Re: DROP relation IF EXISTS Docs and Tests - Bug Fix - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From David G. Johnston
Subject Re: DROP relation IF EXISTS Docs and Tests - Bug Fix
Date
Msg-id CAKFQuwa4__dKp7p9SjE-gf+ZmPbqs2MNOz9UcA-4o2xPsR17Tg@mail.gmail.com
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: DROP relation IF EXISTS Docs and Tests - Bug Fix  (Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>)
List pgsql-hackers
On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 4:42 PM Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
"David G. Johnston" <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> writes:
> My main point here is that writing "CREATE TYPE typename AS DOMAIN" would
> be expected, with the appropriate sub-specification, similar to "CREATE
> TYPE typename AS RANGE".

Well, that point seems entirely invented.  CREATE DOMAIN is in the
SQL standard:

        <domain definition> ::=
          CREATE DOMAIN <domain name> [ AS ] <predefined type>
            [ <default clause> ]
            [ <domain constraint>... ]
            [ <collate clause> ]

While SQL does also have a CREATE TYPE command, domains are not
among the kinds of type it can make.  So that separation is
very much per spec.


I don't personally find the doc changes proposed here to be a good idea.
001 seems to add a lot of verbosity and not much else.

The intent is to add accuracy, which means verbosity given the non-obvious choice made in the current implementation.
 
002 invents terms
used nowhere else in our docs, which seems more confusing than anything
else.
 
Fair point - was hoping it would be discussion starter.

  It is very badly in need of copy-editing, as well.

I'll look at it with fresh eyes...

Also, I think the phrase you are looking for might be "type category".

Actually what I want is "Type type (typtype)" according to pg_type but that seemed like an implementation detail that would be undesirable to use here so I tried to give it a different name.  Type category (typcategory) already has a meaning.

Using "type definition" to mean that seems completely wrong.  Deciding
that capitalized Type means something special is something I might expect
to find in one of the more abstruse philosophers, but it's not a great
idea in the Postgres manual ... especially when you then use different
terminology elsewhere.

I very well may have been inconsistent but coupled with the above point "type of the Type" seems easier to follow compared to "type of the type" if I were to change "type definition" to "type of the Type".

David J.

pgsql-hackers by date:

Previous
From: Tom Lane
Date:
Subject: Re: pgindent vs dtrace on macos
Next
From: Alvaro Herrera
Date:
Subject: Re: pgindent vs dtrace on macos