Message-ID: <ae61f593b83ef62e5737c205a04498ea281b8a02.camel@cybertec.at>
Subject: Re: Documentation clarification request: pg_dumpall and Large
 Objects
From: Laurenz Albe <laurenz.albe@cybertec.at>
To: "Radoulov, Dimitre" <cichomitiko@gmail.com>
Cc: pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:23:35 +0100
In-Reply-To: <b8358ac2148b9daf30c27b50a8cb9c8f2c4e40f9.camel@cybertec.at>
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On Thu, 2025-12-04 at 19:11 +0100, Laurenz Albe wrote:
> On Thu, 2025-12-04 at 18:12 +0100, Radoulov, Dimitre wrote:
> > Il Gio 4 Dic 2025, 16:50 Laurenz Albe <laurenz.albe@cybertec.at> ha scr=
itto:
> > > On Thu, 2025-12-04 at 13:12 +0100, Radoulov, Dimitre wrote:
> > > > I would like to request a clarification in the pg_dumpall
> > > > documentation regarding Large Objects (LOBs). The current
> > > > documentation does not explicitly state whether pg_dumpall includes
> > > > Large Objects in its output.
> > >=20
> > > I admit that you have to go by circumstantial evidence here.=C2=A0 Bu=
t rather
> > > than explicitly naming large objects, perhaps it would be useful to a=
dd something
> > > like
> > >=20
> > > =C2=A0 pg_dumpall is primarily intended as a tool to upgrade database=
 clusters.
> > > =C2=A0 As such, it by default exports all data of the entire cluster.
> > > =C2=A0 The only part of the state of a database cluster that is *not*=
 included
> > > =C2=A0 in the output of pg_dumpall are the configuration files and da=
tabase parameters
> > > =C2=A0 changed with ALTER SYSTEM.
>=20
> Attached is a patch for such a change.

Commit 763aaa06f0 has changed the situation: with the addition of other for=
mats
than the plain format, it no longer makes sense to say that pg_dumpall
is not useful for backup.  Still, we should clarify what is *not* included.

The attached patch does that and in passing improves the readability.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

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