postgresql/doc

PostgresSQL on QNX 4
--------------------

PosgresSQL 6.5.2 could be ported to QNX 4.25.

This port is an important step because PostgreSQL is now the only free
relational database with full SQL and ODBC support available for QNX 4.
The only commercial databases available are Empress RDBMS and Velocis
Database Server (not supported for Digital Unix).

The most expensive topics where the emulation of System V semaphore sets,
shared memory and IPC and of some IEEE floating-point functionality. For
the Watcom compiler spinlocks have been implemented using POSIX semaphores.
A lot of make files had to be changed because $(LD) doesn't support the
-r option on QNX 4.

It is recomended to use the GNU C compiler instead of the Watcom compiler
because the Watcom compiler doesn't support a int8 datatype (long or
long long int) and it does not have a C++ frontend.
It could be managed to build postgres using the Watcom compiler but it crashes
quite early. These problems probably could be solved. The only advantage would
be support of Tk and pgaccess. For the Watcom compiler some more modifications
have to be made which are not described here.

QNX 4 does not offer native support of shared libraries. Therefore the related
functionality cannot be used. Shared library support could probably be
implemented.

QNX 4 does not support UNIX domain sockets. Connections can only be made
with TCP/IP sockets. Therefore postmaster must always be started with the
-i option. Furthermore it would be useful to set the PGHOST variable.

Prerequisites:
--------------

The following prerequisites have been used:

QNX 4.25
GNU make
flex-2.5.4a.tar.gz (flex)
egcs111-qnx4-r20.tar[.gz] (GNU C)
perl 5.004_04
tcl8.0.3.tar.Z (Tcl)

flex can be built without any problems using the Watcom or GNU C compilers.

GNU C can be installed by
/etc/install -u egcs111-qnx4-r20.tar[.gz]

Although Tcl can be built after some slight code changes using the Watcom
compiler, the GNU C compiler should be used instead. Otherwise it would be
impossible to link postgres built with GNU C together with libtcl8.0.a built
with the Watcom compiler.
To make unix/tclUnixTest.c compilable uncomment
#include <sys/resource.h>
in it or
touch /usr/include/sys/resource.h
In unix/Makefile.in replace
	( echo cd $(TOP_DIR)/tests\; source all ) | ./tcltest
by
	( echo cd ../tests\; source all ) | ./tcltest
After that Tcl can be built and tested as stated in README.

Tk cannot be built with GNU C due to the lack of a stack version of the
X11 library. With the Watcom compiler Tk could be built but this is not useful
because of the link problems mentioned above.

Therefore the Tk interface and the pgaccess tool cannot be supported for a GNU C
version of PostgreSQL on QNX 4.

PostgreSQL:
-----------

On QNX 4 some headers are not in the directories expected. To avoid
modifications of the code the following links should be made:

ln -s /usr/local/bin/perl /usr/local/bin/perl5
ln -s /usr/include/errno.h /usr/include/sys/errno.h
ln -s /usr/include/ioctl.h /usr/include/sys/ioctl.h

The sources can be unpacked by
cd /usr/src
gunzip -c postgresql-6.5.2.tar.gz | tar xvf -
mv postgresql-6.5.2 pgsql
gunzip -c postgresql-6.5.2-qnx4-gcc-patch.tar.gz | tar xvf -

Furthermore the header files ipc.h, sem.h and shm.h must be installed.
They are not available on QNX 4. stl_alloc.h must be modified
(extern "C++" { ... }).
su
cd /usr
gunzip -c qnx4-gcc-header-patch.tar.gz | tar xvf -
exit
Possibly the file
/usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/i386-pc-qnx4/egcs-2.91.60/include/g++/stl_alloc.h
must be copied to the right path in your environment.
If this ist the case the path has to be adopted in src/Makefile.custom too
(CXXFLAGS).

If all prerequisites are available postgres can be built and installed by
cd pgsql/src
./configure --with-tcl --with-perl --with-x
gmake all > make.log 2>&1
gmake install > make.install.log 2>&1
su
cd interfaces/perl5
gmake install
exit

All other steps can be carried out as stated in the INSTALL file.

Regression tests:
-----------------

The majority of regression tests succeeded. The following tests failed:

int2, int4:
Error message "Result too large" instead of "Numerical result out of range".
Can be ignored.

int8, float4: 
Exponent expression "e+nnn" instead of "e+nn". Can be ignored.

float8:
Exponent expression "e+nnn" instead of "e+nn" and some slight deviation
in the last digit.
Can be ignored.

geometry:
Some slight deviation in the last digit and "0" instead of "-0".
Can be ignored.

datetime, abstime, tinterval, horology:
Differences for years outside the normal Unix range, e.g. 1968
instead of 2105
Can be ignored.

create_function_2, triggers, misc, plpgsql:
Error messages due to the lack of shared library support.

rules:
Subject of further investigation.

numeric, numeric_big:
ERROR:  Cannot create unique index. Table contains non-unique values
Subject of further investigation.

The reached state of this port should be sufficient for lot of applications.

Have fun!

Andreas Kardos
kardos@repas-aeg.de
1999-12-09