- Synopsis
- Description
- The hint table
- Installation
- Unistallation
- Details in hinting
- Errors
- Functional limitations
- Requirements
- Hints list
pg_hint_plan
makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments, like /*+ SeqScan(a) */
.
PostgreSQL uses a cost-based optimizer, which utilizes data statistics, not static rules. The planner (optimizer) esitimates costs of each possible execution plans for a SQL statement then the execution plan with the lowest cost finally be executed. The planner does its best to select the best best execution plan, but is not always perfect, since it doesn't count some properties of the data, for example, correlation between columns.
pg_hint_plan
reads hinting phrases in a comment of special form given with the target SQL statement. The special form is beginning by the character sequence "/\*+"
and ends with "\*/"
. Hint phrases are consists of hint name and following parameters enclosed by parentheses and delimited by spaces. Each hinting phrases can be delimited by new lines for readability.
In the example below, hash join is selected as the joning method and scanning pgbench_accounts
by sequential scan method.
postgres=# /*+ postgres*# HashJoin(a b) postgres*# SeqScan(a) postgres*# */ postgres-# EXPLAIN SELECT * postgres-# FROM pgbench_branches b postgres-# JOIN pgbench_accounts a ON b.bid = a.bid postgres-# ORDER BY a.aid; QUERY PLAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort (cost=31465.84..31715.84 rows=100000 width=197) Sort Key: a.aid -> Hash Join (cost=1.02..4016.02 rows=100000 width=197) Hash Cond: (a.bid = b.bid) -> Seq Scan on pgbench_accounts a (cost=0.00..2640.00 rows=100000 width=97) -> Hash (cost=1.01..1.01 rows=1 width=100) -> Seq Scan on pgbench_branches b (cost=0.00..1.01 rows=1 width=100) (7 rows) postgres=#
Hints are described in a comment in a special form in the above section. This is inconvenient in the case where queries cannot be edited. In the case hints can be placed in a special table named "hint_plan.hints"
. The table consists of the following columns.
column | description |
---|---|
id |
Unique number to identify a row for a hint. This column is filled automatically by sequence. |
norm_query_string |
A pattern matches to the query to be hinted. Constants in the query have to be replace with '?' as in the following example. White space is significant in the pattern. |
application_name |
The value of application_name of sessions to apply the hint. The hint in the example below applies to sessions connected from psql. An empty string means sessions of any application_name . |
hints |
Hint phrase. This must be a series of hints excluding surrounding comment marks. |
The following example shows how to operate with the hint table.
postgres=# INSERT INTO hint_plan.hints(norm_query_string, application_name, hints)
postgres-# VALUES (
postgres(# 'EXPLAIN (COSTS false) SELECT * FROM t1 WHERE t1.id = ?;',
postgres(# '',
postgres(# 'SeqScan(t1)'
postgres(# );
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# UPDATE hint_plan.hints
postgres-# SET hints = 'IndexScan(t1)'
postgres-# WHERE id = 1;
UPDATE 1
postgres=# DELETE FROM hint_plan.hints
postgres-# WHERE id = 1;
DELETE 1
postgres=#
The hint table is owned by the creator user and having the default privileges at the time of creation. during CREATE EXTENSION
. Table hints are prioritized over comment hits.
Hinting phrases are classified into six types based on what kind of object and how they can affect planning. Scanning methods, join methods, joining order, row number correction, parallel query, and GUC setting. You will see the lists of hint phrases of each type in Hint list.
Scan method hints enforce specific scanning method on the target table. pg_hint_plan
recognizes the target table by alias names if any. They are SeqScan
, IndexScan
and so on in this kind of hint.
Scan hints are effective on ordinary tables, inheritance tables, UNLOGGED tables, temporary tables and system catalogs. External (foreign) tables, table functions, VALUES clause, CTEs, views and subquiries are not affected.
postgres=# /*+
postgres*# SeqScan(t1)
postgres*# IndexScan(t2 t2_pkey)
postgres*# */
postgres-# SELECT * FROM table1 t1 JOIN table table2 t2 ON (t1.key = t2.key);
Join method hints enforce the join methods of the joins involving specified tables.
This can affect on joins only on ordinary tables, inheritance tables, UNLOGGED tables, temporary tables, external (foreign) tables, system catalogs, table functions, VALUES command results and CTEs are allowed to be in the parameter list. But joins on views and sub query are not affected.
