Steve Crawford wrote:
> My fingers sometimes run on "autoappend semicolon" mode and I end up 
> typing "\pset pager always;" instead of "\pset pager always". No error 
> is returned, short (but wide) output is not routed to the pager, and I 
> have to back up and correct the \pset pager command. After some 
> experimentation, I found that any unrecognized string sets the pager to 
> be used for long output:
> 
> steve=> \pset pager on;
> Pager is used for long output.
> 
> steve=> \pset pager off;
> Pager is used for long output.
> 
> steve=> \pset pager always;
> Pager is used for long output.
> 
> steve=> \pset pager occasionally
> Pager is used for long output.
> 
> steve=> \pset pager at random
> Pager is used for long output.
> \pset: extra argument "random" ignored
> 
> The above commands set the pager to be used for long output regardless 
> of the prior setting. Bad input doesn't generate errors except in the 
> case where there are too many parameters.
> 
> I didn't find this documented. Is the acceptance of bad input by design 
> or an oversight?
> 
> Also, what would be the feasibility of having psql route output to the 
> pager if the output is too long or too _wide_? I end up with too wide at 
> least as often as too long.

[ moved to hackers list]

I looked at the psql code and found:

        bool
        ParseVariableBool(const char *val)
        {
            if (val == NULL)
                return false;           /* not set -> assume "off" */
            if (pg_strcasecmp(val, "off") == 0)
                return false;           /* accept "off" or "OFF" as true */
        
            /*
             * for backwards compatibility, anything except "off" or "OFF" is
             *  taken as "true"
             */
            return true;
        }

So, I think the answer is that we have the current behavior because of
backward compatibility.  Perhaps we should be more strict in
ParseVariableBool(), perhaps only allowing true/false and on/off.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

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