Message-ID: <b6edba3f2eea272a5b663935544e89e8a15221ac.camel@cybertec.at>
Subject: Re: 7.2.1. The FROM Clause
From: Laurenz Albe <laurenz.albe@cybertec.at>
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Cc: jochen.bandhauer@gmx.net, pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 08:39:05 +0200
In-Reply-To: <118332.1781469634@sss.pgh.pa.us>
References: 
	<178125831604.1285960.8250607197280951685@wrigleys.postgresql.org>
	 <36df7ebde5717e34d88228266c8aef21dc6e8c75.camel@cybertec.at>
	 <118332.1781469634@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=-yByI+hVlatRoWMjLARsd"
User-Agent: Evolution 3.58.3 (3.58.3-1.fc43) 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Archived-At: 
 <https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/b6edba3f2eea272a5b663935544e89e8a15221ac.camel%40cybertec.at>
Precedence: bulk

--=-yByI+hVlatRoWMjLARsd
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

On Sun, 2026-06-14 at 16:40 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Laurenz Albe <laurenz.albe@cybertec.at> writes:
> > To be honest, I only learned about the syntax
> > "tab *" a few days ago.  Digging through the history, this syntax has b=
een
> > obsolete since 2000.  I think we could remove both the paragraph that c=
onfuses
> > you and the asterisk from the syntax diagram.
>=20
> I think we've discussed that before, and concluded that removing the
> docs would be a disservice to users who are trying to read old code
> that does this and don't know what it means.  Maybe that argument
> is too weak now to justify keeping the docs, but I'm unsure.
> I'd be inclined to just rephrase this sentence in hopes of making
> it less ambiguous.

Fine by me; here is a patch.

I could not resist the temptation to remove the "now always" in
"searching descendant tables is now always the default".  That sounds
too much like this was a recent change.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

--=-yByI+hVlatRoWMjLARsd
Content-Disposition: attachment;
	filename="v1-0001-Reword-doc-for-asterisk-after-table-names.patch"
Content-Type: text/x-patch;
	name="v1-0001-Reword-doc-for-asterisk-after-table-names.patch";
	charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
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--=-yByI+hVlatRoWMjLARsd--