3.3. Creating the Plan Tree of a Single-Table Query

As the processing of the planner is very complicated, this section describes the simplest process, namely, how a plan tree of a single-table query is created. More complex processing, namely, how a plan tree of a multi-table query is created, is described in Section 3.6.

The planner in PostgreSQL performs three steps, as shown below:

  1. Carry out preprocessing.
  2. Get the cheapest access path by estimating the costs of all possible access paths.
  3. Create the plan tree from the cheapest path.

An access path is a unit of processing for estimating the cost. For example, the sequential scan, index scan, sort, and various join operations have their corresponding paths. Access paths are used only inside the planner to create the plan tree.

The most fundamental data structure of access paths is the Path structure defined in pathnodes.h, and it corresponds to the sequential scan. All other access paths are based on it. Details will be described in the following explanations.

typedef struct PathKey
{
	pg_node_attr(no_read, no_query_jumble)
	NodeTag		type;

	/* the value that is ordered */
	EquivalenceClass *pk_eclass pg_node_attr(copy_as_scalar, equal_as_scalar);
	Oid		pk_opfamily;	/* btree opfamily defining the ordering */
	int		pk_strategy;	/* sort direction (ASC or DESC) */
	bool		pk_nulls_first; /* do NULLs come before normal values? */
} PathKey;

typedef struct Path
{
	pg_node_attr(no_copy_equal, no_read, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	/* tag identifying scan/join method */
	NodeTag		pathtype;

	/*
	 * the relation this path can build
	 *
	 * We do NOT print the parent, else we'd be in infinite recursion.  We can
	 * print the parent's relids for identification purposes, though.
	 */
	RelOptInfo *parent pg_node_attr(write_only_relids);

	/*
	 * list of Vars/Exprs, cost, width
	 *
	 * We print the pathtarget only if it's not the default one for the rel.
	 */
	PathTarget *pathtarget pg_node_attr(write_only_nondefault_pathtarget);

	/*
	 * parameterization info, or NULL if none
	 *
	 * We do not print the whole of param_info, since it's printed via
	 * RelOptInfo; it's sufficient and less cluttering to print just the
	 * required outer relids.
	 */
	ParamPathInfo *param_info pg_node_attr(write_only_req_outer);

	/* engage parallel-aware logic? */
	bool		parallel_aware;
	/* OK to use as part of parallel plan? */
	bool		parallel_safe;
	/* desired # of workers; 0 = not parallel */
	int			parallel_workers;

	/* estimated size/costs for path (see costsize.c for more info) */
	Cardinality rows;			/* estimated number of result tuples */
	Cost		startup_cost;	/* cost expended before fetching any tuples */
	Cost		total_cost;		/* total cost (assuming all tuples fetched) */

	/* sort ordering of path's output; a List of PathKey nodes; see above */
	List	   *pathkeys;
} Path;

To process the above steps, the planner internally creates a PlannerInfo structure, and holds the query tree, the information about the relations contained in the query, the access paths, and so on.

/*----------
 * PlannerInfo
 *		Per-query information for planning/optimization
 *
 * This struct is conventionally called "root" in all the planner routines.
 * It holds links to all of the planner's working state, in addition to the
 * original Query.  Note that at present the planner extensively modifies
 * the passed-in Query data structure; someday that should stop.
 *
 * For reasons explained in optimizer/optimizer.h, we define the typedef
 * either here or in that header, whichever is read first.
 *
 * Not all fields are printed.  (In some cases, there is no print support for
 * the field type; in others, doing so would lead to infinite recursion or
 * bloat dump output more than seems useful.)
 *----------
 */
#ifndef HAVE_PLANNERINFO_TYPEDEF
typedef struct PlannerInfo PlannerInfo;
#define HAVE_PLANNERINFO_TYPEDEF 1
#endif

struct PlannerInfo
{
	pg_node_attr(no_copy_equal, no_read, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	/* the Query being planned */
	Query	   *parse;

	/* global info for current planner run */
	PlannerGlobal *glob;

	/* 1 at the outermost Query */
	Index		query_level;

	/* NULL at outermost Query */
	PlannerInfo *parent_root pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * plan_params contains the expressions that this query level needs to
	 * make available to a lower query level that is currently being planned.
	 * outer_params contains the paramIds of PARAM_EXEC Params that outer
	 * query levels will make available to this query level.
	 */
	/* list of PlannerParamItems, see below */
	List	   *plan_params;
	Bitmapset  *outer_params;

	/*
	 * simple_rel_array holds pointers to "base rels" and "other rels" (see
	 * comments for RelOptInfo for more info).  It is indexed by rangetable
	 * index (so entry 0 is always wasted).  Entries can be NULL when an RTE
	 * does not correspond to a base relation, such as a join RTE or an
	 * unreferenced view RTE; or if the RelOptInfo hasn't been made yet.
	 */
	struct RelOptInfo **simple_rel_array pg_node_attr(array_size(simple_rel_array_size));
	/* allocated size of array */
	int			simple_rel_array_size;

	/*
	 * simple_rte_array is the same length as simple_rel_array and holds
	 * pointers to the associated rangetable entries.  Using this is a shade
	 * faster than using rt_fetch(), mostly due to fewer indirections.  (Not
	 * printed because it'd be redundant with parse->rtable.)
	 */
	RangeTblEntry **simple_rte_array pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * append_rel_array is the same length as the above arrays, and holds
	 * pointers to the corresponding AppendRelInfo entry indexed by
	 * child_relid, or NULL if the rel is not an appendrel child.  The array
	 * itself is not allocated if append_rel_list is empty.  (Not printed
	 * because it'd be redundant with append_rel_list.)
	 */
	struct AppendRelInfo **append_rel_array pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * all_baserels is a Relids set of all base relids (but not joins or
	 * "other" rels) in the query.  This is computed in deconstruct_jointree.
	 */
	Relids		all_baserels;

