On Wed, Oct 2, 2024 at 6:17 PM Yugo NAGATA <nag...@sraoss.co.jp> wrote: > > > > > I would like to hear opinions from native English speakers. > > +1 >
Hi, You can look up the definitions of the words "option" versus "parameter". They do have different meanings, like: - An "option" is a modifier that affects how a command behaves. It is usually optional (hence the name?) so it typically has a default value. - A "parameter" is input required for the command to work. A parameter possible values can be freely user-specified, whereas option values are fixed (boolean, enum etc). Chat-GPT can explain the difference better than me: ------ is postgres subscription failover a parameter or an option? ChatGPT said: In PostgreSQL, subscription failover would typically be considered an option rather than a parameter. Here’s why: Option: It modifies the behavior of the subscription. Enabling or configuring failover adjusts how the subscription behaves when a failover occurs in a high-availability setup. This feature is optional and alters the default behavior of a subscription. Parameter: In PostgreSQL, parameters usually refer to specific inputs or configurations required for a function, command, or feature to work. For instance, specifying a connection string, user, or host would be considered parameters. ------ ~~~ Unfortunately, it gets a bit muddled in the Postgres docs, because the CREATE SUBSCRIPTION docs page refers to all these as "subscription parameters" -- "WITH ( subscription_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) " regardless of whether they are options or parameters. e.g. IMO the "slot_name" really is a parameter, because it can take a user-specified value. e.g. IMO "failover" really is an option, even though this page refers to it in some places as a parameter. You can see how confused the current docs are because "failover" is called by both terms even within the same paragraph! [1] - "failover parameter specified in the subscription" - "subscription's failover option" ~~~ What to do? Ideally, the docs should have consistent and correct usage of the words "option" and "parameter" everywhere. But in practice, I guess most people probably are reading those words as synonyms anyway so using them wrongly isn't impacting the understanding badly. Anyway, since you are already fixing something for "failover", then it would be good to fix the correct term everywhere for that one (e.g. call it an "option"), or at least call it an option everywhere on the CREATE SUBSCRIPTION page. ====== [1] https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/sql-createsubscription.html#SQL-CREATESUBSCRIPTION-PARAMS-WITH-SLOT-NAME Kind Regards, Peter Smith. Fujitsu Australia
