I think you're misunderstanding what a partial upgrade is.
A partial upgrade is where you update the database without then upgrading every package (calling pacman -Sy with the u switch).
pacman -Sy
u
pacman -S, therefore, is not a partial upgrade, as the database is not updated with the y switch.
pacman -S
y
See System maintenance#Partial upgrades are unsupported for more info.
I think you're misunderstanding what a partial upgrade is.
A partial upgrade is where you update the database without then upgrading every package (calling
pacman -Sywith theuswitch).pacman -S, therefore, is not a partial upgrade, as the database is not updated with theyswitch.See System maintenance#Partial upgrades are unsupported for more info.