	/*
	 * outer_join_rels is a Relids set of all outer-join relids in the query.
	 * This is computed in deconstruct_jointree.
	 */
	Relids		outer_join_rels;

	/*
	 * all_query_rels is a Relids set of all base relids and outer join relids
	 * (but not "other" relids) in the query.  This is the Relids identifier
	 * of the final join we need to form.  This is computed in
	 * deconstruct_jointree.
	 */
	Relids		all_query_rels;

	/*
	 * join_rel_list is a list of all join-relation RelOptInfos we have
	 * considered in this planning run.  For small problems we just scan the
	 * list to do lookups, but when there are many join relations we build a
	 * hash table for faster lookups.  The hash table is present and valid
	 * when join_rel_hash is not NULL.  Note that we still maintain the list
	 * even when using the hash table for lookups; this simplifies life for
	 * GEQO.
	 */
	List	   *join_rel_list;
	struct HTAB *join_rel_hash pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * When doing a dynamic-programming-style join search, join_rel_level[k]
	 * is a list of all join-relation RelOptInfos of level k, and
	 * join_cur_level is the current level.  New join-relation RelOptInfos are
	 * automatically added to the join_rel_level[join_cur_level] list.
	 * join_rel_level is NULL if not in use.
	 *
	 * Note: we've already printed all baserel and joinrel RelOptInfos above,
	 * so we don't dump join_rel_level or other lists of RelOptInfos.
	 */
	/* lists of join-relation RelOptInfos */
	List	  **join_rel_level pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* index of list being extended */
	int			join_cur_level;

	/* init SubPlans for query */
	List	   *init_plans;

	/*
	 * per-CTE-item list of subplan IDs (or -1 if no subplan was made for that
	 * CTE)
	 */
	List	   *cte_plan_ids;

	/* List of Lists of Params for MULTIEXPR subquery outputs */
	List	   *multiexpr_params;

	/* list of JoinDomains used in the query (higher ones first) */
	List	   *join_domains;

	/* list of active EquivalenceClasses */
	List	   *eq_classes;

	/* set true once ECs are canonical */
	bool		ec_merging_done;

	/* list of "canonical" PathKeys */
	List	   *canon_pathkeys;

	/*
	 * list of OuterJoinClauseInfos for mergejoinable outer join clauses
	 * w/nonnullable var on left
	 */
	List	   *left_join_clauses;

	/*
	 * list of OuterJoinClauseInfos for mergejoinable outer join clauses
	 * w/nonnullable var on right
	 */
	List	   *right_join_clauses;

	/*
	 * list of OuterJoinClauseInfos for mergejoinable full join clauses
	 */
	List	   *full_join_clauses;

	/* list of SpecialJoinInfos */
	List	   *join_info_list;

	/* counter for assigning RestrictInfo serial numbers */
	int			last_rinfo_serial;

	/*
	 * all_result_relids is empty for SELECT, otherwise it contains at least
	 * parse->resultRelation.  For UPDATE/DELETE/MERGE across an inheritance
	 * or partitioning tree, the result rel's child relids are added.  When
	 * using multi-level partitioning, intermediate partitioned rels are
	 * included. leaf_result_relids is similar except that only actual result
	 * tables, not partitioned tables, are included in it.
	 */
	/* set of all result relids */
	Relids		all_result_relids;
	/* set of all leaf relids */
	Relids		leaf_result_relids;

	/*
	 * list of AppendRelInfos
	 *
	 * Note: for AppendRelInfos describing partitions of a partitioned table,
	 * we guarantee that partitions that come earlier in the partitioned
	 * table's PartitionDesc will appear earlier in append_rel_list.
	 */
	List	   *append_rel_list;

	/* list of RowIdentityVarInfos */
	List	   *row_identity_vars;

	/* list of PlanRowMarks */
	List	   *rowMarks;

	/* list of PlaceHolderInfos */
	List	   *placeholder_list;

	/* array of PlaceHolderInfos indexed by phid */
	struct PlaceHolderInfo **placeholder_array pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore, array_size(placeholder_array_size));
	/* allocated size of array */
	int			placeholder_array_size pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* list of ForeignKeyOptInfos */
	List	   *fkey_list;

	/* desired pathkeys for query_planner() */
	List	   *query_pathkeys;

	/* groupClause pathkeys, if any */
	List	   *group_pathkeys;

	/*
	 * The number of elements in the group_pathkeys list which belong to the
	 * GROUP BY clause.  Additional ones belong to ORDER BY / DISTINCT
	 * aggregates.
	 */
	int			num_groupby_pathkeys;

	/* pathkeys of bottom window, if any */
	List	   *window_pathkeys;
	/* distinctClause pathkeys, if any */
	List	   *distinct_pathkeys;
	/* sortClause pathkeys, if any */
	List	   *sort_pathkeys;

	/* Canonicalised partition schemes used in the query. */
	List	   *part_schemes pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* RelOptInfos we are now trying to join */
	List	   *initial_rels pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * Upper-rel RelOptInfos. Use fetch_upper_rel() to get any particular
	 * upper rel.
	 */
	List	   *upper_rels[UPPERREL_FINAL + 1] pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* Result tlists chosen by grouping_planner for upper-stage processing */
	struct PathTarget *upper_targets[UPPERREL_FINAL + 1] pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * The fully-processed groupClause is kept here.  It differs from
	 * parse->groupClause in that we remove any items that we can prove
	 * redundant, so that only the columns named here actually need to be
	 * compared to determine grouping.  Note that it's possible for *all* the
	 * items to be proven redundant, implying that there is only one group
	 * containing all the query's rows.  Hence, if you want to check whether
	 * GROUP BY was specified, test for nonempty parse->groupClause, not for
	 * nonempty processed_groupClause.
	 *
	 * Currently, when grouping sets are specified we do not attempt to
	 * optimize the groupClause, so that processed_groupClause will be
	 * identical to parse->groupClause.
	 */
	List	   *processed_groupClause;

