Re: Re: COPY BINARY file format proposal

ncm(at)zembu(dot)com (Nathan Myers) writes:
> I'd like to see a timestamp for when the image was created, and a
> 128-byte comment field to allow annotations, even after the fact.

Both seem like reasonable options. If you don't mind, however,
I'd suggest that they be left for inclusion as chunks in the header
extension area, rather than nailing them down in the fixed header.

The advantage of handling a comment that way is obvious: it needn't
be fixed-length. As for the timestamp, handling it as an optional
chunk would allow graceful substitution of a different timestamp
format, which we'll need when 2038 begins to loom.

Basically what I want to do at the moment is get a minimal format
spec nailed down for 7.1. There'll be time for neat extras later
as long as we get it right now --- but there's not a lot of time
for extras before 7.1.

regards, tom lane