Thread: semi-variable length type
I want to make a float(n) type that emulates the mssql float type. The storage requirements are documented as 4 bytes for1 <= n <=24, and 8 bytes for 25 <= n <= 53. If I understand correctly, my options for emulating this in postgres are: 1. declare as variable length. Storage is then 8 bytes (4 byte length + 4 byte storage), or 12 bytes (4 byte length + 8 bytestorage). 2. declare as fixed 8 byte length. In the absence of some magical 3rd option, I assume #2 is the best way forward... can anyone confirm? Thanks James
James Harper <james.harper@bendigoit.com.au> writes: > I want to make a float(n) type that emulates the mssql float type. The > storage requirements are documented as 4 bytes for 1 <= n <=24, and 8 > bytes for 25 <= n <= 53. Haven't we got that already? regression=# create table t1 (f1 float(5), f2 float(30)); CREATE TABLE regression=# \d t1 Table "public.t1" Column | Type | Modifiers --------+------------------+----------- f1 | real | f2 | double precision | Other than the fact that we don't remember whether you asked for 5 bits or 24, I think this meets the spec requirements. > If I understand correctly, my options for > emulating this in postgres are: 1. declare as variable length. Storage > is then 8 bytes (4 byte length + 4 byte storage), or 12 bytes (4 byte > length + 8 byte storage). Well, you could use a short varlena header (1 byte). The type doesn't need to be int-aligned, either, though whether that buys anything will depend on context --- and you'll need to spend cycles realigning it, if you want the code to work on non-Intel architectures. regards, tom lane
> > James Harper <james.harper@bendigoit.com.au> writes: > > I want to make a float(n) type that emulates the mssql float type. The > > storage requirements are documented as 4 bytes for 1 <= n <=24, and 8 > > bytes for 25 <= n <= 53. > > Haven't we got that already? > > regression=# create table t1 (f1 float(5), f2 float(30)); > CREATE TABLE > regression=# \d t1 > Table "public.t1" > Column | Type | Modifiers > --------+------------------+----------- > f1 | real | > f2 | double precision | > > Other than the fact that we don't remember whether you asked for 5 bits > or 24, I think this meets the spec requirements. > Is the 4 byte or 8 byte decision based on (n) implemented in the parser? I can't see a 'float' type in pg_type. Thanks James
James Harper <james.harper@bendigoit.com.au> writes: >> regression=# create table t1 (f1 float(5), f2 float(30)); >> CREATE TABLE >> regression=# \d t1 >> Table "public.t1" >> Column | Type | Modifiers >> --------+------------------+----------- >> f1 | real | >> f2 | double precision | >> >> Other than the fact that we don't remember whether you asked for 5 bits >> or 24, I think this meets the spec requirements. > Is the 4 byte or 8 byte decision based on (n) implemented in the parser? I can't see a 'float' type in pg_type. Yeah, gram.y is hard-wired to produce either "float4" or "float8" from float(N) (see the opt_float production). Ordinarily I'd think that that was a pretty sucky implementation technique, but since this is implementing behavior called for in the SQL standard, it's probably not worth trying to make it any more flexible. regards, tom lane