--- Christoph Zwerschke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't like the idea that the admin can break or > change applications (he might not even be aware of) simply > by installing the mx.base package.
I strongly agree with this. Implicitly changing the representation of certain types of data on the basis of what packages happen to be installed on the system is insane. Consider the act of transferring a Python database app between Linux distributions. If one distribution doesn't include mx in its default set of packages, but the other does, the app's behavior would change without any indication from the sysadmin that such a change is desired. > What we really need is a way for DB-API apps to explicitely > declare what datetime module shall be used. Some database modules already have a system of input and output conversion callbacks that applies to all types, not just dates, times, and timestamps. One example is KInterbasDB: http://kinterbasdb.sourceforge.net/dist_docs/usage.html#adv_param_conv_dynamic_type_translation I would be disappointed to see the DB API standard revised to specify a mechanism for date/time/timestamp representation selection, but fall short of generality. That would seem to me like a wasted opportunity. On the other hand, there are enough engine-specific differences in relational database type systems that creating a fully general standard might be impossible (or so ugly as to be unusable). Consider the unusual extensibility of the PostreSQL type system, SQLite's weaker-than-normal typing, and debatable points such as the handling of textual blob data (suck it into a string in memory or present it as a stream?). I fear that a standard that tried to address all of those issues for all database engines would be a monstrosity. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ DB-SIG maillist - DB-SIG@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/db-sig
