In order to use Thrift as a remoting API for Andl I have to provide support for two data types: DateTime and Decimal. The question is what strategy to use that will produce the best outcome across common client languages.
The DateTime data type is yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.xxx. It can use a wire format of i64 (100nsec units since Gregorian 0000, faster) or ISO-8601 (slower). The Decimal data type is (at least) 24 decimal digits of precision. It can use a wire format of 2*i64 (special format, faster) or a string (slower). The question is not about wire formats but how best to define and implement these types in Thrift for easiest consumption by client software in various languages. Is a typedef a useful approach? Or a named struct with a single field? How does one make it easy for the client to consume (given that most languages have some kind of preferred type)? Regards David M Bennett FACS Andl - A New Database Language - andl.org