This hint "Leading" enforces the order of join on two or more tables. There are two ways of enforcing. One is enforcing specific order of joining but not restricting direction at each join level. Another enfoces join direction additionaly. Details are seen in the hint list table.
postgres=# /*+
postgres*# NestLoop(t1 t2)
postgres*# MergeJoin(t1 t2 t3)
postgres*# Leading(t1 t2 t3)
postgres*# */
postgres-# SELECT * FROM table1 t1
postgres-# JOIN table table2 t2 ON (t1.key = t2.key)
postgres-# JOIN table table3 t3 ON (t2.key = t3.key);
This hint "Rows" corrects row number misestimation of joins that comes from restrictions of the planner.
postgres=# /*+ Rows(a b #10) */ SELECT... ; Sets rows of join result to 10
postgres=# /*+ Rows(a b +10) */ SELECT... ; Increments row number by 10
postgres=# /*+ Rows(a b -10) */ SELECT... ; Subtracts 10 from the row number.
postgres=# /*+ Rows(a b *10) */ SELECT... ; Makes the number 10 times larger.
This hint Parallel
enforces parallel execution configuration on scans. The third parameter specifies the strength of enfocement. soft
means that pg_hint_plan
only changes max_parallel_worker_per_gather
and leave all others to planner. hard
changes other planner parameters so as to forcibly apply the number. This can affect on ordinary tables, inheritnce parents, unlogged tables and system catalogues. External tables, table functions, values clause, CTEs, views and subqueries are not affected. Internal tables of a view can be specified by its real name/alias as the target object. The following example shows that the query is enforced differently on each table.
postgres=# explain /*+ Parallel(c1 3 hard) Parallel(c2 5 hard) */
SELECT c2.a FROM c1 JOIN c2 ON (c1.a = c2.a);
QUERY PLAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hash Join (cost=2.86..11406.38 rows=101 width=4)
Hash Cond: (c1.a = c2.a)
-> Gather (cost=0.00..7652.13 rows=1000101 width=4)
Workers Planned: 3
-> Parallel Seq Scan on c1 (cost=0.00..7652.13 rows=322613 width=4)
-> Hash (cost=1.59..1.59 rows=101 width=4)
-> Gather (cost=0.00..1.59 rows=101 width=4)
Workers Planned: 5
-> Parallel Seq Scan on c2 (cost=0.00..1.59 rows=59 width=4)
postgres=# EXPLAIN /*+ Parallel(tl 5 hard) */ SELECT sum(a) FROM tl;
QUERY PLAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finalize Aggregate (cost=693.02..693.03 rows=1 width=8)
-> Gather (cost=693.00..693.01 rows=5 width=8)
Workers Planned: 5
-> Partial Aggregate (cost=693.00..693.01 rows=1 width=8)
-> Parallel Seq Scan on tl (cost=0.00..643.00 rows=20000 width=4)
Set
hint changes GUC parameters just while planning. GUC parameter shown in Query Planning can have the expected effects on planning unless any other hint conflicts with the planner method configuration parameters. The last one among hints on the same GUC parameter makes effect. GUC parameters for pg_hint_plan
are also settable by this hint but it won't work as your expectation. See Restrictions for details.
postgres=# /*+ Set(random_page_cost 2.0) */
postgres-# SELECT * FROM table1 t1 WHERE key = 'value';
...
GUC parameters below affect the behavior of pg_hint_plan
.
Parameter name | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
pg_hint_plan.enable_hint |
True enbles pg_hint_plan . |
on |
pg_hint_plan.enable_hint_table |
True enbles hinting by table. true or false . |
off |
pg_hint_plan.parse_messages |
Specifies the log level of hint parse error. Valid values are error , warning , notice , info , log , debug . |
INFO |
pg_hint_plan.debug_print |
Controls debug print and verbosity. Valid vaiues are off , on , detailed and verbose . |
off |
pg_hint_plan.message_level |
Specifies message level of debug print. Valid values are error , warning , notice , info , log , debug . |
INFO |
This section describes the installation steps.
Simply run make
at the top of the source tree, then make install
as an appropriate user. The PATH
environment variable should be set properly for the target PostgreSQL for this process.
