Re: gettime() - a timeofday() alternative

On Sat, Aug 13, 2005 at 06:24:01PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> Brendan Jurd <direvus(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> > Regarding the statement_timestamp() ... if the entire query path is
> > parser -> rewriter -> planner/optimiser -> executor, what point in
> > that path would be considered the true start of the "statement"?
>
> IIRC, what we actually intended that to mean is the time of receipt of
> the current interactive command --- that is, it gets set in the
> postgres.c outer loop, not anywhere in the parser/etc path. Otherwise
> there's not a unique answer (consider statements issued inside SQL
> functions for instance).

ISTM that it would be useful to be able to use timestamp_statement
within a function though... although I guess timestamp_clock might
suffice in most cases. Another consideration is that this is a potential
source of confusion; people could easily think that timestamp_statement
would operate the same inside a function as it would outside.

Would it be reasonable to add one more timestamp that works the same
inside and outside a function? In either case, can anyone think of a
less-ambiguous name for timestamp_statement?
--
Jim C. Nasby, Sr. Engineering Consultant jnasby(at)pervasive(dot)com
Pervasive Software http://pervasive.com 512-569-9461