	/*
	 * The fully-processed distinctClause is kept here.  It differs from
	 * parse->distinctClause in that we remove any items that we can prove
	 * redundant, so that only the columns named here actually need to be
	 * compared to determine uniqueness.  Note that it's possible for *all*
	 * the items to be proven redundant, implying that there should be only
	 * one output row.  Hence, if you want to check whether DISTINCT was
	 * specified, test for nonempty parse->distinctClause, not for nonempty
	 * processed_distinctClause.
	 */
	List	   *processed_distinctClause;

	/*
	 * The fully-processed targetlist is kept here.  It differs from
	 * parse->targetList in that (for INSERT) it's been reordered to match the
	 * target table, and defaults have been filled in.  Also, additional
	 * resjunk targets may be present.  preprocess_targetlist() does most of
	 * that work, but note that more resjunk targets can get added during
	 * appendrel expansion.  (Hence, upper_targets mustn't get set up till
	 * after that.)
	 */
	List	   *processed_tlist;

	/*
	 * For UPDATE, this list contains the target table's attribute numbers to
	 * which the first N entries of processed_tlist are to be assigned.  (Any
	 * additional entries in processed_tlist must be resjunk.)  DO NOT use the
	 * resnos in processed_tlist to identify the UPDATE target columns.
	 */
	List	   *update_colnos;

	/*
	 * Fields filled during create_plan() for use in setrefs.c
	 */
	/* for GroupingFunc fixup (can't print: array length not known here) */
	AttrNumber *grouping_map pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* List of MinMaxAggInfos */
	List	   *minmax_aggs;

	/* context holding PlannerInfo */
	MemoryContext planner_cxt pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* # of pages in all non-dummy tables of query */
	Cardinality total_table_pages;

	/* tuple_fraction passed to query_planner */
	Selectivity tuple_fraction;
	/* limit_tuples passed to query_planner */
	Cardinality limit_tuples;

	/*
	 * Minimum security_level for quals. Note: qual_security_level is zero if
	 * there are no securityQuals.
	 */
	Index		qual_security_level;

	/* true if any RTEs are RTE_JOIN kind */
	bool		hasJoinRTEs;
	/* true if any RTEs are marked LATERAL */
	bool		hasLateralRTEs;
	/* true if havingQual was non-null */
	bool		hasHavingQual;
	/* true if any RestrictInfo has pseudoconstant = true */
	bool		hasPseudoConstantQuals;
	/* true if we've made any of those */
	bool		hasAlternativeSubPlans;
	/* true once we're no longer allowed to add PlaceHolderInfos */
	bool		placeholdersFrozen;
	/* true if planning a recursive WITH item */
	bool		hasRecursion;

	/*
	 * Information about aggregates. Filled by preprocess_aggrefs().
	 */
	/* AggInfo structs */
	List	   *agginfos;
	/* AggTransInfo structs */
	List	   *aggtransinfos;
	/* number of aggs with DISTINCT/ORDER BY/WITHIN GROUP */
	int			numOrderedAggs;
	/* does any agg not support partial mode? */
	bool		hasNonPartialAggs;
	/* is any partial agg non-serializable? */
	bool		hasNonSerialAggs;

	/*
	 * These fields are used only when hasRecursion is true:
	 */
	/* PARAM_EXEC ID for the work table */
	int			wt_param_id;
	/* a path for non-recursive term */
	struct Path *non_recursive_path;

	/*
	 * These fields are workspace for createplan.c
	 */
	/* outer rels above current node */
	Relids		curOuterRels;
	/* not-yet-assigned NestLoopParams */
	List	   *curOuterParams;

	/*
	 * These fields are workspace for setrefs.c.  Each is an array
	 * corresponding to glob->subplans.  (We could probably teach
	 * gen_node_support.pl how to determine the array length, but it doesn't
	 * seem worth the trouble, so just mark them read_write_ignore.)
	 */
	bool	   *isAltSubplan pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	bool	   *isUsedSubplan pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* optional private data for join_search_hook, e.g., GEQO */
	void	   *join_search_private pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/* Does this query modify any partition key columns? */
	bool		partColsUpdated;
};

In this section, how plan trees are created from query trees is described using specific examples.

3.3.1. Preprocessing

Before creating a plan tree, the planner carries out some preprocessing of the query tree stored in the PlannerInfo structure.

Although preprocessing involves many steps, we only discuss the main preprocessing for the single-table query in this subsection. The other preprocessing operations are described in Section 3.6.

The preprocessing steps include:

  1. Simplifying target lists, limit clauses, and so on.
    For example, the eval_const_expressions() function defined in clauses.c rewrites ‘2 + 2’ to ‘4’.

  2. Normalizing Boolean expressions.
    For example, ‘NOT (NOT a)’ is rewritten to ‘a’.

  3. Flattening AND/OR expressions.
    AND and OR in the SQL standard are binary operators, but in PostgreSQL internals, they are n-ary operators and the planner always assumes that all nested AND and OR expressions are to be flattened.
    A specific example is shown. Consider a Boolean expression ‘(id = 1) OR (id = 2) OR (id = 3)’. Figure 3.9(a) shows part of the query tree when using the binary operator. The planner simplified this tree by flattening using a ternary operator. See Figure 3.9(b).

Figure 3.9. An example of flattening AND/OR expressions.

