and so their result tuple orderings are not well-defined
+SELECT, and so their result row orderings are not well-defined
-according to the letter of the SQL spec.  In practice, since we are
+according to the letter of the SQL specification.  In practice, since we are
 looking at the same queries being executed on the same data by the same
 software, we usually get the same result ordering on all platforms, and
 so the lack of ORDER BY isn't a problem.  Some queries do exhibit
@@ -325,12 +328,13 @@ diff results/random.out expected/random.out
      not worry unless the random test always fails in repeated
      attempts.  (On the other hand, if the random test is
      <emphasis>never</emphasis> reported to fail even in many trials
-     of the regress tests, you probably <emphasis>should</emphasis>
+     of the regression tests, you probably <emphasis>should</emphasis>
      worry.)
     </para>
    </sect2>
   </sect1>
 
+<![%standalone-ignore;[
 <!-- We might want to move the following section into the developer's guide. -->
   <sect1 id="regress-platform">
    <title>Platform-specific comparison files</title>
@@ -384,6 +388,7 @@ horology/hppa=horology-no-DST-before-1970
    </para>
     
   </sect1>
+]]>
   
 </chapter>
 

doc/src/sgml/standalone-install.sgml

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/standalone-install.sgml,v 2.2 2000/11/30 21:44:07 petere Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/standalone-install.sgml,v 2.3 2001/09/21 18:37:05 petere Exp $ -->
 
 <!--
 This file helps in generating the INSTALL text file that lives in the
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ equivalent of C's #ifdef and friends. The other end of this is in
 installation.sgml.
 -->
 
- <!entity % flattext-install-ignore  "IGNORE">
+ <!entity % standalone-ignore  "IGNORE">
- <!entity % flattext-install-include "INCLUDE">
+ <!entity % standalone-include "INCLUDE">
 
