Re: Documentation of Implicit Function Call /w Composite Types

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 3:46 PM, David Johnston <polobo(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
> With Chris Travers recently going O-R gung-ho on us I decided I wanted to
> find out where in the documentation the following behavior is specified:
>
> The expression:
>
> (some_composite).calculated_field
>
> resolves to the function call:
>
> calculated_field(some_composite)
>
> I know I’ve seen it before, though whether in the docs or in e-mail I am
> unsure, but for the life of me browsing for it for about 10 minutes got me
> nowhere – and I am not sure how to construct a meaningful search which would
> be a secondary means to discover the information IMO.
>
> I am beginning to see the value in having such a syntax but it seems unusual
> enough that if it is indeed as powerful as Chris is discovering I would
> think finding and espousing on its existence/features in the documentation
> would be important. Given that it has to do with functions and composite
> types it should probably appear in both (and Advanced Features even) with
> cross-references between the various locations.
>
> Thoughts/Comments/Directions?

Tom broke it down here (the whole thread is worth reading, but
particularly this mail):
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2010-10/msg00269.php.

It's legacy functionality dating to the QUEL days.

merlin