Re: description of Aggregate Expressions
Tom Lane <[email protected]> Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:17:35 -0500
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.db.postgresql.devel.documentation |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
John Lumby <[email protected]> writes: > On 12/05/19 18:06, David G. Johnston wrote: >> Then I would have to say the proposed solution to this edge case is worse than the problem. I also don't expect there to be a clean solution to dealing with the complexities of expressions at the syntax diagram level. > Yes, I see what I suggested is not ideal either. But I think something needs to be changed. > How about replacing "expression [ , ... ]" by "parameter_list" in the description, and then stating that parameter_list can be either a single expression or , if the particular aggregate function accepts it (for which, consult that function's reference), a comma-separated list of expressions. That's just as wrong. As we tried to explain before, the parenthesized-list syntax is a row constructor, so it only works in cases where the aggregate function can accept a composite argument type. Most don't. Moreover, the very same thing holds in *any* expression context, not only aggregate arguments. So if we took this seriously there would have to be a lot of other places plastered with equally confusing/unhelpful addenda. regards, tom lane