(doc patch) psql version compatibility
Hackorum builds and tests every patch posted to the lists, not only commitfest submissions. This is Hackorum's own CI rather than the PostgreSQL project's, and it is still under testing - please report anything that looks wrong.
You can run a PostgreSQL built from this patch straight from Docker, with no checkout and no build:
docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 ghcr.io/hackorum-dev/postgres-patch:t46562psql -h localhost -U postgresBuilt from patchset v3 (message #3), July 28, 2026 at 02:06 AM.
Every patchset is also pushed to a branch of our PostgreSQL fork, so you can check out the same tree CI built. Without a PostgreSQL checkout:
git clone --branch t46562_3 https://github.com/hackorum-dev/postgres.gitIn a checkout you already have, add the fork once:
git remote add hackorum https://github.com/hackorum-dev/postgres.gitthen, for this patchset and every later one:
git fetch hackorum t46562_3 && git checkout t46562_3Patchset v3 (message #3) is on t46562_3
Hi,
I didn't understand the current wording of the NOTES section in
psql(1) on which major versions psql is compatible with, so here's a
patch to make that more explicit.
Christoph
Attachments:
0001-psql-ref.sgml-Be-more-specific-about-major-versions-.patchtext/x-diff; charset=us-asciiDownload+6-8
Christoph Berg <myon@debian.org> writes:
I didn't understand the current wording of the NOTES section in
psql(1) on which major versions psql is compatible with, so here's a
patch to make that more explicit.
This seems both very repetitive and incorrect in detail.
Some operations will work fine with older servers, some won't.
I don't think that we want to undertake documenting exactly
which commands work how far back, so my inclination is to
add a nonspecific disclaimer along the lines of
Some commands may not work with very old servers (before 9.2).
regards, tom lane
Re: Tom Lane
Christoph Berg <myon@debian.org> writes:
I didn't understand the current wording of the NOTES section in
psql(1) on which major versions psql is compatible with, so here's a
patch to make that more explicit.This seems both very repetitive and incorrect in detail.
Meh, I tried to preserve as much of the original text as reasonable,
but we can strip it down further.
Some operations will work fine with older servers, some won't.
I don't think that we want to undertake documenting exactly
which commands work how far back, so my inclination is to
add a nonspecific disclaimer along the lines ofSome commands may not work with very old servers (before 9.2).
I'd like it do say "it works with 9.2" when that's what the code is
implementing.
How about this?
<para><application>psql</application> works with servers of the same
or an older major version, back to 9.2. The general
functionality of running SQL commands and displaying query results
should also work with servers of other major versions, but
backslash commands are particularly likely to fail.
</para>
<para>
If you want to use <application>psql</application> to connect to several
servers of different major versions, it is recommended that you use the
newest version of <application>psql</application>. (To connect to pre-9.2 servers,
use <application>psql</application> 14 or earlier.)
</para>
Christoph