Limitations/Bugs in the PGSQL GiST Code

The PostgreSQL GiST access method provides much -- but not all -- of the basic GiST functionality inside PostgreSQL. The basic limitations are twofold:

  1. There is no support for ordered keys, as described in the original GiST paper. This decision was made because PostgreSQL already has a B-tree package.
  2. Concurrency control is based on the PostgreSQL R-tree code, and is (therefore) not particularly sophisticated.
  3. We have only tried this code under HP/UX, and there may be porting difficulties.
As of now, we are not aware of any bugs.

Bug reports, porting success stories, and code contributions may be directed to gist@postgres.berkeley.edu