#endif                         /* __MINGW64__ */
 #endif                         /* WIN32 */
 
-/* EXEC_BACKEND defines */
-#ifdef EXEC_BACKEND
-#define NON_EXEC_STATIC
-#else
-#define NON_EXEC_STATIC static
-#endif
-
 /* /port compatibility functions */
 #include "port.h"
 
 
  *   -------   ------------------------------------------------
  *     1)      variable-length datatypes (TOAST support)
  *     2)      Datum type + support macros
+ *     3)      miscellaneous
  *
  *  NOTES
  *
 #define Float8GetDatumFast(X) PointerGetDatum(&(X))
 #endif
 
+
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
+ *             Section 3:  miscellaneous
+ * ----------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+/*
+ * NON_EXEC_STATIC: It's sometimes useful to define a variable or function
+ * that is normally static but extern when using EXEC_BACKEND (see
+ * pg_config_manual.h).  There would then typically be some code in
+ * postmaster.c that uses those extern symbols to transfer state between
+ * processes or do whatever other things it needs to do in EXEC_BACKEND mode.
+ */
+#ifdef EXEC_BACKEND
+#define NON_EXEC_STATIC
+#else
+#define NON_EXEC_STATIC static
+#endif
+
 #endif                         /* POSTGRES_H */