Re: BUG #2177: (minor:) pgsql: Trailing semicolon on \d treated

From: Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: Giles Morant <giles(at)chaletpomme(dot)com>
Cc: Giles Morant <giles(dot)pg(at)chaletpomme(dot)com>, pgsql-bugs(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: BUG #2177: (minor:) pgsql: Trailing semicolon on \d treated
Date: 2006-01-22 02:48:27
Message-ID: 200601220248.k0M2mR807992@candle.pha.pa.us
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Giles Morant wrote:
> I agree we cannot just throw the semi-colon away, but the action of
> "\d" to assume the semi-colon is an argument and thus invalid is in my
> view wrong.

I didn't say what we are doing is right, I said fixing it would not be
worth it. If you want, submit a patch and we can decide.

Remember, \d can throw it away, but other backslash commands can not.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

>
> On 1/19/06, Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us> wrote:
> >
> > We can't just throw away semicolons, e.g.:
> >
> > \test=> \f ;
> > Field separator is ";".
> >
> > The current behavior seems pretty good. It doesn't seem worth
> > improving.
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Giles Morant wrote:
> > >
> > > The following bug has been logged online:
> > >
> > > Bug reference: 2177
> > > Logged by: Giles Morant
> > > Email address: giles(dot)pg(at)chaletpomme(dot)com
> > > PostgreSQL version: 8.1.1
> > > Operating system: Linux (Gentoo)
> > > Description: (minor:) pgsql: Trailing semicolon on \d treated as
> > > argument
> > > Details:
> > >
> > > When describing tables/view/indexes using \d, a semi-colon is optional:
> > > e.g. \d users;
> > > or: \d users
> > > Both give the same (correct) results.
> > >
> > > However, if there is a space between "users" and the semi-colon, the
> > > semi-colon is then treated as an argument and this occurs:
> > > \d users ;
> > > <cut lots of table info>
> > > \d: extra argument ";" ignored
> > >
> > > The semi-colon should be ignored silently, in my view- "SELECT 1+2 ;" for
> > > example doesn't raise an alert.
> > >
> > > I searched the mailing lists to find a previous report of this very minor
> > > bug; the closest I found was some discussion in 2001 of stripping
> > > semi-colons from the end of such strings but the discussion seemed to stop
> > > with no resolution.
> > >
> > > http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-patches/2001-09/msg00285.php
> > > Fri, 28 Sep 2001 15:56:07 -0400 (EDT)
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Giles Morant.
> > >
> > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> > > TIP 6: explain analyze is your friend
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
> > pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
> > + If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
> > + Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073
> >
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Have you searched our list archives?
>
> http://archives.postgresql.org
>

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

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