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Add new documentation on page format.

Martijn van Ooster
This commit is contained in:
Bruce Momjian 2002-06-20 21:48:47 +00:00
parent 42ef2c9cb7
commit d1fcd337e0

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@ -22,9 +22,13 @@ refers to data that is stored in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> tables.
</para> </para>
<para> <para>
<xref linkend="page-table"> shows how pages in both normal <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> tables
and <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> indexes <xref linkend="page-table"> shows how pages in both normal
(e.g., a B-tree index) are structured. <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> tables and
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> indexes (e.g., a B-tree index)
are structured. This structure is also used for toast tables and sequences.
There are five parts to each page.
</para> </para>
<table tocentry="1" id="page-table"> <table tocentry="1" id="page-table">
@ -42,114 +46,256 @@ Item
<tbody> <tbody>
<row>
<entry>PageHeaderData</entry>
<entry>20 bytes long. Contains general information about the page to allow to access it.</entry>
</row>
<row> <row>
<entry>itemPointerData</entry> <entry>itemPointerData</entry>
<entry>List of (offset,length) pairs pointing to the actual item.</entry>
</row> </row>
<row> <row>
<entry>filler</entry> <entry>Free space</entry>
<entry>The unallocated space. All new tuples are allocated from here, generally from the end.</entry>
</row> </row>
<row> <row>
<entry>itemData...</entry> <entry>items</entry>
</row> <entry>The actual items themselves. Different access method have different data here.</entry>
<row>
<entry>Unallocated Space</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>ItemContinuationData</entry>
</row> </row>
<row> <row>
<entry>Special Space</entry> <entry>Special Space</entry>
</row> <entry>Access method specific data. Different method store different data. Unused by normal tables.</entry>
<row>
<entry><quote>ItemData 2</quote></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><quote>ItemData 1</quote></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>ItemIdData</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>PageHeaderData</entry>
</row> </row>
</tbody> </tbody>
</tgroup> </tgroup>
</table> </table>
<!-- <para>
.\" Running
.\" .q .../bin/dumpbpages The first 20 bytes of each page consists of a page header
.\" or (PageHeaderData). It's format is detailed in <xref
.\" .q .../src/support/dumpbpages linkend="pageheaderdata-table">. The first two fields deal with WAL
.\" as the postgres superuser related stuff. This is followed by three 2-byte integer fields
.\" with the file paths associated with (<firstterm>lower</firstterm>, <firstterm>upper</firstterm>, and
.\" (heap or B-tree index) classes, <firstterm>special</firstterm>). These represent byte offsets to the start
.\" .q .../data/base/<database-name>/<class-name>, of unallocated space, to the end of unallocated space, and to the start of
.\" will display the page structure used by the classes. the special space.
.\" Specifying the
.\" .q -r </para>
.\" flag will cause the classes to be
.\" treated as heap classes and for more information to be displayed. <table tocentry="1" id="pageheaderdata-table">
--> <title>PageHeaderData Layout</title>
<titleabbrev>PageHeaderData Layout</titleabbrev>
<tgroup cols="4">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>Field</entry>
<entry>Type</entry>
<entry>Length</entry>
<entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry>pd_lsn</entry>
<entry>XLogRecPtr</entry>
<entry>6 bytes</entry>
<entry>LSN: next byte after last byte of xlog</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>pd_sui</entry>
<entry>StartUpID</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>SUI of last changes (currently it's used by heap AM only)</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>pd_lower</entry>
<entry>LocationIndex</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>Offset to start of free space.</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>pd_upper</entry>
<entry>LocationIndex</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>Offset to end of free space.</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>pd_special</entry>
<entry>LocationIndex</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>Offset to start of special space.</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>pd_opaque</entry>
<entry>OpaqueData</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>AM-generic information. Currently just stores the page size.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<para> <para>
The first 8 bytes of each page consists of a page header Special space is a region at the end of the page that is allocated at page
(PageHeaderData). initialization time and contains information specific to an access method.
Within the header, the first three 2-byte integer fields The last 2 bytes of the page header, <firstterm>opaque</firstterm>,
(<firstterm>lower</firstterm>, currently only stores the page size. Page size is stored in each page
<firstterm>upper</firstterm>, because frames in the buffer pool may be subdivided into equal sized pages
and on a frame by frame basis within a table (is this true? - mvo).
<firstterm>special</firstterm>)
represent byte offsets to the start of unallocated space, to the end
of unallocated space, and to the start of <firstterm>special space</firstterm>.
Special space is a region at the end of the page that is allocated at
page initialization time and contains information specific to an
access method. The last 2 bytes of the page header,
<firstterm>opaque</firstterm>,
encode the page size and information on the internal fragmentation of
the page. Page size is stored in each page because frames in the
buffer pool may be subdivided into equal sized pages on a frame by
frame basis within a table. The internal fragmentation information is
used to aid in determining when page reorganization should occur.
</para> </para>
<para> <para>
Following the page header are item identifiers Following the page header are item identifiers
(<firstterm>ItemIdData</firstterm>). (<firstterm>ItemIdData</firstterm>). New item identifiers are allocated
New item identifiers are allocated from the first four bytes of from the first four bytes of unallocated space. Because an item
unallocated space. Because an item identifier is never moved until it identifier is never moved until it is freed, its index may be used to
is freed, its index may be used to indicate the location of an item on indicate the location of an item on a page. In fact, every pointer to an
a page. In fact, every pointer to an item item (<firstterm>ItemPointer</firstterm>, also know as
(<firstterm>ItemPointer</firstterm>) <firstterm>CTID</firstterm>) created by
created by <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> consists of a frame number and an index of an item <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> consists of a frame number and an
identifier. An item identifier contains a byte-offset to the start of index of an item identifier. An item identifier contains a byte-offset to
an item, its length in bytes, and a set of attribute bits which affect the start of an item, its length in bytes, and a set of attribute bits
its interpretation. which affect its interpretation.
</para> </para>
<para> <para>
The items themselves are stored in space allocated backwards from
the end of unallocated space. Usually, the items are not interpreted. The items themselves are stored in space allocated backwards from the end
However when the item is too long to be placed on a single page or of unallocated space. The exact structure varies depending on what the
when fragmentation of the item is desired, the item is divided and table is to contain. Sequences and tables both use a structure named
each piece is handled as distinct items in the following manner. The <firstterm>HeapTupleHeaderData</firstterm>, describe below.
first through the next to last piece are placed in an item
continuation structure
(<firstterm>ItemContinuationData</firstterm>).
This structure contains
itemPointerData
which points to the next piece and the piece itself. The last piece
is handled normally.
</para> </para>
<para>
The final section is the "special section" which may contain anything the
access method wishes to store. Ordinary tables do not use this at all
(indicated by setting the offset to the pagesize).
</para>
<para>
All tuples are structured the same way. A header of around 31 bytes
followed by an optional null bitmask and the data. The header is detailed
below in <xref linkend="heaptupleheaderdata-table">. The null bitmask is
only present if the <firstterm>HEAP_HASNULL</firstterm> bit is set in the
<firstterm>t_infomask</firstterm>. If it is present it takes up the space
between the end of the header and the beginning of the data, as indicated
by the <firstterm>t_hoff</firstterm> field. In this list of bits, a 1 bit
indicates not-null, a 0 bit is a null.
</para>
<table tocentry="1" id="heaptupleheaderdata-table">
<title>HeapTupleHeaderData Layout</title>
<titleabbrev>HeapTupleHeaderData Layout</titleabbrev>
<tgroup cols="4">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>Field</entry>
<entry>Type</entry>
<entry>Length</entry>
<entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry>t_oid</entry>
<entry>Oid</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>OID of this tuple</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_cmin</entry>
<entry>CommandId</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>insert CID stamp</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_cmax</entry>
<entry>CommandId</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>delete CID stamp</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_xmin</entry>
<entry>TransactionId</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>insert XID stamp</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_xmax</entry>
<entry>TransactionId</entry>
<entry>4 bytes</entry>
<entry>delete XID stamp</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_ctid</entry>
<entry>ItemPointerData</entry>
<entry>6 bytes</entry>
<entry>current TID of this or newer tuple</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_natts</entry>
<entry>int16</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>number of attributes</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_infomask</entry>
<entry>uint16</entry>
<entry>2 bytes</entry>
<entry>Various flags</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>t_hoff</entry>
<entry>uint8</entry>
<entry>1 byte</entry>
<entry>length of tuple header. Also offset of data.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<para>
All the details may be found in src/include/storage/bufpage.h.
</para>
<para>
Interpreting the actual data can only be done with information obtained
from other tables, mostly <firstterm>pg_attribute</firstterm>. The
particular fields are <firstterm>attlen</firstterm> and
<firstterm>attalign</firstterm>. There is no way to directly get a
particular attribute, except when there are only fixed width fields and no
NULLs. All this trickery is wrapped up in the functions
<firstterm>heap_getattr</firstterm>, <firstterm>fastgetattr</firstterm>
and <firstterm>heap_getsysattr</firstterm>.
</para>
<para>
To read the data you need to examine each attribute in turn. First check
whether the field is NULL according to the null bitmap. If it is, go to
the next. Then make sure you have the right alignment. If the field is a
fixed width field, then all the bytes are simply placed. If it's a
variable length field (attlen == -1) then it's a bit more complicated,
using the variable length structure <firstterm>varattrib</firstterm>.
Depending on the flags, the data may be either inline, compressed or in
another table (TOAST).
</para>
</chapter> </chapter>