Thread: Re: pgsql: Avoid using ambiguous word "positive" in error message.
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 10:49 PM Fujii Masao <fujii@postgresql.org> wrote: > Avoid using ambiguous word "positive" in error message. The new style seems good, but I don't really agree that "positive" and "non-negative" are ambiguous. "positive" means >0 and "non-negative" means >= 0, because 0 is neither positive nor negative. This is just nitpicking, though. I think the change is an improvement. -- Robert Haas EDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> writes:
> The new style seems good, but I don't really agree that "positive" and
> "non-negative" are ambiguous. "positive" means >0 and "non-negative"
> means >= 0, because 0 is neither positive nor negative.
Well, the point is precisely that not everyone makes that distinction.
I agree that everyone will read "non-negative" as ">= 0"; but there's
a fair percentage of the population that uses "positive" the same way.
regards, tom lane
On Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 10:16 AM Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote: > Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> writes: > > The new style seems good, but I don't really agree that "positive" and > > "non-negative" are ambiguous. "positive" means >0 and "non-negative" > > means >= 0, because 0 is neither positive nor negative. > > Well, the point is precisely that not everyone makes that distinction. > I agree that everyone will read "non-negative" as ">= 0"; but there's > a fair percentage of the population that uses "positive" the same way. The mathematician in me recoils. -- Robert Haas EDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
On 8/30/21 10:19 AM, Robert Haas wrote: > On Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 10:16 AM Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote: >> Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> writes: >>> The new style seems good, but I don't really agree that "positive" and >>> "non-negative" are ambiguous. "positive" means >0 and "non-negative" >>> means >= 0, because 0 is neither positive nor negative. >> Well, the point is precisely that not everyone makes that distinction. >> I agree that everyone will read "non-negative" as ">= 0"; but there's >> a fair percentage of the population that uses "positive" the same way. > The mathematician in me recoils. > Yep, me too. IIRC Ada comes with a predefined subtype named "Positive" which has the range 1..Integer'Max. It also has "Natural" which includes zero. cheers andrew -- Andrew Dunstan EDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com