Re: non-standard escapes in string literals

On Thu, 25 Apr 2002 10:41:56 EDT, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> Andrew Pimlott wrote:
> > I posted this some time ago to pgsql-bugs[1], to no response. So
> > I'll venture to try here.
> >
> > Postgres breaks the standard for string literals by supporting
> > C-like escape sequences. This causes pain for people trying to
> > write portable applications. Is there any hope for an option to
> > follow the standard strictly?
>
> This is actually the first time this has come up (that I remember). We
> do support C escaping, but you are the first to mention that it can
> cause problems for portable applications.
>
> Anyone else want to comment? I don't know how to address this.

IMHO, I agree that I would like to see the ANSI standard implemented.

While I really like PostgreSQL, it currently does not scale as large
as other DBMS systems. Due to this, we try to code as database
agnostic as possible so that a port requires a minimum of effort.
Currently there are only a few areas remaining that are at issue.
(Intervals and implicit type conversion have/are being addressed).

I believe that the reason that it hasn't come up as an issue, per se,
is that it would only affect strings with a backslash in them.
Backslash is not a commonly used character. In addition, MySQL, also
broken, uses backslashes in the same/similar way. Lots of people
using PostgreSQL are stepping up from MySQL.

This also poses the biggest problem in terms of legacy compatibility.
Perhaps the answer is to add a runtime config option (and default it
to ANSI) and possibly deprecate the C escaping.

Thanks,
F Harvell

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Mr. F Harvell Phone: +1.407.673.2529
FTS International Data Systems, Inc. Cell: +1.407.467.1919
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