Received: from id.godlike.com (id.godlike.com [206.205.199.129])
	by hub.org (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA25891
	for <pgsql-interfaces@hub.org>; Sun, 15 Nov 1998 19:01:11 -0500 (EST)
	(envelope-from taral@cyberjunkie.com)
Received: from taral ([208.247.20.138])
	by id.godlike.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id TAA25724;
	Sun, 15 Nov 1998 19:01:04 -0500 (EST)
From: "Taral" <taral@cyberjunkie.com>
To: "Tom Lane" <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Cc: <pgsql-interfaces@hub.org>
Subject: RE: [INTERFACES] IDL :) 
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 18:01:04 -0600
Message-ID: <000801be10f4$33ea2480$8a14f7d0@taral.dobiecenter.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0
In-Reply-To: <23346.911172109@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Importance: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3155.0

> We need some way of not having to enumerate all the possible field
> datatypes in advance.

[ suggestions snipped ]

d) none of the above

CORBA provides the "any" type, and it turns out that those discriminated
unions are TERRIBLE memory hogs in C++. So see attached.

There are now two files because some ORBs require a special switch to enable
a type to be extracted from/represented by an "any".

So now our user-defined types will have to work via the dynamic
interfaces... someone explain to me how those types work!

Taral

--- cut here: pgsql.idl ---

module PostgreSQL {
    // Discriminated unions removed due to inefficiency in C++
implementation

    typedef any Cell;
    typedef sequence<Cell> Column;

    interface Row {
        typedef sequence<Cell> type;
        attribute type data; // throws BAD_OPERATION on set until BE
supports this
    };

    interface QueryResult {
        typedef sequence<Column> type;
        typedef sequence<string> headerType;

        readonly attribute headerType header;
        attribute type data; // throws BAD_OPERATION on set until
implemented

        Row fetch(in long rownum); // returns nil or BAD_OPERATION until
implemented
        // zero based numbering of rows
    };

    interface Database {
        QueryResult exec(in string query);
        oneway void disconnect();
    };

    interface Server {
        Database connect(in string db, in string user, in string password);
    };
};

--- cut here: pgsql_types.idl ---

// This file compiled for support of any for new types

module PostgreSQL {
    enum celltype {
        int2,
        int4,
        int8

        // more types
    };

    typedef short int2type;
    typedef long int4type;
    struct int8type {
        long lsw;
        long msw;
    };
};