$ tar xzvf pg_hint_plan-1.x.x.tar.gz
$ cd pg_hint_plan-1.x.x
$ make
$ su
# make install
Basically pg_hint_plan
does not require CREATE EXTENSION
. Simply loading it by LOAD
command will activate it and of course you can load it globally by setting shared_preload_libraries
in postgresql.conf
. Or you might be interested in ALTER USER SET
/ALTER DATABASE SET
for automatic loading for specific sessions.
postgres=# LOAD 'pg_hint_plan';
LOAD
postgres=#
Do CREATE EXTENSION
and SET pg_hint_plan.enable_hint_tables TO on
if you are planning to hint tables.
make uninstall
in the top directory of source tree will uninstall the installed files if you installed from the source tree and it is left available.
$ cd pg_hint_plan-1.x.x
$ su
# make uninstall
pg_hint_plan
reads hints from only the first block comment and any characters except alphabets, digits, spaces, underscores, commas and parentheses stops parsing immediately. In the following example HashJoin(a b)
and SeqScan(a)
are parsed as hints but IndexScan(a)
and MergeJoin(a b)
are not.
postgres=# /*+
postgres*# HashJoin(a b)
postgres*# SeqScan(a)
postgres*# */
postgres-# /*+ IndexScan(a) */
postgres-# EXPLAIN SELECT /*+ MergeJoin(a b) */ *
postgres-# FROM pgbench_branches b
postgres-# JOIN pgbench_accounts a ON b.bid = a.bid
postgres-# ORDER BY a.aid;
QUERY PLAN
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sort (cost=31465.84..31715.84 rows=100000 width=197)
Sort Key: a.aid
-> Hash Join (cost=1.02..4016.02 rows=100000 width=197)
Hash Cond: (a.bid = b.bid)
-> Seq Scan on pgbench_accounts a (cost=0.00..2640.00 rows=100000 width=97)
-> Hash (cost=1.01..1.01 rows=1 width=100)
-> Seq Scan on pgbench_branches b (cost=0.00..1.01 rows=1 width=100)
(7 rows)
postgres=#
pg_hint_plan
works for queries in PL/pgSQL scripts with some restrictions.
-
Hints affect only on the following kind of queires.
- Queries that returns one row. (
SELECT
,INSERT
,UPDATE
andDELETE
) - Queries that returns multiple rows. (
RETURN QUERY
) - Dynamic SQL statements. (
EXECUTE
) - Cursor open. (
OPEN
) - Loop over result of a query (
FOR
)
- Queries that returns one row. (
-
A hint comment have to be placed after the first word in a query as the following since preceding comments are not sent as a part of the query.
postgres=# CREATE FUNCTION hints_func(integer) RETURNS integer AS $$ postgres$# DECLARE postgres$# id integer; postgres$# cnt integer; postgres$# BEGIN postgres$# SELECT /*+ NoIndexScan(a) */ aid postgres$# INTO id FROM pgbench_accounts a WHERE aid = $1; postgres$# SELECT /*+ SeqScan(a) */ count(*) postgres$# INTO cnt FROM pgbench_accounts a; postgres$# RETURN id + cnt; postgres$# END; postgres$# $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Unlike the way PostgreSQL handles object names, pg_hint_plan
compares bare object names in hints against the database internal object names in case sensitive way. Therefore an object name TBL in a hint matches only "TBL" in database and does not match any unquoted names like TBL, tbl or Tbl.
The objects as the hint parameter should be enclosed by double quotes if they includes parentheses, double quotes and white spaces. The escaping rule is the same as PostgreSQL.
pg_hint_plan
identifies the target object by using aliases if exists. This behavior is usable to point a specific occurance among multiple occurances of one table.
postgres=# /*+ HashJoin(t1 t1) */
postgres-# EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM s1.t1
postgres-# JOIN public.t1 ON (s1.t1.id=public.t1.id);
INFO: hint syntax error at or near "HashJoin(t1 t1)"
DETAIL: Relation name "t1" is ambiguous.
...
postgres=# /*+ HashJoin(pt st) */
postgres-# EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM s1.t1 st
postgres-# JOIN public.t1 pt ON (st.id=pt.id);
QUERY PLAN
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hash Join (cost=64.00..1112.00 rows=28800 width=8)
Hash Cond: (st.id = pt.id)
-> Seq Scan on t1 st (cost=0.00..34.00 rows=2400 width=4)
-> Hash (cost=34.00..34.00 rows=2400 width=4)
-> Seq Scan on t1 pt (cost=0.00..34.00 rows=2400 width=4)
Hints are not applicable on views itself, but they can affect the queries within if the object names match the object names in the expanded query on the view. Assigning aliases to the tables in a view enables them to be manipulated from outside the view.