3.3.2. Getting the Cheapest Access Path

To get the cheapest access path, the planner estimates the costs of all possible access paths and chooses the cheapest one. More specifically, the planner performs the following operations:

  1. Create a RelOptInfo structure to store the access paths and the corresponding costs.
    A RelOptInfo structure is created by the make_one_rel() function and is stored in the simple_rel_array of the PlannerInfo structure. See Figure 3.10. In its initial state, the RelOptInfo holds the baserestrictinfo and the indexlist if related indexes exist. The baserestrictinfo stores the WHERE clauses of the query, and the indexlist stores the related indexes of the target table.
typedef enum RelOptKind
{
	RELOPT_BASEREL,
	RELOPT_JOINREL,
	RELOPT_OTHER_MEMBER_REL,
	RELOPT_OTHER_JOINREL,
	RELOPT_UPPER_REL,
	RELOPT_OTHER_UPPER_REL
} RelOptKind;

/*
 * Is the given relation a simple relation i.e a base or "other" member
 * relation?
 */
#define IS_SIMPLE_REL(rel) \
	((rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_BASEREL || \
	 (rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_MEMBER_REL)

/* Is the given relation a join relation? */
#define IS_JOIN_REL(rel)	\
	((rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_JOINREL || \
	 (rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_JOINREL)

/* Is the given relation an upper relation? */
#define IS_UPPER_REL(rel)	\
	((rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_UPPER_REL || \
	 (rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_UPPER_REL)

/* Is the given relation an "other" relation? */
#define IS_OTHER_REL(rel) \
	((rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_MEMBER_REL || \
	 (rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_JOINREL || \
	 (rel)->reloptkind == RELOPT_OTHER_UPPER_REL)

typedef struct RelOptInfo
{
	pg_node_attr(no_copy_equal, no_read, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	RelOptKind	reloptkind;

	/*
	 * all relations included in this RelOptInfo; set of base + OJ relids
	 * (rangetable indexes)
	 */
	Relids		relids;

	/*
	 * size estimates generated by planner
	 */
	/* estimated number of result tuples */
	Cardinality rows;

	/*
	 * per-relation planner control flags
	 */
	/* keep cheap-startup-cost paths? */
	bool		consider_startup;
	/* ditto, for parameterized paths? */
	bool		consider_param_startup;
	/* consider parallel paths? */
	bool		consider_parallel;

	/*
	 * default result targetlist for Paths scanning this relation; list of
	 * Vars/Exprs, cost, width
	 */
	struct PathTarget *reltarget;

	/*
	 * materialization information
	 */
	List	   *pathlist;		/* Path structures */
	List	   *ppilist;		/* ParamPathInfos used in pathlist */
	List	   *partial_pathlist;	/* partial Paths */
	struct Path *cheapest_startup_path;
	struct Path *cheapest_total_path;
	struct Path *cheapest_unique_path;
	List	   *cheapest_parameterized_paths;

	/*
	 * parameterization information needed for both base rels and join rels
	 * (see also lateral_vars and lateral_referencers)
	 */
	/* rels directly laterally referenced */
	Relids		direct_lateral_relids;
	/* minimum parameterization of rel */
	Relids		lateral_relids;

	/*
	 * information about a base rel (not set for join rels!)
	 */
	Index		relid;
	/* containing tablespace */
	Oid			reltablespace;
	/* RELATION, SUBQUERY, FUNCTION, etc */
	RTEKind		rtekind;
	/* smallest attrno of rel (often <0) */
	AttrNumber	min_attr;
	/* largest attrno of rel */
	AttrNumber	max_attr;
	/* array indexed [min_attr .. max_attr] */
	Relids	   *attr_needed pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* array indexed [min_attr .. max_attr] */
	int32	   *attr_widths pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* relids of outer joins that can null this baserel */
	Relids		nulling_relids;
	/* LATERAL Vars and PHVs referenced by rel */
	List	   *lateral_vars;
	/* rels that reference this baserel laterally */
	Relids		lateral_referencers;
	/* list of IndexOptInfo */
	List	   *indexlist;
	/* list of StatisticExtInfo */
	List	   *statlist;
	/* size estimates derived from pg_class */
	BlockNumber pages;
	Cardinality tuples;
	double		allvisfrac;
	/* indexes in PlannerInfo's eq_classes list of ECs that mention this rel */
	Bitmapset  *eclass_indexes;
	PlannerInfo *subroot;		/* if subquery */
	List	   *subplan_params; /* if subquery */
	/* wanted number of parallel workers */
	int			rel_parallel_workers;
	/* Bitmask of optional features supported by the table AM */
	uint32		amflags;

	/*
	 * Information about foreign tables and foreign joins
	 */
	/* identifies server for the table or join */
	Oid			serverid;
	/* identifies user to check access as; 0 means to check as current user */
	Oid			userid;
	/* join is only valid for current user */
	bool		useridiscurrent;
	/* use "struct FdwRoutine" to avoid including fdwapi.h here */
	struct FdwRoutine *fdwroutine pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	void	   *fdw_private pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * cache space for remembering if we have proven this relation unique
	 */
	/* known unique for these other relid set(s) */
	List	   *unique_for_rels;
	/* known not unique for these set(s) */
	List	   *non_unique_for_rels;

	/*
	 * used by various scans and joins:
	 */
	/* RestrictInfo structures (if base rel) */
	List	   *baserestrictinfo;
	/* cost of evaluating the above */
	QualCost	baserestrictcost;
	/* min security_level found in baserestrictinfo */
	Index		baserestrict_min_security;
	/* RestrictInfo structures for join clauses involving this rel */
	List	   *joininfo;
	/* T means joininfo is incomplete */
	bool		has_eclass_joins;

	/*
	 * used by partitionwise joins:
	 */
	/* consider partitionwise join paths? (if partitioned rel) */
	bool		consider_partitionwise_join;

