Re: Values list-of-targetlists patch for comments (was Re: [PATCHES]

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> writes:
> Gavin Sherry wrote:
>> What do we want to do about documenting:
>> regression=# values(1);

> Out of curiosity, according to what theory should that be allowed?

Wrong question. SELECT (for the general case of multi-row results)
and VALUES are exactly parallel in the SQL grammar; the right question
is "according to what theory are you allowed to issue a general SELECT?"

AFAICT the SQL spec only envisions "SELECT ... INTO some-variables",
restricted to a single-row result (cf <select statement: single row>
production) as being something a client can issue directly. Every more-
complex case is apparently supposed to be handled by one-row-at-a-time
fetches from a cursor.

If you can persuade the community that they don't want SELECT in its
current form, you might be able to persuade me that VALUES shouldn't
be allowed either.

regards, tom lane