X-Original-To: pgsql-sql-postgresql.org@localhost.postgresql.org Received: from localhost (unknown [200.46.204.2]) by svr1.postgresql.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DEAADD1B4BE for ; Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:36:06 -0300 (ADT) Received: from svr1.postgresql.org ([200.46.204.71]) by localhost (neptune.hub.org [200.46.204.2]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id 04092-09 for ; Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:36:05 -0300 (ADT) Received: from smtp.istop.com (dci.doncaster.on.ca [66.11.168.194]) by svr1.postgresql.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4E8BDD1D070 for ; Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:36:02 -0300 (ADT) Received: from stark.xeocode.com (gsstark.mtl.istop.com [66.11.160.162]) by smtp.istop.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3856E17C3FA; Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:36:02 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=stark.xeocode.com) by stark.xeocode.com with smtp (Exim 3.36 #1 (Debian)) id 1BDRpJ-0008U0-00; Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:36:02 -0400 To: Tom Lane Cc: Greg Stark , Bret Hughes , Stephan Szabo , postgresql sql list Subject: Re: trigger/for key help References: <1081662204.6609.72.camel@bretsony> <20040411080932.Q83278@megazone.bigpanda.com> <1081711155.6399.165.camel@bretsony> <17189.1081720813@sss.pgh.pa.us> <1081724318.2628.20.camel@bretsony> <28212.1081736841@sss.pgh.pa.us> <873c78e6wf.fsf@stark.xeocode.com> <21878.1081862704@sss.pgh.pa.us> In-Reply-To: <21878.1081862704@sss.pgh.pa.us> From: Greg Stark Organization: The Emacs Conspiracy; member since 1992 Date: 13 Apr 2004 13:36:01 -0400 Message-ID: <87wu4jdblq.fsf@stark.xeocode.com> Lines: 23 User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at postgresql.org X-Archive-Number: 200404/120 X-Sequence-Number: 17495 Tom Lane writes: > Greg Stark writes: > > Is there a reason postgres goes out of its way to pick names that > > will be harder to work with than necessary? > > If we use ordinary identifiers for system-generated names then we will > be infringing on user name space --- ie, there's a potential for > conflict. I suppose we could use long randomly-generated names like > ewjncm343cnlen, but are those really easier to work with? I don't see an unseverable link between "user name space" and "identifiers that don't need to be quoted". Mixed case names for instance seem like perfectly good user name space identifiers. Postgres could just as easily say "the system reserves all identifiers starting with $" and still not require quoting $. > I think a more useful approach is to treat it as a documentation > problem. Perhaps an example in the ALTER TABLE man page would help. -- greg