	/*
	 * inheritance links, if this is an otherrel (otherwise NULL):
	 */
	/* Immediate parent relation (dumping it would be too verbose) */
	struct RelOptInfo *parent pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* Topmost parent relation (dumping it would be too verbose) */
	struct RelOptInfo *top_parent pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* Relids of topmost parent (redundant, but handy) */
	Relids		top_parent_relids;

	/*
	 * used for partitioned relations:
	 */
	/* Partitioning scheme */
	PartitionScheme part_scheme pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * Number of partitions; -1 if not yet set; in case of a join relation 0
	 * means it's considered unpartitioned
	 */
	int			nparts;
	/* Partition bounds */
	struct PartitionBoundInfoData *boundinfo pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* True if partition bounds were created by partition_bounds_merge() */
	bool		partbounds_merged;
	/* Partition constraint, if not the root */
	List	   *partition_qual;

	/*
	 * Array of RelOptInfos of partitions, stored in the same order as bounds
	 * (don't print, too bulky and duplicative)
	 */
	struct RelOptInfo **part_rels pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * Bitmap with members acting as indexes into the part_rels[] array to
	 * indicate which partitions survived partition pruning.
	 */
	Bitmapset  *live_parts;
	/* Relids set of all partition relids */
	Relids		all_partrels;

	/*
	 * These arrays are of length partkey->partnatts, which we don't have at
	 * hand, so don't try to print
	 */

	/* Non-nullable partition key expressions */
	List	  **partexprs pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* Nullable partition key expressions */
	List	  **nullable_partexprs pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
} RelOptInfo;
  1. Estimate the costs of all possible access paths, and add the access paths to the RelOptInfo structure.
    Details of this processing are as follows:

    1. A path is created, the cost of the sequential scan is estimated, and the estimated costs are written to the path. Then, the path is added to the pathlist of the RelOptInfo structure.

    2. If indexes related to the target table exist, index access paths are created, all index scan costs are estimated, and the estimated costs are written to the path. Then, the index paths are added to the pathlist.

    3. If the bitmap scan can be done, bitmap scan paths are created, all bitmap scan costs are estimated, and the estimated costs are written to the path. Then, the bitmap scan paths are added to the pathlist.

  2. Get the cheapest access path in the pathlist of the RelOptInfo structure.

  3. Estimate LIMIT, ORDER BY and ARREGISFDD costs if necessary.

To understand how the planner performs clearly, two specific examples are shown below.

3.3.2.1. Example 1

First, we explore a simple-single table query without indexes; this query contains both WHERE and ORDER BY clauses.

testdb=# \d tbl_1
     Table "public.tbl_1"
 Column |  Type   | Modifiers
--------+---------+-----------
 id     | integer |
 data   | integer |

testdb=# SELECT * FROM tbl_1 WHERE id < 300 ORDER BY data;

Figures 3.10 and 3.11 depict how the planner performs in this example.

Figure 3.10. How to get the cheapest path of Example 1
  1. Create a RelOptInfo structure and store it in the simple_rel_array of the PlannerInfo.

  2. Add a WHERE clause to the baserestrictinfo of the RelOptInfo.
    A WHERE clause ‘$id \lt 300$’ is added to the baserestrictinfo by the distribute_restrictinfo_to_rels() function defined in initsplan.c. In addition, the indexlist of the RelOptInfo is NULL because there are no related indexes of the target table.

  3. Add the pathkey for sorting to the sort_pathkeys of the PlannerInfo by the standard_qp_callback() function defined in planner.c.
    Pathkey is a data structure representing the sort ordering for the path. In this example, the column ‘data’ is added to the sort_pathkeys as a pathkey because this query contains an ORDER BY clause and its column is ‘data’.

  4. Create a path structure and estimate the cost of the sequential scan using the cost_seqscan function and write the estimated costs into the path. Then, add the path to the RelOptInfo by the add_path() function defined in pathnode.c.
    As mentioned before, the Path structure contains both of the start-up and the total costs which are estimated by the cost_seqscan function, and so on.

In this example, the planner only estimates the sequential scan cost because there are no indexes of the target table. Therefore, the cheapest access path is automatically determined.

Figure 3.11. How to get the cheapest path of Example 1. (continued from Figure 3.10)
  1. Create a new RelOptInfo structure to process the ORDER BY procedure.
    Note that the new RelOptInfo does not have the baserestrictinfo, that is, the information of the WHERE clause.

  2. Create a sort path and add it to the new RelOptInfo; then, link the sequential scan path to the subpath of the sort path.
    The SortPath structure is composed of two path structures: path and subpath; the path stores information about the sort operation itself, and the subpath stores the cheapest path.
    Note that the item ‘parent’ of the sequential scan path holds the link to the old RelOptInfo which stores the WHERE clause in its baserestrictinfo. Therefore, in the next stage, that is, creating a plan tree, the planner can create a sequential scan node that contains the WHERE clause as the ‘Filter’, even though the new RelOptInfo does not have the baserestrictinfo.

typedef struct SortPath
{
	Path	path;
	Path	*subpath;		/* path representing input source */
} SortPath;

Based on the cheapest access path obtained here, a plan tree is generated. Details are described in Section 3.3.3.

3.3.2.2. Example 2

Next, we explore another single-table query with two indexes; this query contains a WHERE clause.

testdb=# \d tbl_2
     Table "public.tbl_2"
 Column |  Type   | Modifiers
--------+---------+-----------
 id     | integer | not null
 data   | integer |
Indexes:
    "tbl_2_pkey" PRIMARY KEY, btree (id)
    "tbl_2_data_idx" btree (data)

testdb=# SELECT * FROM tbl_2 WHERE id < 240;

Figures 3.12 to 3.14 depict how the planner performs in this example.

Figure 3.12. How to get the cheapest path of Example 2.
  1. Create a RelOptInfo structure.

