Don't allow to disable backend assertions via the debug_assertions GUC.

The existance of the assert_enabled variable (backing the
debug_assertions GUC) reduced the amount of knowledge some static code
checkers (like coverity and various compilers) could infer from the
existance of the assertion. That could have been solved by optionally
removing the assertion_enabled variable from the Assert() et al macros
at compile time when some special macro is defined, but the resulting
complication doesn't seem to be worth the gain from having
debug_assertions. Recompiling is fast enough.

The debug_assertions GUC is still available, but readonly, as it's
useful when diagnosing problems. The commandline/client startup option
-A, which previously also allowed to enable/disable assertions, has
been removed as it doesn't serve a purpose anymore.

While at it, reduce code duplication in bufmgr.c and localbuf.c
assertions checking for spurious buffer pins. That code had to be
reindented anyway to cope with the assert_enabled removal.

1 files changed, 3 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/src/include/postgres.h b/src/include/postgres.h
index 00fbaaf91bc..b123813bc47 100644
--- a/src/include/postgres.h
+++ b/src/include/postgres.h
@@ -680,13 +680,10 @@ extern Datum Float8GetDatum(float8 X);
  */
 
 /*
- * These declarations supports the assertion-related macros in c.h.
- * assert_enabled is here because that file doesn't have PGDLLIMPORT in the
- * right place, and ExceptionalCondition must be present, for the backend only,
- * even when assertions are not enabled.
+ * Backend only infrastructure for the the assertion-related macros in c.h.
+ *
+ * ExceptionalCondition must be present even when assertions are not enabled.
  */
-extern PGDLLIMPORT bool assert_enabled;
-
 extern void ExceptionalCondition(const char *conditionName,
 					 const char *errorType,
 			 const char *fileName, int lineNumber) __attribute__((noreturn));