To: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
cc: ljb <ljb9832@pobox.com>,
	PostgreSQL-documentation <pgsql-docs@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Gripe: bytea_output default => data corruption 
In-reply-to: <201010212342.o9LNgEu17871@momjian.us> 
References: <201010212342.o9LNgEu17871@momjian.us>
Comments: In-reply-to Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
	message dated "Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:42:14 -0400"
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:18:49 -0400
Message-ID: <8604.1288048729@sss.pgh.pa.us>
From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>

Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes:
> Yikes, you are right!  I see:

> 	http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/libpq-exec.html#LIBPQ-EXEC-ESCAPE-STRING
	
> 	PQescapeByteaConn
> 	...
> 	Certain byte values must be escaped (but all byte values can be escaped)
> 	when used as part of a bytea literal in an SQL statement. In general, to
> -->	escape a byte, it is converted into the three digit octal number equal
> 	to the octet value, and preceded by usually two backslashes. The single
> 	quote (') and backslash (\) characters have special alternative escape
> 	sequences. See Section 8.4 for more information. PQescapeByteaConn
> 	performs this operation, escaping only the minimally required bytes. 

> Can someone suggest some updated wording?  Thanks.

I think we should simply remove the description of *how* the escaping is
performed, and state only that the function produces a suitably escaped
literal string.  Anything else is not future-proof, and could someday
break the way this wording did.

			regards, tom lane