"Joshua D. Drake" <jd@commandprompt.com> writes:
> Actually the answer is: Check the TODO list. It is listed under Exotic
> features, so the answer is, no we can't yes we would like to.
> That being said, I think it is a dumb feature.
FWIW, the SQL committee thinks it's a fine idea --- the SQL-MED section
of the standard is all about this. (Note MED = "Management of External
Data", or something close to that; not MEDical as one might guess.)
But don't hold your breath waiting for us to implement SQL-MED; it's
not something that seems to be high on the priority list of any active
hackers. As far as I've heard it's not had that much uptake among
commercial databases either. (Hm, you don't suppose that Oracle might
be less than excited about exchanging data with non-Oracle DBs? Naw,
couldn't be...)
regards, tom lane
