Thread: Is there any reason why databases cannot have a binary formatted datatype?

Can't we have a data type called say "image" that is just a
representation of the bytes and nothing else?
It seems to me that bytea is a hangover from the old days.

Is there some underlying physical reason why postgresql and other
databases cannot handle binary data without going through all this
silly escape stuff which must have a massive impact on performance. Or
is it just because databases originally were built to handle just test
data?

Let's have a good discussion on this and perhaps an outcome for easier
handling of binary data.

I have a reason for this. I want to be able to easily store maps and
programs that are transmitted to devices in the field.

Regards
   Andrew



--
___________________________________________
Andrew J. P. Maclean
Centre for Autonomous Systems
The Rose Street Building J04
The University of Sydney  2006  NSW
AUSTRALIA
Ph: +61 2 9351 3283
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URL: http://www.acfr.usyd.edu.au/
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Andrew Maclean wrote:
> Can't we have a data type called say "image" that is just a
> representation of the bytes and nothing else?
> It seems to me that bytea is a hangover from the old days
>

um, thats what BYTEA is.

> Is there some underlying physical reason why postgresql and other
> databases cannot handle binary data without going through all this
> silly escape stuff which must have a massive impact on performance. Or
> is it just because databases originally were built to handle just test
> data?
>

thats all in the API's you use to access the database.  you can pass in
binary data directly without escaping if your API bindings support
parameterized calls, like pqExecParams()

Andrew Maclean wrote:
> Is there some underlying physical reason why postgresql and other
> databases cannot handle binary data without going through all this
> silly escape stuff which must have a massive impact on performance. Or
> is it just because databases originally were built to handle just test
> data?

What John said, but just a small note. The text representation of the
various datatypes are fairly static. The binary representations can
change - even between two databases with the same version number
(floating-point vs big-int timestamps). For a meaningless (to the db)
"blob" type that doesn't matter, but you will need to be aware of the
issues and have appropriate tests in place for your application.

--
  Richard Huxton
  Archonet Ltd