Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 10:52:26 -0500
From: darrenk@insightdist.com (Darren King)
Message-Id: <9803241552.AA74830@ceodev>
To: pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] char types gone.
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> 
> The nicest thing would be if contrib was changed to "modules", and
> everything was compiled and installed in /usr/local/pgsql/modules/.
> Then the user could install them by typing "INSMOD ORACLE" and then
> /usr/local/pgsql/modules/oracle/insmod.sql would be executed and
> install shared libraries and sql commands. "RMMOD ORACLE" would
> do the opposite. Just like Linux modules.

Vadim has something very similar to this in the contrib/spi Makefile.

Would be a nice model to follow.  I agree with your other comment about
the impression given by "contrib."

Contrib could stay the way it is, for independent contributions, then
have a new directory, "modules", for contributions that are integrated
into the postgres make.

Tonight I will finalize my patch for the char types removal and then
later in the week think more about this idea.

> Perhaps it would even be possible to autoload modules if the modules
> directories contains a file with commands/functions listed, which
> would be searched automagically...
> 
> This is the idea:
> 
> Is it possible to register commands dynamically in the parser?

CREATE COMMAND would be a new one.  Talk about extensibility! :)

darrenk