You can specifiy a "comment" on each field.... "Don Y" <pgsql@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:443D3EF7.10205@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Hi, > > Is there any way that I can consistently (across all > tables) add a parameter defining "what" each column > "is"? (sorry, crappy grammar and ill-formed question). > > I want to be able to embed in the database parameters > that tell it how to interpret each column. In other > words, while the TYPE for two columns might be > text/char/varchar/etc., the data that each contained > could have vastly different interpretations. > > For example, it might be a surname. Or, the name of > a city. Or, the name of a handtool. Or a street address. > > I would like the support routines to be able to look at > these parameters and adjust queries and other activities > accordingly. So, when matching a surname, it might > apply some heuristics built on metaphone. Yet, when > matching a book's title, may try some simple substitutions > and permutations (e.g., stripping words like "The" from > the beginning of the title; or relaxing rules for > punctuation or capitalization). > > Burying this information in the database itself will let > the applications be unconcerned with adding this level > of support at their level -- and afford all applications > a consistent set of capabilities. > > On a similar, but different, note, are there any ways > to "hide" a value behind each datum? I.e. to treat > each entry as a struct containing the actual data type > PLUS this "hidden" value? Without explicitly creating > ADT's for each potential datatype? > > (sorry, I realize both questions are off-the-wall and > I can undoubtedly come up with kludges to implement them > but I was hoping for something "slicker"... :>) > > Thanks! > --don > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 2: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster >
