Re: Bug #463: Make 'infinity' work with type 'date' - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

From Thomas Lockhart
Subject Re: Bug #463: Make 'infinity' work with type 'date'
Date
Msg-id 3BC6812E.7C774540@fourpalms.org
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: Bug #463: Make 'infinity' work with type 'date'  (Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>)
List pgsql-bugs
> Can someone comment on this?  The problem appears in current sources:

And for every Postgres release since 1989...

>         test=> INSERT INTO a VALUES ('infinity');
>         ERROR:  Unrecognized date external representation 'infinity'
> Is there a reason we support "infinity" in timestamp and not date?

Sure. Timestamp features were based on abstime features (at least partly
to support conversions to the newer type), and date features are from
date. "Infinity" for timestamp (or date) is not as compelling as it is
for abstime, which has a very limited range. I've been a fan of those
nifty features, but am not sure they are really necessary now that
PostgreSQL supports NULLs for pass by value types and supports a wider
range in the timestamp type (date has always had a wide range).

                    - Thomas

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