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* allballs
@ 2005-01-24 19:28 Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
2005-01-24 20:06 ` Re: allballs Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Merlin Moncure @ 2005-01-24 19:28 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: pgsql-docs
I have to ask this...why is 'allballs' accepted as a literal for time?
I checked the dictionary and wikipedia and couldn't find a reason why.
Merlin
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: allballs
2005-01-24 19:28 allballs Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
@ 2005-01-24 20:06 ` Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
2005-01-24 20:18 ` Re: allballs Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Michael Fuhr @ 2005-01-24 20:06 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>; +Cc: pgsql-docs
On Mon, Jan 24, 2005 at 02:28:48PM -0500, Merlin Moncure wrote:
> I have to ask this...why is 'allballs' accepted as a literal for time?
"Allballs" is slang for "all zeros" because zeros look like balls.
You hear it sometimes in environments that use a 24-hour clock
(communications, military, etc.). Here's an example:
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf2-3.html
I don't know that "allballs" is specified in any standard, so I
suspect that somebody who used the term added it to PostgreSQL
(or whatever it was called at the time) for convenience.
--
Michael Fuhr
http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: allballs
2005-01-24 19:28 allballs Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
2005-01-24 20:06 ` Re: allballs Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
@ 2005-01-24 20:18 ` Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
2005-01-24 21:08 ` Re: allballs elein <elein@varlena.com>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Tom Lane @ 2005-01-24 20:18 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>; +Cc: Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>; pgsql-docs
Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org> writes:
> "Allballs" is slang for "all zeros" because zeros look like balls.
> You hear it sometimes in environments that use a 24-hour clock
> (communications, military, etc.). Here's an example:
> http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf2-3.html
> I don't know that "allballs" is specified in any standard, so I
> suspect that somebody who used the term added it to PostgreSQL
> (or whatever it was called at the time) for convenience.
I'm sure it isn't in any SQL standard ;-). Tom Lockhart is doubtless
responsible for it being in our code; I suppose he put it in because it
is in reasonably common use at JPL.
regards, tom lane
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: allballs
2005-01-24 19:28 allballs Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
2005-01-24 20:06 ` Re: allballs Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
2005-01-24 20:18 ` Re: allballs Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
@ 2005-01-24 21:08 ` elein <elein@varlena.com>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: elein@varlena.com @ 2005-01-24 21:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>; +Cc: Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>; Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>; pgsql-docs
On Mon, Jan 24, 2005 at 03:18:56PM -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
> Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org> writes:
> > "Allballs" is slang for "all zeros" because zeros look like balls.
> > You hear it sometimes in environments that use a 24-hour clock
> > (communications, military, etc.). Here's an example:
>
> > http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf2-3.html
>
> > I don't know that "allballs" is specified in any standard, so I
> > suspect that somebody who used the term added it to PostgreSQL
> > (or whatever it was called at the time) for convenience.
>
> I'm sure it isn't in any SQL standard ;-). Tom Lockhart is doubtless
> responsible for it being in our code; I suppose he put it in because it
> is in reasonably common use at JPL.
>
> regards, tom lane
Actually I think all of the weird psuedonyms for 000000 were in
postgres very early on. I remember seeing them in illustra
and we branched postgres in 1992. So I blame funky grad students.
--elein
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 4+ messages in thread
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2005-01-24 19:28 allballs Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
2005-01-24 20:06 ` Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
2005-01-24 20:18 ` Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
2005-01-24 21:08 ` elein <elein@varlena.com>
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