Re: Updating psql for features of new FE/BE protocol

On Wed, 2003-06-25 at 13:49, Tom Lane wrote:
> There are a number of things that need to be done in psql before feature
> freeze. Any comments on the following points?
>
> * We need a client-side autocommit-off implementation to substitute for
> the one removed from the server. I am inclined to create a new psql
> backslash command:
> \autocommit on traditional handling of transactions
> \autocommit off force BEGIN before any user command
> that's not already in a transaction
> \autocommit with no arg, show current state
> An alternative to creating a new command is to define a special variable
> in psql, whereupon the above three would instead be rendered
> \set AUTOCOMMIT on
> \set AUTOCOMMIT off
> \echo :AUTOCOMMIT
> The first choice seems less verbose to me, but if anyone wants to make a
> case for the second, I'm open to it. Note that either of these could be
> put in ~/.psqlrc if someone wants autocommit off as their default.

A case for the latter is that it's very similar to environment
variables, a well known system.

The main advantage I see -- other than the shell similarities -- is the
ability to call set with no arguments and get a listing of all the
options. This is currently much shorter than the already overburdened \?
screen and would concentrate all psql preference settings in one
location.