Subject: Re: Rename backup_label to recovery_control

From: Peter Eisentraut <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2023 09:07:38 +0200

On 16.10.23 17:15, David Steele wrote:
>> I also do wonder with recovery_control is really a better name. Maybe
>> I just have backup_label too firmly stuck in my head, but is what that
>> file does really best described as recovery control? I'm not so sure
>> about that.
> 
> The thing it does that describes it as "recovery control" in my view is 
> that it contains the LSN where Postgres must start recovery (plus TLI, 
> backup method, etc.). There is some other informational stuff in there, 
> but the important fields are all about ensuring consistent recovery.
> 
> At the end of the day the entire point of backup *is* recovery and users 
> will interact with this file primarily in recovery scenarios.

Maybe "restore" is better than "recovery", since recovery also happens 
separate from backups, but restoring is something you do with a backup 
(and there is also restore_command etc.).

---

From: David Steele <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:31:26 -0400

On 10/18/23 03:07, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>> The thing it does that describes it as "recovery control" in my view 
>> is that it contains the LSN where Postgres must start recovery (plus 
>> TLI, backup method, etc.). There is some other informational stuff in 
>> there, but the important fields are all about ensuring consistent 
>> recovery.
>>
>> At the end of the day the entire point of backup *is* recovery and 
>> users will interact with this file primarily in recovery scenarios.
> 

I would not object to restore (there is restore_command) but I do think 
of what PostgreSQL does as "recovery" as opposed to "restore", which 
comes before the recovery. Recovery is used a lot in the docs and there 
is also recovery.signal.

But based on the discussion in [1] I think we might be able to do away 
with backup_label entirely, which would make this change moot.

Regards,
-David

[1] 
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/0f948866-7caf-0759-d53c-93c3e266ec3f%40pgmasters.net