Before v10, we always searched ~/.pgpass using the host parameter,
and nothing else, to match to the "hostname" field of ~/.pgpass.
(However, null host or host matching DEFAULT_PGSOCKET_DIR was replaced by
"localhost".) In v10, this got broken by commit 274bb2b38, repaired by
commit bdac9836d, and broken again by commit 7b02ba62e; in the code
actually shipped, we'd search with hostaddr if both that and host were
specified --- though oddly, *not* if only hostaddr were specified.
Since this is directly contrary to the documentation, and not
backwards-compatible, it's clearly a bug.
However, the change wasn't totally without justification, even though it
wasn't done quite right, because the pre-v10 behavior has arguably been
buggy since we added hostaddr. If hostaddr is specified and host isn't,
the pre-v10 code will search ~/.pgpass for "localhost", and ship that
password off to a server that most likely isn't local at all. That's
unhelpful at best, and could be a security breach at worst.
Therefore, rather than just revert to that old behavior, let's define
the behavior as "search with host if provided, else with hostaddr if
provided, else search for localhost". (As before, a host name matching
DEFAULT_PGSOCKET_DIR is replaced by localhost.) This matches the
behavior of the actual connection code, so that we don't pick up an
inappropriate password; and it allows useful searches to happen when
only hostaddr is given.
While we're messing around here, ensure that empty elements within a
host or hostaddr list select the same behavior as a totally-empty
field would; for instance "host=a,,b" is equivalent to "host=a,/tmp,b"
if DEFAULT_PGSOCKET_DIR is /tmp. Things worked that way in some cases
already, but not consistently so, which contributed to the confusion
about what key ~/.pgpass would get searched with.
Update documentation accordingly, and also clarify some nearby text.
Back-patch to v10 where the host/hostaddr list functionality was
introduced.
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/30805.1532749137@sss.pgh.pa.us
e3f99e03e2