Re: bug report: slow getColumnTypeName

Craig Ringer, 12.10.2012 03:17:
>> You are talking about a different matter.
>> 1. 802 and prior drivers named serials as int4 (and big serials int8)
>> 2. 900 and newer drivers named serials as serials (and you got a
>> performance hit from that)
>>
>> We are now attempting to solve the problem #2, maintain the correct
>> column name (serial and big serial), and if possible improve
>> performance.
>
> I strongly disagree with this approach. "serial" and "bigserial" are *not* the correct column names. "serial" and "bigserial" are effectively macros and cease to exist in any meaningful way once expanded.
>
> Even if showing "serial" or "bigserial" were free, I'd still want to show the underlying types "integer" and "biginteger".
>
> Showing "serial" is not consistent with psql:

But it is consistent with what an "end-user" would expect.

When looking at a CREATE TABLE statement in a SQL tool, users expect to see "serial" there if the table was created that way.

Regards
Thomas