Shachar Shemesh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Tom Lane wrote: >> No, not unless you can make the case why this handles NaNs and >> denormalized numbers compatibly across platforms... >> > NaNs and infinite (plus and minus) should not be a problem.
Really? Need I point out that these concepts, let alone their representation, are not standardized in non-IEEE float implementations? > I'm not sure what denormalized numbers are. You should find out before proposing representation replacements for floats. > What is the scenario in which you would want to tell them apart? > Likewise, would you really want to tell +0 and -0 apart? There are competent authorities --- for instance, the guys who created the IEEE float standard --- who think it's worth distinguishing them. IIRC (it's been fifteen or so years since I did any serious numerical analysis) the arguments in favor have mostly to do with preserving maximal accuracy for intermediate results in a series of calculations. So maybe you could claim that these arguments are not so relevant to storage in a database. But personally I don't think it's the province of a database to decide that it need not accurately preserve the data it's given to store. regards, tom lane ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 3: Have you checked our extensive FAQ? http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faq