From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
To: Corey Huinker <corey.huinker@gmail.com>
cc: nathandbossart@gmail.com, pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org
Subject: Re: Add starelid, attnum to pg_stats and leverage this in pg_dump
In-reply-to: <CADkLM=coCVy92QkVUUTLdo5eO2bMDtwMrzRn_8miAhX+uPaqXg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CADkLM=coCVy92QkVUUTLdo5eO2bMDtwMrzRn_8miAhX+uPaqXg@mail.gmail.com>
Comments: In-reply-to Corey Huinker <corey.huinker@gmail.com>
	message dated "Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:22:06 -0500"
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:36:07 -0500
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Corey Huinker <corey.huinker@gmail.com> writes:
> Per side conversation in [1], this patch exposes pg_statistic.starelid in
> the pg_stats view (0001) and then changes pg_dump to use the starelid in
> the queries on pg_stats rather than the combination of schemaname+relname,

I don't object to the idea, but I don't like exposing the name
"starelid".  That just screams implementation artifact, and it
goes against the idea that pg_stats is trying to hide the physical
representation of pg_statistic.  I wish we could use "tableoid",
but that's taken already as a system column.  Maybe "tableid" or
"tablerelid"?

Also, the proposed column ordering seems excessively random:

        n.nspname AS schemaname,
        c.relname AS tablename,
        s.starelid AS starelid,
        a.attnum AS attnum,
        a.attname AS attname,
        stainherit AS inherited,

I could see either of these as plausible:

        n.nspname AS schemaname,
        c.relname AS tablename,
        s.starelid AS tableid,
        a.attname AS attname,
        a.attnum AS attnum,
        stainherit AS inherited,

        n.nspname AS schemaname,
        c.relname AS tablename,
        a.attname AS attname,
        s.starelid AS tableid,
        a.attnum AS attnum,
        stainherit AS inherited,

but I don't see the rationale behind your version.

			regards, tom lane