postgres=# CREATE VIEW v1 AS SELECT * FROM t2;
postgres=# EXPLAIN /*+ HashJoin(t1 v1) */
SELECT * FROM t1 JOIN v1 ON (c1.a = v1.a);
QUERY PLAN
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hash Join (cost=3.27..18181.67 rows=101 width=8)
Hash Cond: (t1.a = t2.a)
-> Seq Scan on t1 (cost=0.00..14427.01 rows=1000101 width=4)
-> Hash (cost=2.01..2.01 rows=101 width=4)
-> Seq Scan on t2 (cost=0.00..2.01 rows=101 width=4)
Hints can point only the parent of an inheritance tables and the hint affect all the inheritance. Hints simultaneously point directly to children are not in effect.
One multistatement can have exactly one hint comment and the hints affects all of the individual statement in the multistatement. Notice that the seemingly multistatement on the interactive interface of psql is internally a sequence of single statements so hints affects only on the statement just following.
VALUES
expressions in FROM
clause are named as *VALUES*
internally so it is hintable if it is the only VALUES
in a query. Two or more VALUES
expressions in a query seem distinguishable looking at its explain result. But in reality, it is merely a cosmetic and they are not distinguishable.
postgres=# /*+ MergeJoin(*VALUES*_1 *VALUES*) */
EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1, 1), (2, 2)) v (a, b)
JOIN (VALUES (1, 5), (2, 8), (3, 4)) w (a, c) ON v.a = w.a;
INFO: pg_hint_plan: hint syntax error at or near "MergeJoin(*VALUES*_1 *VALUES*) "
DETAIL: Relation name "*VALUES*" is ambiguous.
QUERY PLAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hash Join (cost=0.05..0.12 rows=2 width=16)
Hash Cond: ("*VALUES*_1".column1 = "*VALUES*".column1)
-> Values Scan on "*VALUES*_1" (cost=0.00..0.04 rows=3 width=8)
-> Hash (cost=0.03..0.03 rows=2 width=8)
-> Values Scan on "*VALUES*" (cost=0.00..0.03 rows=2 width=8)
Subqueries in the following context occasionally can be hinted using the name ANY_subquery
.
IN (SELECT ... {LIMIT | OFFSET ...} ...)
= ANY (SELECT ... {LIMIT | OFFSET ...} ...)
= SOME (SELECT ... {LIMIT | OFFSET ...} ...)
For these syntaxes, planner internally assigns the name to the subquery when planning joins on tables including it, so join hints are applicable on such joins using the implicit name as the following.
postgres=# /*+HashJoin(a1 ANY_subquery)*/
postgres=# EXPLAIN SELECT *
postgres=# FROM pgbench_accounts a1
postgres=# WHERE aid IN (SELECT bid FROM pgbench_accounts a2 LIMIT 10);
QUERY PLAN
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hash Semi Join (cost=0.49..2903.00 rows=1 width=97)
Hash Cond: (a1.aid = a2.bid)
-> Seq Scan on pgbench_accounts a1 (cost=0.00..2640.00 rows=100000 width=97)
-> Hash (cost=0.36..0.36 rows=10 width=4)
-> Limit (cost=0.00..0.26 rows=10 width=4)
-> Seq Scan on pgbench_accounts a2 (cost=0.00..2640.00 rows=100000 width=4)
Index scan may unexpectedly performed on another index when the index specifed in IndexOnlyScan hint cannot perform index only scan.
NoIndexScan
hint involes NoIndexOnlyScan
.
A UNION
can run in parallel only when all underlying subqueries are parallel-safe. Conversely enforcing parallel on any of the subqueries let a parallel-executable UNION
run in parallel. Meanwhile, a parallel hint with zero workers hinhibits a scan from executed in parallel.
pg_hint_plan
parameters change the behavior of itself so some parameters doesn't work as expected.
- Hints to change
enable_hint
,enable_hint_tables
are ignored even though they are reported as "used hints" in debug logs. - Setting
debug_print
andmessage_level
works from midst of the processing of the target query.
pg_hint_plan
stops parsing on any error and uses hints already parsed on the most cases. Following are the typical errors.
Any syntactical errors or wrong hint names are reported as a syntax error. These errors are reported in the server log with the message level specified by pg_hint_plan.message_level
if pg_hint_plan.debug_print
is on and above.