  2. Add the WHERE clause to the baserestrictinfo, and add the indexes of the target table to the indexlist.
    In this example, a WHERE clause ‘$\text{id} \lt 240$’ is added to the baserestrictinfo, and two indexes, tbl_2_pkey and tbl_2_data_idx, are added to the indexlist of the RelOptInfo.

  3. Create a path, estimate the cost of the sequential scan, and add the path to the pathlist of the RelOptInfo.

Figure 3.13. How to get the cheapest path of Example 2. (continued from Figure 3.12)
  1. Create an IndexPath, estimate the cost of the index scan, and add the IndexPath to the pathlist of the RelOptInfo using the add_path() function.
    In this example, as there are two indexes, tbl_2_pkey and tbl_2_data_idx, these indexes are processed in order. tbl_2_pkey is processed first.
    An IndexPath is created for tbl_2_pkey, and both the start-up and the total costs are estimated. In this example, tbl_2_pkey is the index related to the column ‘id’, and the WHERE clause contains the column ‘id’; therefore, the WHERE clause is stored in the indexclauses of the IndexPath.
    Note that when adding access paths to the pathlist, the add_path() function adds paths in the sort order of the total cost. In this example, the total cost of this index scan is smaller than the sequential total cost; thus, this index path is inserted before the sequential scan path.
typedef struct IndexPath
{
	Path		path;
	IndexOptInfo *indexinfo;
	List	   *indexclauses;
	List	   *indexorderbys;
	List	   *indexorderbycols;
	ScanDirection indexscandir;
	Cost		indextotalcost;
	Selectivity indexselectivity;
} IndexPath;

/*
 * IndexOptInfo
 *		Per-index information for planning/optimization
 *
 *		indexkeys[], indexcollations[] each have ncolumns entries.
 *		opfamily[], and opcintype[]	each have nkeycolumns entries. They do
 *		not contain any information about included attributes.
 *
 *		sortopfamily[], reverse_sort[], and nulls_first[] have
 *		nkeycolumns entries, if the index is ordered; but if it is unordered,
 *		those pointers are NULL.
 *
 *		Zeroes in the indexkeys[] array indicate index columns that are
 *		expressions; there is one element in indexprs for each such column.
 *
 *		For an ordered index, reverse_sort[] and nulls_first[] describe the
 *		sort ordering of a forward indexscan; we can also consider a backward
 *		indexscan, which will generate the reverse ordering.
 *
 *		The indexprs and indpred expressions have been run through
 *		prepqual.c and eval_const_expressions() for ease of matching to
 *		WHERE clauses. indpred is in implicit-AND form.
 *
 *		indextlist is a TargetEntry list representing the index columns.
 *		It provides an equivalent base-relation Var for each simple column,
 *		and links to the matching indexprs element for each expression column.
 *
 *		While most of these fields are filled when the IndexOptInfo is created
 *		(by plancat.c), indrestrictinfo and predOK are set later, in
 *		check_index_predicates().
 */
#ifndef HAVE_INDEXOPTINFO_TYPEDEF
typedef struct IndexOptInfo IndexOptInfo;
#define HAVE_INDEXOPTINFO_TYPEDEF 1
#endif

struct IndexOptInfo
{
	pg_node_attr(no_copy_equal, no_read, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	/* OID of the index relation */
	Oid			indexoid;
	/* tablespace of index (not table) */
	Oid			reltablespace;
	/* back-link to index's table; don't print, else infinite recursion */
	RelOptInfo *rel pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);

	/*
	 * index-size statistics (from pg_class and elsewhere)
	 */
	/* number of disk pages in index */
	BlockNumber pages;
	/* number of index tuples in index */
	Cardinality tuples;
	/* index tree height, or -1 if unknown */
	int			tree_height;

	/*
	 * index descriptor information
	 */
	/* number of columns in index */
	int			ncolumns;
	/* number of key columns in index */
	int			nkeycolumns;

	/*
	 * table column numbers of index's columns (both key and included
	 * columns), or 0 for expression columns
	 */
	int		   *indexkeys pg_node_attr(array_size(ncolumns));
	/* OIDs of collations of index columns */
	Oid		   *indexcollations pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* OIDs of operator families for columns */
	Oid		   *opfamily pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* OIDs of opclass declared input data types */
	Oid		   *opcintype pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* OIDs of btree opfamilies, if orderable.  NULL if partitioned index */
	Oid		   *sortopfamily pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* is sort order descending? or NULL if partitioned index */
	bool	   *reverse_sort pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* do NULLs come first in the sort order? or NULL if partitioned index */
	bool	   *nulls_first pg_node_attr(array_size(nkeycolumns));
	/* opclass-specific options for columns */
	bytea	  **opclassoptions pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* which index cols can be returned in an index-only scan? */
	bool	   *canreturn pg_node_attr(array_size(ncolumns));
	/* OID of the access method (in pg_am) */
	Oid			relam;

	/*
	 * expressions for non-simple index columns; redundant to print since we
	 * print indextlist
	 */
	List	   *indexprs pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
	/* predicate if a partial index, else NIL */
	List	   *indpred;

	/* targetlist representing index columns */
	List	   *indextlist;

	/*
	 * parent relation's baserestrictinfo list, less any conditions implied by
	 * the index's predicate (unless it's a target rel, see comments in
	 * check_index_predicates())
	 */
	List	   *indrestrictinfo;

	/* true if index predicate matches query */
	bool		predOK;
	/* true if a unique index */
	bool		unique;
	/* is uniqueness enforced immediately? */
	bool		immediate;
	/* true if index doesn't really exist */
	bool		hypothetical;

