diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/cluster.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/cluster.sgml
index 17c185e0760..5a2000f7bef 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/cluster.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/cluster.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@ CLUSTER
If you are requesting a range of indexed values from a table, or a
single indexed value that has multiple rows that match,
CLUSTER will help because once the index identifies the
- heap page for the first row that matches, all other rows
- that match are probably already on the same heap page,
+ table page for the first row that matches, all other rows
+ that match are probably already on the same table page,
and so you save disk accesses and speed up the query.
@@ -137,30 +137,33 @@ CLUSTER
There is another way to cluster data. The
- CLUSTER command reorders the original table using
- the ordering of the index you specify. This can be slow
- on large tables because the rows are fetched from the heap
- in index order, and if the heap table is unordered, the
+ CLUSTER command reorders the original table by
+ scanning it using the index you specify. This can be slow
+ on large tables because the rows are fetched from the table
+ in index order, and if the table is disordered, the
entries are on random pages, so there is one disk page
- retrieved for every row moved. (PostgreSQL has a cache,
- but the majority of a big table will not fit in the cache.)
+ retrieved for every row moved. (PostgreSQL has
+ a cache, but the majority of a big table will not fit in the cache.)
The other way to cluster a table is to use
CREATE TABLE newtable AS
- SELECT columnlist FROM table ORDER BY columnlist;
+ SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY columnlist;
- which uses the PostgreSQL sorting code in
- the ORDER BY clause to create the desired order; this is usually much
- faster than an index scan for
- unordered data. You then drop the old table, use
+ which uses the PostgreSQL sorting code
+ to produce the desired order;
+ this is usually much faster than an index scan for disordered data.
+ Then you drop the old table, use
ALTER TABLE ... RENAME
- to rename newtable to the old name, and
- recreate the table's indexes. However, this approach does not preserve
+ to rename newtable to the
+ old name, and recreate the table's indexes.
+ The big disadvantage of this approach is that it does not preserve
OIDs, constraints, foreign key relationships, granted privileges, and
other ancillary properties of the table — all such items must be
- manually recreated.
+ manually recreated. Another disadvantage is that this way requires a sort
+ temporary file about the same size as the table itself, so peak disk usage
+ is about three times the table size instead of twice the table size.