Re: Can the string literal syntax for function definitions please be dropped ?

Timothy Madden <terminatorul(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> What I want is compatible with existing code and the current default
> behavior. Just look for a LANGUAGE SQL declaration in the function
> header (before the body).

> If found expect the in-place definition of the function body to follow.
> If not found expect a string literal that holds the function body to follow,
> with the LANGUAGE declaration after (default behavior).

This proposal is unfortunately complete nonsense, because it fails to
address the question of how you figure out where the function body *ends*.
We have to have a simple and not-language-specific rule for that. Even
if the backend could be made smart enough to handle a variety of cases,
we could hardly expect client-side code (like psql) to track all the
cases. And psql does need to understand where the CREATE FUNCTION
command ends, so that it can tell when to ship the command off to the
backend.

regards, tom lane