Re: Expanding regexp_matches flags

Jordan Gigov <coladict(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> A recent thread gave me the idea that it would be convenient to have
> another flag for `regexp_matches` to make it return a singular
> two-dimensional array of matches when performing a global match.

> Why? Well, basically you avoid having to aggregate the rows afterwards
> using by wrapping it in a subquery.

> Is there some interest in this?

I'm not really convinced that has any value. The first question you
ought to be answering is whether the recently-pushed regexp function
additions don't already serve whatever use-case you had in mind.

If we do do it, I think it ought to be a different function. "flag"
values that utterly change the meaning of the output sound like a
pretty bad idea. Also, "returns setof text[]" is very different from
"returns text[]". The primary reason we invented regexp_match() a few
years ago was to get away from the ugliness involved in trying to
pretend the former is the latter.

regards, tom lane