Re: Cluster wide option to control symbol case folding

From: Robert Haas [mailto:robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com] wrote:

> I'm not sure there's any way to split the baby here: tool authors will
obviously prefer that PostgreSQL's behavior in this area be invariable,
while people trying to develop portable database applications will
prefer configurability.
> As far as I can see, this is a zero sum game that is bound to have one
winner and one loser.

Tom is clearly right that such modes make life harder in a fundamental
way for anyone writing only against PostgreSQL. And, excepting the upper
case folding option, which is of no interest at all to me personally - I
do not care which case folding messes up my symbol declarations, it
would move PostgreSQL away from the standard rather than closer to it
(against that, however, PostgreSQL has many features that are not part
of the standard, including its existing lower case folding).

If he is also right that addition of such an option would deteriorate
into a situation where more people think PostgreSQL is broken, rather
than fewer people thinking that, as I think would be the case, I have no
strong argument for why PostgreSQL - as a project - should support such
modal behavior.

Personally, I believe such an option would increase, not decrease the
number of people who could relatively easily use PostgreSQL. If that is
right it is a strong argument for such a modal behavior in spite of the
obvious real pain.

And, from what I can see, many, maybe most, general purpose tool authors
target many backends. So, they already have to deal with some
signficiant degree of variation in case folding behavior.

So, I do not really see this as a zero sum game. It is a question of
whether such an option would grow the user base. If not, it is clearly a
bad idea for the project. But, if it would grow the user base
sufficiently, then, yes, there is pain for those who write general
purpose tools aimed only at PostgreSQL. But, such tools gain from a
wider adoption of PostgreSQL.

Ian Lewis (www.mstarlabs.com)