Yes, I agree with you Manfred, but more people _don't_ want it to
change, and like it the way it is, so we will just keep it and add
now("string").
Added to TODO:
* Add now("transaction|statement|clock") functionality
I have attached an SGML patch that explains the issues with
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in more detail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manfred Koizar wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Oct 2002 00:29:03 -0400 (EDT), Bruce Momjian
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >OK, are we agreed to leave CURRENT_TIMESTAMP/now() alone and just add
> >now("string")? If no one replies, I will assume that is a yes and I
> >will add it to TODO.
>
> So my view of CURRENT_TIMESTAMP not being spec compliant didn't find
> much agreement. No problem, such is life.
>
> May I suggest that a "Compatibility" section is added to the bottom of
> functions-datetime.html?
>
>
> In case this issue is revisited later let me add for the archives:
>
> On Fri, 04 Oct 2002 09:54:42 -0400, Tom Lane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> >Freezing CURRENT_TIMESTAMP goes right along with that, and in fact makes
> >a lot of sense, because it tells you exactly what time your snapshot
> >of the database state was taken.
>
> I like this interpretation. But bear in mind that a transaction's own
> actions are visible to later commands in the same transaction.
> Looking at the clock is an "own action", so this is perfectly
> compatible with (my reading of) General Rule 1.
>
> A statement does not see its own modifications which corresponds to
> (my interpretation of) General Rule 3.
>
> And one last thought: There are applications out there that are not
> written for one specific database backend. Having to replace
> CURRENT_TIMESTAMP by PG-specific now('statement') is just one more
> pain in trying to be portable across different backends.
>
> Servus
> Manfred
>
--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073
Index: doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/pgsql-server/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.126
diff -c -c -r1.126 func.sgml
*** doc/src/sgml/func.sgml 24 Sep 2002 20:14:58 -0000 1.126
--- doc/src/sgml/func.sgml 5 Oct 2002 19:00:15 -0000
***************
*** 4293,4304 ****
</informalexample>
<para>
! It is quite important to realize that
! <function>CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</function> and related functions all return
! the time as of the start of the current transaction; their values do not
! increment while a transaction is running. But
! <function>timeofday()</function> returns the actual current time.
</para>
<para>
All the date/time data types also accept the special literal value
--- 4293,4309 ----
</informalexample>
<para>
! It is important to realize that
! <function>CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</function> and related functions return
! the start time of the current transaction; their values do not
! change during the transaction. <function>timeofday()</function>
! returns the wall clock time and does advance during transactions.
</para>
+
+ <note>
+ Many other database systems advance these values more
+ frequently.
+ </note>
<para>
All the date/time data types also accept the special literal value
---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
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