First,
I wanted to send this to the developers (hackers) list. But the instructions are clear that initial posts don't go there (try elsewhere first). So playing by the rules here...
Background:
We have our team of Windows developers, leveraging PSQL. But honestly, it feels crippled after using PSQL in Linux for any length of time. Losing auto-complete sucks (multi-line query recall/editing is lost as well).
In researching this problem, it appears that the decision was made like 17yrs ago, when windows did not have a realistic "terminal" type interface. Assuming we target Windows 8.1 or higher, I believe this goes away.
We are currently "testing" a solution to uses readline in windows, with a few modifications to make it work properly (some escape handling, custom termcaps, etc).
Our goal is selfish... We want to fix PSQL for TAB completion for ourselves, first. But this begs the question. Is the PG community at large interested in potentially addressing this issue?
This will SIGNIFICANTLY increase the effort on our end... But we would like to hear back first, because this is GNU and modifications could cause "hiccups". Also, we have bantered around the idea that this could be fixed as a complete "Windows Readline" solution, basically plug-compatible and that could help even more projects!
But we do NOT understand what would be required to meet the requirements of PG Devs/Licensing, or your level of interest in having this solved. (We are on the cusp of having it working, but TOTALLY a proof of concept).
GOAL of this email:
What we are looking for is a simple bullet point list of what would make such a contribution acceptable. And how far should we get through that list on our own, before getting some help, especially from the build teams? [Our goal would be an NEW Config type flag: READLINE_FOR_WINDOWS (you guys name it, and control the default setting)]
And you may well want a new switch -y (yes-readline-windows) or some such for PSQL, so it could always be off, unless set on for a session for the first couple of years?
Thanks!