	/*
	 * Remaining fields are copied from the index AM's API struct
	 * (IndexAmRoutine).  These fields are not set for partitioned indexes.
	 */
	bool		amcanorderbyop;
	bool		amoptionalkey;
	bool		amsearcharray;
	bool		amsearchnulls;
	/* does AM have amgettuple interface? */
	bool		amhasgettuple;
	/* does AM have amgetbitmap interface? */
	bool		amhasgetbitmap;
	bool		amcanparallel;
	/* does AM have ammarkpos interface? */
	bool		amcanmarkpos;
	/* AM's cost estimator */
	/* Rather than include amapi.h here, we declare amcostestimate like this */
	void		(*amcostestimate) () pg_node_attr(read_write_ignore);
};
  1. Create another IndexPath, estimate the cost of other index scans, and add the index path to the pathlist of the RelOptInfo.
    Next, an IndexPath is created for tbl_2_data_idx, the costs are estimated, and this IndexPath is added to the pathlist. In this example, there is no WHERE clause related to the tbl_2_data_idx index; therefore, the index clauses are NULL.
Note

The add_path() function does not always add the path. The details are omitted because of the complicated nature of this operation. For details, refer to the comment of the add_path() function.

Figure 3.14. How to get the cheapest path of Example 2. (continued from Figure 3.13)
  1. Create a new RelOptInfo structure.

  2. Add the cheapest path to the pathlist of the new RelOptInfo.
    In this example, the cheapest path is the index path using the index tbl_2_pkey; thus, its path is added to the pathlist of the new RelOptInfo.

3.3.3. Creating a Plan Tree

At the last stage, the planner generates a plan tree from the cheapest path.

The root of the plan tree is a PlannedStmt structure defined in plannodes.h. It contains nineteen fields, but here are four representative fields:

  • commandType stores a type of operation, such as SELECT, UPDATE or INSERT.
  • rtable stores rangeTable entries.
  • relationOids stores oids of the related tables for this query.
  • plantree stores a plan tree that is composed of plan nodes, where each node corresponds to a specific operation, such as sequential scan, sort and index scan.
typedef struct PlannedStmt
{
	pg_node_attr(no_equal, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	CmdType		commandType;	/* select|insert|update|delete|merge|utility */

	uint64		queryId;		/* query identifier (copied from Query) */

	bool		hasReturning;	/* is it insert|update|delete RETURNING? */

	bool		hasModifyingCTE;	/* has insert|update|delete in WITH? */

	bool		canSetTag;		/* do I set the command result tag? */

	bool		transientPlan;	/* redo plan when TransactionXmin changes? */

	bool		dependsOnRole;	/* is plan specific to current role? */

	bool		parallelModeNeeded; /* parallel mode required to execute? */

	int			jitFlags;		/* which forms of JIT should be performed */

	struct Plan *planTree;		/* tree of Plan nodes */

	List	   *rtable;			/* list of RangeTblEntry nodes */

	List	   *permInfos;		/* list of RTEPermissionInfo nodes for rtable
								 * entries needing one */

	/* rtable indexes of target relations for INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/MERGE */
	List	   *resultRelations;	/* integer list of RT indexes, or NIL */

	List	   *appendRelations;	/* list of AppendRelInfo nodes */

	List	   *subplans;		/* Plan trees for SubPlan expressions; note
								 * that some could be NULL */

	Bitmapset  *rewindPlanIDs;	/* indices of subplans that require REWIND */

	List	   *rowMarks;		/* a list of PlanRowMark's */

	List	   *relationOids;	/* OIDs of relations the plan depends on */

	List	   *invalItems;		/* other dependencies, as PlanInvalItems */

	List	   *paramExecTypes; /* type OIDs for PARAM_EXEC Params */

	Node	   *utilityStmt;	/* non-null if this is utility stmt */

	/* statement location in source string (copied from Query) */
	int			stmt_location;	/* start location, or -1 if unknown */
	int			stmt_len;		/* length in bytes; 0 means "rest of string" */
} PlannedStmt;

As mentioned above, a plan tree is composed of various plan nodes. The PlanNode structure is the base node, and other nodes always contain it. For example, SeqScanNode, which is for sequential scanning, is composed of a PlanNode and an integer variable ‘scanrelid’. A PlanNode contains fourteen fields. The following are seven representative fields.

  • start-up cost and total_cost are the estimated costs of the operation corresponding to this node.
  • rows is the number of rows to be scanned, which is estimated by the planner.
  • targetlist stores the target list items contained in the query tree.
  • qual is a list that stores qual conditions.
  • lefttree and righttree are the nodes for adding the children nodes.
/* ----------------
 *		Plan node
 *
 * All plan nodes "derive" from the Plan structure by having the
 * Plan structure as the first field.  This ensures that everything works
 * when nodes are cast to Plan's.  (node pointers are frequently cast to Plan*
 * when passed around generically in the executor)
 *
 * We never actually instantiate any Plan nodes; this is just the common
 * abstract superclass for all Plan-type nodes.
 * ----------------
 */
typedef struct Plan
{
	pg_node_attr(abstract, no_equal, no_query_jumble)

	NodeTag		type;

	/*
	 * estimated execution costs for plan (see costsize.c for more info)
	 */
	Cost		startup_cost;	/* cost expended before fetching any tuples */
	Cost		total_cost;		/* total cost (assuming all tuples fetched) */

	/*
	 * planner's estimate of result size of this plan step
	 */
	Cardinality plan_rows;		/* number of rows plan is expected to emit */
	int			plan_width;		/* average row width in bytes */

	/*
	 * information needed for parallel query
	 */
	bool		parallel_aware; /* engage parallel-aware logic? */
	bool		parallel_safe;	/* OK to use as part of parallel plan? */

	/*
	 * information needed for asynchronous execution
	 */
	bool		async_capable;	/* engage asynchronous-capable logic? */

