icu_validation_level

Definition PG 18 manual

When ICU locale validation problems are encountered, controls which message level is used to report the problem. Valid values are DISABLED, DEBUG5, DEBUG4, DEBUG3, DEBUG2, DEBUG1, INFO, NOTICE, WARNING, ERROR, and LOG.

If set to DISABLED, does not report validation problems at all. Otherwise reports problems at the given message level. The default is WARNING.

How it works

icu_validation_level sets the log level for reporting invalid ICU locale strings. The setting changes how invalid ICU locale identifiers are reported, including the option to suppress reporting or escalate it to an error.

icu_validation_level is a USER-context setting. An authorized role can change it for a session, while ALTER ROLE or ALTER DATABASE can establish a default for future sessions.

It changes representation, parsing, or locale behavior at the client boundary rather than physical storage. Coordinate it with the other locale and formatting settings and with driver-native binary or typed protocols.

Operational considerations

Changing icu_validation_level in one session and assuming role defaults, database defaults, or other pooled sessions changed with it.

Assuming a presentation setting changes stored values or server-side type semantics.

Changing a role or database default without testing text-parsing clients, exports, and pooled sessions.

Changing icu_validation_level globally without a rollback plan and a client or operational compatibility test.

Workload guidance

OLAP: Use the same validation policy for analytical object creation; lowering the level can let inconsistent locale metadata spread into reproducible jobs.

OLTP: Keep icu_validation_level at WARNING so malformed locale identifiers are visible. Raise it to ERROR only in a migration gate that has already cleaned existing inputs.

SMALL: Do not tune it for capacity. Preserve WARNING unless a controlled compatibility issue requires temporary lower-severity reporting.