Re: [HACKERS] backslash in psql output

Bruce Momjian wrote:
>> > now the format will be ambigious.
>> > test=> insert into test3 values ('\\x');
>> > test=> select * from test3;
>> > --
>> > \x
>> > This used to show as:
>> > --
>> > \\x
>> > Comments?
>>...
>But what about backward compatability? Aren't there people expecting
>psql output to show double backslashes? What do we do to display pipes
>in the output?

That change seems a good thing: the front-end ought to display what the
user wants. Any manipulations should be done behind the scenes. If I
store a DOS pathname, I don't want to see the backslashes doubled in it.
Even worse, I don't want to see them eliminated altogether, which is what
happens now if I don't remember to double them on input.

You mentioned that psql backslash-escapes the column delimiter character.
I think that this behaviour ought to be removed as well; it should be obvious
from the alignment with headings and other lines whether a pipe character is
part of the data or a column delimiter. If it really matters, a user
can specify another character to use as delimiter.

An unsophisticated user expects to type characters and have them
accepted; he should not have to know that certain characters need to be
doubled or escaped, nor that certain characters he sees in the output are
to be ignored.

--
Oliver Elphick Oliver(dot)Elphick(at)lfix(dot)co(dot)uk
Isle of Wight http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
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