Object misspecifications result in silent ignorance of the hints. This kind of error is reported as "not used hints" in the server log by the same condition as syntax errors.
The last hint will be active when redundant hints or hints conflicting with each other. This kind of error is reported as "duplication hints" in the server log by the same condition to syntax errors.
Hint comment cannot include another block comment within. If pg_hint_plan
finds it, differently from other erros, it stops parsing and abandans all hints already parsed. This kind of error is reported in the same manner as other errors.
The planner does not try to consider joining order for FROM clause entries more than from_collapse_limit
. pg_hint_plan
cannot affect joining order as expected for the case.
Planner chooses any executable plans when the enforced plan cannot be executed.
FULL OUTER JOIN
to use nested loop- To use indexes that does not have columns used in quals
- To do TID scans for queries without ctid conditions
ECPG removes comments in queries written as embedded SQLs so hints cannot be passed form those queries. The only exception is that EXECUTE
command passes given string unmodifed. Please consider hint tables in the case.
pg_stat_statements
generates a query id ignoring comments. As the result, the identical queries with different hints are summarized as the same query.
pg_hint_plan 1.5 requires PostgreSQL 15.
PostgreSQL versions tested
- Version 15
OS versions tested
- CentOS 8.5
The available hints are listed below.
Group | Format | Description |
---|---|---|
Scan method | SeqScan(table) |
Forces sequential scan on the table |
TidScan(table) |
Forces TID scan on the table. | |
IndexScan(table[ index...]) |
Forces index scan on the table. Restricts to specified indexes if any. | |
IndexOnlyScan(table[ index...]) |
Forces index only scan on the table. Rstricts to specfied indexes if any. Index scan may be used if index only scan is not available. Available for PostgreSQL 9.2 and later. | |
BitmapScan(table[ index...]) |
Forces bitmap scan on the table. Restoricts to specfied indexes if any. | |
IndexScanRegexp(table[ POSIX Regexp...]) IndexOnlyScanRegexp(table[ POSIX Regexp...]) BitmapScanRegexp(table[ POSIX Regexp...]) |
Forces index scan or index only scan (For PostgreSQL 9.2 and later) or bitmap scan on the table. Restricts to indexes that matches the specified POSIX regular expression pattern | |
NoSeqScan(table) |
Forces not to do sequential scan on the table. | |
NoTidScan(table) |
Forces not to do TID scan on the table. | |
NoIndexScan(table) |
Forces not to do index scan and index only scan (For PostgreSQL 9.2 and later) on the table. | |
NoIndexOnlyScan(table) |
Forces not to do index only scan on the table. Available for PostgreSQL 9.2 and later. | |
NoBitmapScan(table) |
Forces not to do bitmap scan on the table. | |
Join method | NestLoop(table table[ table...]) |
Forces nested loop for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. |
HashJoin(table table[ table...]) |
Forces hash join for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. | |
MergeJoin(table table[ table...]) |
Forces merge join for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. | |
NoNestLoop(table table[ table...]) |
Forces not to do nested loop for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. | |
NoHashJoin(table table[ table...]) |
Forces not to do hash join for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. | |
NoMergeJoin(table table[ table...]) |
Forces not to do merge join for the joins consist of the specifiled tables. | |
Join order | Leading(table table[ table...]) |
Forces join order as specified. |
Leading(<join pair>) |
Forces join order and directions as specified. A join pair is a pair of tables and/or other join pairs enclosed by parentheses, which can make a nested structure. | |
Behavior control on Join | Memoize(table table[ table...]) |
Allow the topmost join of a join among the specified tables to memoize the inner result. (Note that this doesn't enforce.) |
NoMemoize(table table[ table...]) |
Inhibit the topmost join of a join among the specified tables from memoizing the inner result. | |
Row number correction | Rows(table table[ table...] correction) |
Corrects row number of a result of the joins consist of the specfied tables. The available correction methods are absolute (#), addition (+), subtract (-) and multiplication (*). should be a string that strtod() can read. |
Parallel query configuration | Parallel(table <# of workers> [soft|hard]) |
Enforce or inhibit parallel execution of specfied table. <# of workers> is the desired number of parallel workers, where zero means inhibiting parallel execution. If the third parameter is soft (default), it just changes max_parallel_workers_per_gather and leave everything else to planner. Hard means enforcing the specified number of workers. |
GUC | Set(GUC-param value) |
Set the GUC parameter to the value while planner is running. |
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