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Automatically Creating Partition in PostgreSQL

Last updated: 2024-01-24 11:20:59
    In earlier versions of PostgreSQL, the table partitioning feature can be supported through inheritance; for example, a table partition can be created monthly by time, and data can be recorded in particular partitions. PostgreSQL 10 and later support declarative partitioning. This document describes how to create partitions in advance or in real time based on the written data.
    The following are several common schemes for PostgreSQL to automatically create partitioned tables.

    Use Cases

    In practical use cases of partitioned tables, the time field is generally used as the partition key; for example, if the partition field type is timestamp, the partitioning method can be "list of values". The table structure is as follows:
    CREATE TABLE tab
    (
    id bigint GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY,
    ts timestamp NOT NULL,
    data text
    ) PARTITION BY LIST ((ts::date));
    CREATE TABLE tab_def PARTITION OF tab DEFAULT;
    Partition creation is generally divided into the following two scenarios:

    1. Scheduled partition creation

    You can create partitions in advance with the help of a task scheduling tool. Common tools and partition creation methods are as follows:

    Using system schedulers such as Crontab (Linux, Unix, etc.) and Task Scheduler (Windows)

    Taking Linux as an example, create a partitioned table at 14:00 every day for the next day:
    cat > /tmp/create_part.sh <<EOF
    dateStr=\\$(date -d '+1 days' +%Y%m%d);
    psql -c "CREATE TABLE tab_\\$dateStr (LIKE tab INCLUDING INDEXES); ALTER TABLE tab ATTACH PARTITION tab_\\$dateStr FOR VALUES IN ('\\$dateStr')";
    EOF
    (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 14 * * * bash /tmp/create_part.sh ") | crontab -

    Using built-in schedulers such as pg_cron and pg_timetable

    Taking pg_cron as an example, create a partitioned table at 14:00 every day for the next day:
    CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION create_tab_part() RETURNS integer
    LANGUAGE plpgsql AS
    $$
    DECLARE
    dateStr varchar;
    BEGIN
    SELECT to_char(DATE 'tomorrow', 'YYYYMMDD') INTO dateStr;
    EXECUTE
    format('CREATE TABLE tab_%s (LIKE tab INCLUDING INDEXES)', dateStr);
    EXECUTE
    format('ALTER TABLE tab ATTACH PARTITION tab_%s FOR VALUES IN (%L)', dateStr, dateStr);
    RETURN 1;
    END;
    $$;
    
    CREATE EXTENSION pg_cron;
    
    SELECT cron.schedule('0 14 * * *', $$SELECT create_tab_part();$$);

    Using dedicated partition management extensions such as pg_partman

    Taking pg_partman as an example, create a partitioned table every day for the next day:
    CREATE EXTENSION pg_partman;
    
    SELECT partman.create_parent(p_parent_table => 'public.tab',
    p_control => 'ts',
    p_type => 'native',
    p_interval=> 'daily',
    p_premake => 1);

    2. On-demand real-time partition creation

    If you want to create partitions according to the need of data insertion, so you can determine whether there is data in a time range based on whether a partition exists, this generally can be implemented with triggers.
    Note that there are two problems with this method:
    Only PostgreSQL 13 and later provide BEFORE/FOR EACH ROW triggers for partitioned tables.
    ERROR: "tab" is a partitioned table
    DETAIL: Partitioned tables cannot have BEFORE / FOR EACH ROW triggers.
    When data is inserted, the partitioned table definition cannot be modified due to the table lock; that is, child tables cannot be attached. Therefore, another connection must be used to perform the ATTACH operation. Here, the LISTEN/NOTIFY mechanism can be used to ask another connection to modify the partition definition.
    ERROR: cannot CREATE TABLE .. PARTITION OF "tab"
    because it is being used by active queries in this session
    Or
    ERROR: cannot ALTER TABLE "tab"
    because it is being used by active queries in this session
    Trigger (implementing child table creation and NOTIFY)
    CREATE FUNCTION part_trig() RETURNS trigger
    LANGUAGE plpgsql AS
    $$
    BEGIN
    BEGIN
    /* try to create a table for the new partition */
    EXECUTE
    format('CREATE TABLE %I (LIKE tab INCLUDING INDEXES)', 'tab_' || to_char(NEW.ts, 'YYYYMMDD'));
    
    /*
    * tell listener to attach the partition
    * (only if a new table was created)
    */
    EXECUTE
    format('NOTIFY tab, %L', to_char(NEW.ts, 'YYYYMMDD'));
    EXCEPTION
    WHEN duplicate_table THEN
    NULL; -- ignore
    END;
    
    /* insert into the new partition */
    EXECUTE
    format('INSERT INTO %I VALUES ($1.*)', 'tab_' || to_char(NEW.ts, 'YYYYMMDD'))
    USING NEW;
    
    /* skip insert into the partitioned table */
    RETURN NULL;
    END;
    $$;
    
    CREATE TRIGGER part_trig
    BEFORE INSERT
    ON TAB
    FOR EACH ROW
    WHEN (pg_trigger_depth() < 1)
    EXECUTE FUNCTION part_trig();
    Code (implementing LISTEN and ATTACH for child tables)
    #!/usr/bin/env python3.9
    # encoding:utf8
    import asyncio
    
    import psycopg2
    from psycopg2.extensions import ISOLATION_LEVEL_AUTOCOMMIT
    
    conn = psycopg2.connect('application_name=listener')
    conn.set_isolation_level(ISOLATION_LEVEL_AUTOCOMMIT)
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute(f'LISTEN tab;')
    
    
    def attach_partition(table, date):
    with conn.cursor() as cs:
    cs.execute('ALTER TABLE "%s" ATTACH PARTITION "%s_%s" FOR VALUES IN (\\'%s\\')' % (table, table, date, date))
    
    
    def handle_notify():
    conn.poll()
    for notify in conn.notifies:
    print(notify.payload)
    attach_partition(notify.channel, notify.payload)
    conn.notifies.clear()
    
    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
    loop.add_reader(conn, handle_notify)
    loop.run_forever()

    Summary

    This document describes two schemes for automatic partition creation as summarized below:
    The solutions in the scheduled partition creation scenario are simple and easy to understand, but they depend on the schedule management mechanism of the system or extension and incur additional management costs during Ops and migration.
    In the on-demand real-time partition creation scenario, the number of unnecessary partitions can be reduced according to the actual data pattern, but a later version (≥13) and an additional connection are required, making the scheme more complicated.
    You can choose an appropriate automatic partition creation method based on your business conditions.
    Scenario
    Version
    Implementation
    Need of System Scheduler or Extension Required
    Need of Additional Connection Mechanism Required
    Cost
    Scheduled partition creation
    PostgreSQL 10
    Easy
    Yes
    No
    High
    On-demand real-time partition creation
    PostgreSQL 13 or later
    Complicated
    No
    Yes
    Low
    
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