Re: last comma inside "CREATE TABLE ()" statements

On Sun, Apr 22, 2001 at 07:44:46PM +0100, Oliver Elphick wrote:
> Tom Lane wrote:
> >Louis-David Mitterrand <vindex(at)apartia(dot)ch> writes:
> >> Is it against the SQL standard to accept a trailing comma in a table
> >> declaration?
> >
> >Yes ...
> >
> >> CREATE TABLE "currency" (
> >> currency_id varchar(3),
> >> rate float, <-------------------- BOOM! parse error
> >> );
> >
> >> As in perl, it would make life easier to simply ignore/accept a trailing
> >> comma on table declarations.
> >
> >... however, this seems like a reasonable idea that would not introduce
> >any major problems. I have no objections, if someone wants to submit
> >a grammar patch.
>
> I suppose it isn't a major problem, but enforcing strict grammar
> helps to show up inadvertent errors. Suppose I have a set of schema
> building files for a whole system; the way I do things, there may be fifty
> or more files, one per table. If one of these gets corrupted in editing
> (perhaps a line gets deleted by mistake) it would be nice to know about it
> through a parser error. Of course, an error may be such that the parser
> won't detect it, but why remove protection by gratuitously departing from
> the standard?

After giving it a thought, this seems like a reasonable objection. My
comparison with perl (a trailing comma is accepted in list definitions)
isn't entirely valid as perl is a programming language (doh) in which
most time is spent editing.

On the other hand, building a DB schema more planning and reflexion
(hopefully) and less editing. Removing a trailing comma isn't going to
give increase anybody's carpal tunnel syndrome.

[crawls back into hole]

> --
> Oliver Elphick Oliver(dot)Elphick(at)lfix(dot)co(dot)uk
> Isle of Wight http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
> PGP: 1024R/32B8FAA1: 97 EA 1D 47 72 3F 28 47 6B 7E 39 CC 56 E4 C1 47
> GPG: 1024D/3E1D0C1C: CA12 09E0 E8D5 8870 5839 932A 614D 4C34 3E1D 0C1C
> ========================================
> "If my people, which are called by my name, shall
> humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and
> turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
> heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal
> their land." II Chronicles 7:14

--
Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence; it
will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.
-- Bertrand Russell