	/*
	 * Common structural data for all Plan types.
	 */
	int			plan_node_id;	/* unique across entire final plan tree */
	List	   *targetlist;		/* target list to be computed at this node */
	List	   *qual;			/* implicitly-ANDed qual conditions */
	struct Plan *lefttree;		/* input plan tree(s) */
	struct Plan *righttree;
	List	   *initPlan;		/* Init Plan nodes (un-correlated expr
								 * subselects) */

	/*
	 * Information for management of parameter-change-driven rescanning
	 *
	 * extParam includes the paramIDs of all external PARAM_EXEC params
	 * affecting this plan node or its children.  setParam params from the
	 * node's initPlans are not included, but their extParams are.
	 *
	 * allParam includes all the extParam paramIDs, plus the IDs of local
	 * params that affect the node (i.e., the setParams of its initplans).
	 * These are _all_ the PARAM_EXEC params that affect this node.
	 */
	Bitmapset  *extParam;
	Bitmapset  *allParam;
} Plan;
/*
 * ==========
 * Scan nodes
 *
 * Scan is an abstract type that all relation scan plan types inherit from.
 * ==========
 */
typedef struct Scan
{
	pg_node_attr(abstract)

	Plan		plan;
	Index		scanrelid;		/* relid is index into the range table */
} Scan;

/* ----------------
 *		sequential scan node
 * ----------------
 */
typedef struct SeqScan
{
	Scan		scan;
} SeqScan;

In the following, two plan trees, which will be generated from the cheapest paths shown in the examples in the previous subsection, are described.

3.3.3.1. Example 1

The first example is the plan tree of the example in Section 3.3.2.1. The cheapest path shown in Figure 3.11 is a tree composed of a sort path and a sequential scan path. The root path is the sort path, and the child path is the sequential scan path.

Although detailed explanations are omitted, it will be easy to understand that the plan tree can be almost trivially generated from the cheapest path.

In this example, a SortNode is added to the plantree of the PlannedStmt structure, and a SeqScanNode is added to the lefttree of the SortNode. See Figure 3.15(a).

/* ----------------
 *		sort node
 * ----------------
 */
typedef struct Sort
{
	Plan		plan;

	/* number of sort-key columns */
	int			numCols;

	/* their indexes in the target list */
	AttrNumber *sortColIdx pg_node_attr(array_size(numCols));

	/* OIDs of operators to sort them by */
	Oid		   *sortOperators pg_node_attr(array_size(numCols));

	/* OIDs of collations */
	Oid		   *collations pg_node_attr(array_size(numCols));

	/* NULLS FIRST/LAST directions */
	bool	   *nullsFirst pg_node_attr(array_size(numCols));
} Sort;
Figure 3.15. Examples of plan trees.

In the SortNode, the lefttree points to the SeqScanNode.

In the SeqScanNode, the qual holds the WHERE clause ‘$\text{id} \lt 300$’.

3.3.3.2. Example 2

The second example is the plan tree of the example in Section 3.3.2.2. The cheapest path shown in Figure 3.14 is the index scan path, so the plan tree is composed of an IndexScanNode structure alone. See Figure 3.15(b).

/* ----------------
 *		index scan node
 *
 * indexqualorig is an implicitly-ANDed list of index qual expressions, each
 * in the same form it appeared in the query WHERE condition.  Each should
 * be of the form (indexkey OP comparisonval) or (comparisonval OP indexkey).
 * The indexkey is a Var or expression referencing column(s) of the index's
 * base table.  The comparisonval might be any expression, but it won't use
 * any columns of the base table.  The expressions are ordered by index
 * column position (but items referencing the same index column can appear
 * in any order).  indexqualorig is used at runtime only if we have to recheck
 * a lossy indexqual.
 *
 * indexqual has the same form, but the expressions have been commuted if
 * necessary to put the indexkeys on the left, and the indexkeys are replaced
 * by Var nodes identifying the index columns (their varno is INDEX_VAR and
 * their varattno is the index column number).
 *
 * indexorderbyorig is similarly the original form of any ORDER BY expressions
 * that are being implemented by the index, while indexorderby is modified to
 * have index column Vars on the left-hand side.  Here, multiple expressions
 * must appear in exactly the ORDER BY order, and this is not necessarily the
 * index column order.  Only the expressions are provided, not the auxiliary
 * sort-order information from the ORDER BY SortGroupClauses; it's assumed
 * that the sort ordering is fully determinable from the top-level operators.
 * indexorderbyorig is used at runtime to recheck the ordering, if the index
 * cannot calculate an accurate ordering.  It is also needed for EXPLAIN.
 *
 * indexorderbyops is a list of the OIDs of the operators used to sort the
 * ORDER BY expressions.  This is used together with indexorderbyorig to
 * recheck ordering at run time.  (Note that indexorderby, indexorderbyorig,
 * and indexorderbyops are used for amcanorderbyop cases, not amcanorder.)
 *
 * indexorderdir specifies the scan ordering, for indexscans on amcanorder
 * indexes (for other indexes it should be "don't care").
 * ----------------
 */
typedef struct Scan
{
	pg_node_attr(abstract)

	Plan		plan;
	Index		scanrelid;		/* relid is index into the range table */
} Scan;

typedef struct IndexScan
{
	Scan		scan;
	Oid			indexid;		/* OID of index to scan */
	List	   *indexqual;		/* list of index quals (usually OpExprs) */
	List	   *indexqualorig;	/* the same in original form */
	List	   *indexorderby;	/* list of index ORDER BY exprs */
	List	   *indexorderbyorig;	/* the same in original form */
	List	   *indexorderbyops;	/* OIDs of sort ops for ORDER BY exprs */
	ScanDirection indexorderdir;	/* forward or backward or don't care */
} IndexScan;

In this example, the WHERE clause ‘$\text{id} \lt 240$’ is an access predicate, so it is stored in the indexqual of the IndexScanNode.