[postgis-devel] Plan release PostGIS 3.4.0 this weekend

[Sandro Santilli]

On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 07:49:19PM -0400, Greg Troxel wrote:

>     Usage: /usr/pkg/bin/postgis <command> [<args>]
>     Commands:
>       help               print this message and exits
>       enable <database>  enable PostGIS in given database
>       upgrade <database> upgrade PostGIS in given database
>       status <database>  print PostGIS status in given database
>       install-extension-upgrades [--pg_sharedir <dir>] [--extension <name>] [<from>...]
>                     Ensure files required to upgrade PostGIS from
>                     the given version are installed on the system.
>                     The <from> arguments may be either version numbers
>                     or PostgreSQL share directories to scan to find available
>                     ones.

[...]

> But install-extension-upgrades: I can't figure out that that means,
> given that these files are installed by the default build.

As long as things work for you there's no need to use that command,
in the (unlikely?) case you get a message like this, you'll be glad
to have that command available:

  ERROR:  extension "postgis" has no update path from version "3.4.0" to version "ANY"

> So where do they get installed *to*?

To `pg_config --sharedir`/extension or to the extension subdir of
the directory you specify with --pg_sharedir.

> And if they aren't installed already, I don't
> know where they come from, because at runtime, the source is no longer
> available.

PostGIS bets on being able to upgrade from any past version, without
the need to have the old code available.

>  Finally, I don't know if "ensure" means "make it so" or
> "print an error if it isn't so".

It means "make it so".

> postgis_restore's help does not seem to use the new 'postgis' command.
> Which points out that the new command doesn't seem to work with
> extensions.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the new command". The postgis_restore
command is very old and is only useful for dumps of databases which
were postgis-enabled without using extension.

> I admit to not having paid attention lately.   So me not understanding
> may be my fault, but it may also be helpful to see how someone not on
> the inside perceives things.

Suggestions to improve the man pages are welcome, since we now have them
(installed as of latest commits in both 3.4 and master branches).

--strk;