Postgis Knowledge Patch

PostGIS Knowledge Patch

Use this skill before changing PostGIS schemas, extension versions, spatial SQL, loaders, or build configuration. Start with the upgrade checks below, then open the topic reference that matches the work.

Reference index

Handle upgrade-sensitive changes first

Rebuild objects that depend on replaced SQL functions

Treat a function replacement as an object-identity change, even when familiar calls still parse.

• Rebuild views and materialized views that call the record overload of ST_AsGeoJSON; its signature changed so a column can supply the feature ID.
• Rebuild materialized views that call any ST_Clip overload; all variants were replaced.
• Check other stored expressions and prepared deployment SQL for overload assumptions before completing the extension upgrade.

See Compatibility and upgrades for the associated build, packaging, and metadata-discovery changes.

Repair TopoGeometry columns after the affected upgrade

An upgrade of postgis_topology through the initial affected release can corrupt registered TopoGeometry columns. After installing a release that contains the repair routine, repair every registered column:

SELECT topology.FixCorruptTopoGeometryColumn(
         schema_name, table_name, feature_column
       )
FROM topology.layer;

Run this deliberately as a repair step; do not assume that updating the extension alone repairs existing column metadata. Read Topology before changing topology domains or identifier types.

Use patch accessors for TIN and PolyhedralSurface

ST_NumGeometries and ST_GeometryN now treat a TIN or PolyhedralSurface as one geometry. Do not use those functions to enumerate patches. Use:

SELECT ST_NumPatches(surface);
SELECT ST_PatchN(surface, patch_number);

Audit code that inferred patch counts or extracted patches through generic collection accessors.

Account for geometry-column metadata discovery

The initial 3.6.0 release stopped parsing constraints in the geometry_columns view. Constraint parsing returned in 3.6.1. If tooling was built or tested against unpatched 3.6.0, recheck its discovery results after updating rather than treating the temporary behavior as stable.

Migrate the Tiger geocoder explicitly

The standalone Tiger extension no longer adds tiger to the database search path. Schema-qualify geocoder objects or set the path in the calling context. Upgrade normally:

ALTER EXTENSION postgis_tiger_geocoder UPDATE;

If PostgreSQL reports that no update path exists, or the installed extension is a development build, bridge through the special version first:

ALTER EXTENSION postgis_tiger_geocoder UPDATE TO "ANY";
ALTER EXTENSION postgis_tiger_geocoder UPDATE;

Read Loaders, CLI, and Tiger for version requirements, packaging, schema, indexing, and parser changes.

Adjust for changed geometry behavior

Compare geometry and TopoGeometry deliberately

Geometry has an explicit <> operator, eliminating the former non-unique operator failure for <> and !=. TopoGeometry inequality is now ambiguous. To reproduce its former structural comparison, compare all components:

id(tg1) <> id(tg2)
OR topology_id(tg1) <> topology_id(tg2)
OR layer_id(tg1) <> layer_id(tg2)
OR type(tg1) <> type(tg2)

Recheck predicates and measurements

• Interpret ST_DFullyWithin(A, B, R) as ST_Contains(ST_Buffer(A, R), B).
• Expect ST_Length to return 0 for a CurvePolygon.
• With GEOS 3.13, expect relate matrices to differ for the multi-valent endpoint boundary-node rule.
• Make invalid MultiPolygon inputs with shared boundaries valid before relating them.
• Expect a zero-length LineString to relate like its equivalent Point.

Do not assume old deterministic or out-of-plane results

• Regenerate fixtures whose exact seeded ST_GeneratePoints sequence matters; the optimized implementation changed the pseudorandom output.
• Starting with 3.5.1, expect ST_TileEnvelope to clip envelopes to the tile plane instead of returning bounds outside it.

Use the new processing APIs

Clean polygon coverages as a window operation

Use ST_CoverageClean with GEOS 3.14 or newer to turn a dirty polygonal coverage into edge-matched, non-overlapping polygons:

SELECT id,
       ST_CoverageClean(
         geom, 0.5, -1, 'MERGE_LONGEST_BORDER'
       ) OVER () AS geom
FROM parcels;

Interpret gapMaximumWidth as the largest gap to close. Leave snappingDistance at -1 to choose it automatically, or use 0 to disable snapping. Choose overlap assignment from MERGE_LONGEST_BORDER (default), MERGE_MAX_AREA, MERGE_MIN_AREA, or MERGE_MIN_INDEX.

Prefer purpose-built geometry utilities

• Use ST_CurveN and ST_NumCurves for consistent curved-geometry access.
• Use ST_RemoveIrrelevantPointsForView and ST_RemoveSmallParts to reduce geometries intended for display.
• Use patch-specific accessors for TIN and polyhedral surfaces.

Move SFCGAL calls to the CG namespace

Prefer the CG_ names; the old SFCGAL-backed ST_ names are deprecated. For example, replace ST_StraightSkeleton with CG_StraightSkeleton. Its optional parameter uses M as distance in the result. Review the complete operation list and library requirements in Geometry and processing.

Select the new raster operation by intent

• Pass the touched option to raster ST_Clip when every pixel touched by the input geometry should participate.
• Use ST_AsRasterAgg to aggregate geometries into raster output.
• Use ST_ReclassExact for fast exact-value remapping.
• Use ST_IntersectionFractions only with GEOS 3.14 or newer.
• Remove calls that depended on the deleted ambiguous ST_ApproxQuantile(raster, double precision) signature.

See Raster and GDAL for details.

Operate and diagnose installations

Use the postgis script for database-wide discovery and upgrades:

postgis list-enabled
postgis list-all
postgis status
postgis upgrade

status reports across databases, and upgrade upgrades every database that needs it. Do not assume either command is limited to the current database.

Enable GDAL CPL diagnostics through PostgreSQL logging when investigating raster-driver behavior:

SET postgis.gdal_cpl_debug = ON;

Confirm runtime and build dependencies before enabling features. In particular, GEOS 3.14 is required for the complete current feature set, while some SFCGAL and raster capabilities have their own minimum library versions. Use the compatibility reference as the authoritative checklist.