 <!--
 When you're building the Administrator's Guide, you want to flip the

src/test/regress/README

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+Regression Tests
+
+Introduction
+
+The regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the SQL
+implementation in PostgreSQL. They test standard SQL operations as well as
+the extended capabilities of PostgreSQL. The test suite was originally
+developed by Jolly Chen and Andrew Yu, and was extensively revised and
+repackaged by Marc Fournier and Thomas Lockhart. From PostgreSQL 6.1 onward
+the regression tests are current for every official release.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Running the Tests
+
+The regression test can be run against an already installed and running
+server, or using a temporary installation within the build tree.
+Furthermore, there is a "parallel" and a "sequential" mode for running the
+tests. The sequential method runs each test script in turn, whereas the
+parallel method starts up multiple server processes to run groups of tests
+in parallel. Parallel testing gives confidence that interprocess
+communication and locking are working correctly. For historical reasons, the
+sequential test is usually run against an existing installation and the
+parallel method against a temporary installation, but there are no technical
+reasons for this.
+
+To run the regression tests after building but before installation, type
+
+$ gmake check
+
+in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to src/test/regress and run
+the command there.) This will first build several auxiliary files, such as
+platform-dependent "expected" files and some sample user-defined trigger
+functions, and then run the test driver script. At the end you should see
+something like
+
+======================
+ All 77 tests passed.
+======================
+
+or otherwise a note about what tests failed. See the Section called Test
+Evaluation below for more.
+
+     Note: Because this test method runs a temporary server, it will
+     not work when you are the root user (the server will not start as
+     root). If you already did the build as root, you do not have to
+     start all over. Instead, make the regression test directory
+     writable by some other user, log in as that user, and restart the
+     tests. For example,
+
+     root# chmod -R a+w src/test/regress
+     root# chmod -R a+w contrib/spi
+     root# su - joeuser
+     joeuser$ cd <build top-level directory>
+     joeuser$ gmake check
+
+     (The only possible "security risk" here is that other users might
+     be able to alter the regression test results behind your back. Use
+     common sense when managing user permissions.)
+
+     Alternatively, run the tests after installation.
+
+     Tip: On some systems, the default Bourne-compatible shell
+     (/bin/sh) gets confused when it has to manage too many child
+     processes in parallel. This may cause the parallel test run to
+     lock up or fail. In such cases, specify a different
+     Bourne-compatible shell on the command line, for example:
+
+     $ gmake SHELL=/bin/ksh check
+
+To run the tests after installation, initialize a data area and start the
+server, then type
+
+$ gmake installcheck
+
+The tests will expect to contact the server at the local host and the
+default port number, unless directed otherwise by PGHOST and PGPORT
+environment variables.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Test Evaluation
+
+Some properly installed and fully functional PostgreSQL installations can
+"fail" some of these regression tests due to platform-specific artifacts
+such as varying floating point representation and time zone support. The
+tests are currently evaluated using a simple diff comparison against the
+outputs generated on a reference system, so the results are sensitive to
+small system differences. When a test is reported as "failed", always
+examine the differences between expected and actual results; you may well
+find that the differences are not significant. Nonetheless, we still strive
+to maintain accurate reference files across all supported platforms, so it
+can be expected that all tests pass.
+
+The actual outputs of the regression tests are in files in the
+src/test/regress/results directory. The test script uses diff to compare
+each output file against the reference outputs stored in the
+src/test/regress/expected directory. Any differences are saved for your
+inspection in src/test/regress/regression.diffs. (Or you can run diff
+yourself, if you prefer.)
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Error message differences
+
+Some of the regression tests involve intentional invalid input values. Error
+messages can come from either the PostgreSQL code or from the host platform
+system routines. In the latter case, the messages may vary between
+platforms, but should reflect similar information. These differences in
+messages will result in a "failed" regression test that can be validated by
+inspection.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Locale differences
+
+The tests expect to run in plain "C" locale. This should not cause any
+problems when you run the tests against a temporary installation, since the
+regression test driver takes care to start the server in C locale. However,
+if you run the tests against an already-installed server that is using non-C
+locale settings, you may see differences caused by varying rules for string
+sort order, formatting of numeric and monetary values, and so forth.
+
+In some locales the resulting differences are small and easily checked by
+inspection. However, in a locale that changes the rules for formatting of
+numeric values (typically by swapping the usage of commas and decimal
+points), entry of some data values will fail, resulting in extensive
+differences later in the tests where the missing data values are supposed to
+be used.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Date and time differences
+
+Some of the queries in the timestamp test will fail if you run the test on
+the day of a daylight-savings time changeover, or the day before or after
+one. These queries assume that the intervals between midnight yesterday,
+midnight today and midnight tomorrow are exactly twenty-four hours -- which
+is wrong if daylight-savings time went into or out of effect meanwhile.
+
+Most of the date and time results are dependent on the time zone
+environment. The reference files are generated for time zone PST8PDT
+(Berkeley, California) and there will be apparent failures if the tests are
+not run with that time zone setting. The regression test driver sets
+environment variable PGTZ to PST8PDT, which normally ensures proper results.
+However, your system must provide library support for the PST8PDT time zone,
+or the time zone-dependent tests will fail. To verify that your machine does
+have this support, type the following:
+
+$ env TZ=PST8PDT date
+
+The command above should have returned the current system time in the
+PST8PDT time zone. If the PST8PDT database is not available, then your
+system may have returned the time in GMT. If the PST8PDT time zone is not
+available, you can set the time zone rules explicitly:
+
+PGTZ='PST8PDT7,M04.01.0,M10.05.03'; export PGTZ
+
+There appear to be some systems that do not accept the recommended syntax
+for explicitly setting the local time zone rules; you may need to use a
+different PGTZ setting on such machines.
+
+Some systems using older time zone libraries fail to apply daylight-savings
+corrections to dates before 1970, causing pre-1970 PDT times to be displayed
+in PST instead. This will result in localized differences in the test
+results.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Floating point differences
+
+Some of the tests involve computing 64-bit (double precision) numbers from
+table columns. Differences in results involving mathematical functions of
+double precision columns have been observed. The float8 and geometry tests
+are particularly prone to small differences across platforms, or even with
+different compiler optimization options. Human eyeball comparison is needed
+to determine the real significance of these differences which are usually 10
+places to the right of the decimal point.
+
+Some systems signal errors from pow() and exp() differently from the
+mechanism expected by the current PostgreSQL code.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Polygon differences
+
+Several of the tests involve operations on geographic data about the
+Oakland/Berkeley, California street map. The map data is expressed as
+polygons whose vertices are represented as pairs of double precision numbers
+(decimal latitude and longitude). Initially, some tables are created and
+loaded with geographic data, then some views are created that join two
+tables using the polygon intersection operator (##), then a select is done
+on the view.
+
+When comparing the results from different platforms, differences occur in
+the 2nd or 3rd place to the right of the decimal point. The SQL statements
+where these problems occur are the following:
+
+SELECT * from street;
+SELECT * from iexit;
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Row ordering differences
+
+You might see differences in which the same rows are output in a different
+order than what appears in the expected file. In most cases this is not,
+strictly speaking, a bug. Most of the regression test scripts are not so
+pedantic as to use an ORDER BY for every single SELECT, and so their result
+row orderings are not well-defined according to the letter of the SQL
+specification. In practice, since we are looking at the same queries being
+executed on the same data by the same software, we usually get the same
+result ordering on all platforms, and so the lack of ORDER BY isn't a
+problem. Some queries do exhibit cross-platform ordering differences,
+however. (Ordering differences can also be triggered by non-C locale
+settings.)
+
+Therefore, if you see an ordering difference, it's not something to worry
+about, unless the query does have an ORDER BY that your result is violating.
+But please report it anyway, so that we can add an ORDER BY to that
+particular query and thereby eliminate the bogus "failure" in future
+releases.
+
+You might wonder why we don't order all the regress test queries explicitly
+to get rid of this issue once and for all. The reason is that that would
+make the regression tests less useful, not more, since they'd tend to
+exercise query plan types that produce ordered results to the exclusion of
+those that don't.
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The "random" test
+
+There is at least one case in the "random" test script that is intended to
+produce random results. This causes random to fail the regression test once
+in a while (perhaps once in every five to ten trials). Typing
+
+diff results/random.out expected/random.out
+
+should produce only one or a few lines of differences. You need not worry
+unless the random test always fails in repeated attempts. (On the other
+hand, if the random test is never reported to fail even in many trials of
+the regression tests, you probably should worry.)