Re: Emitting JSON to file using COPY TO

On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 6:14 PM Joe Conway <mail(at)joeconway(dot)com> wrote:

>
> > But the point that we should introduce a 2 still stands. The new code
> > would mean: use text output functions but that there is no inherent
> > tabular structure in the underlying contents. Instead the copy format
> > was JSON and the output layout is dependent upon the json options in the
> > copy command and that there really shouldn't be any attempt to turn the
> > contents directly into a tabular data structure like you presently do
> > with the CSV data under format 0. Ignore the column count and column
> > formats as they are fixed or non-existent.
>
> I think that amounts to a protocol change, which we tend to avoid at all
> costs.
>
>
I wasn't sure on that point but figured it might be the case. It is a
value change, not structural, which seems like it is the kind of
modification any living system might allow and be expected to have. But I
also don't see any known problem with the current change of content
semantics without the format identification change. Most of the relevant
context ends up out-of-band in the copy command itself.

David J.