Re: to_char incompatibility

On Jan 17, 2008 8:22 AM, Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
> Andrew Dunstan wrote:
> > Tom Lane wrote:
> > > Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> writes:
> > >
> > >> A further example shows that to_date seems to have little error checking
> > >> altogether:

> > TODO list item?
>
> We have something on hold for 8.4:
>
> http://momjian.us/mhonarc/patches_hold/msg00319.html

Yeah, the date/time formatting code is rife with these kinds of
issues. I've been poking around in there for a while. The patch
Bruce mentioned was my attempt to refactor some of the code, making it
easier to work with.

Depending on how the review of that patch goes, I'll then be putting
in some effort to make to_date actually check that the formatting
pattern is legal (see thread at
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2007-07/msg00513.php).

So, I am keen to improve this area, but it's slow going. I don't have
a great deal of experience with Postgres, C isn't my native tongue and
the review cycle is ponderous.

Cheers,
BJ