On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 02:51:53PM +0000, Ryan Murphy wrote: > > > > >What I propose is in fact a server command, >which at least three of > > >the other popular RDBMSs already have. > > > Well to actually implement it, it would probably be a client command, > because that's what \d* are.
Why should this command be silo'ed off to the psql client? If it's a server command, it's available to all clients, not just psql. > We would most likely want them implemented the same, to avoid > needless complexity. We could certainly have \d call DESCRIBE for later versions of the server. \ commands which call different SQL depending on server version have long been a standard practice. > I think people are more ok with \describe (with the backslash), which seems > like what you're suggesting anyway. I read Vik's "hard pass" as being on > having DESCRIBE which looks like an SQL command but would actually be > implemented on the client. This seems simpler at first but could cause > deep confusion later. If we implement \d as DESCRIBE for server versions as of when DESCRIBE is actually implemented, we've got wins all around. Best, David. -- David Fetter <david(at)fetter(dot)org> http://fetter.org/ Phone: +1 415 235 3778 Remember to vote! Consider donating to Postgres: http://www.postgresql.org/about/donate
