[KLUG Members] PostgreSQL 7.4 Released!

[Adam Williams]

This really looks sweet.  Lots of stuff to enable more of the features
of higher-end database tools like DbVisualizer, etc...   Some queries
now up to 400% faster;  and this version adds features even Informix
doesn't have.

http://www.postgresql.org/news/160.html
http://developer.postgresql.org/~momjian/HISTORY.html

The Big Ones:

Function-inlining for simple SQL functions
- Simple SQL functions can now be inlined by including their SQL in the
main query. This improves performance by eliminating per-call overhead.
That means simple SQL functions now behave like macros. 

SQL-standard information schema
- The information schema provides a standardized and stable way to
access information about the schema objects defined in a database. 

Cursors conform more closely to the SQL standard
- The commands "FETCH" and "MOVE" have been overhauled to conform more
closely to the SQL standard. 

libpq and ECPG applications are now fully thread-safe

New autovacuum tool
- The new autovacuum tool in "contrib/autovacuum" monitors the database
statistics tables for "INSERT"/"UPDATE"/"DELETE" activity and
automatically vacuums tables when needed.