Re: [HACKERS] Re: Regress tests reveal *serious* psql bug

> The reason *why* it is doing this is that it thinks that ":3" and so
> forth are variables that it ought to substitute for, and since it has
> no definition for them, it happily substitutes empty strings.
> 
> After fixing the outright bugs, we could make the array test work by
> changing "[1:3]" to "[1\:3]" and so forth, but I think that that is the
> wrong way to deal with it.  I believe that psql's variable feature needs
> to be redefined, instead.

I know this is the only regression problem you found, and I am glad it
is isolated to psql, and a design problem that can be easily addressed. 
I think the requriement that all variables begin with a letter is a good
idea.

We recommended the : in the first place because it is the standard for
embedded SQL variable handling.

I am sure Peter can address this.

> I would also suggest tightening up the allowed names of variables;
> conventional practice is that variable names have to start with a
> letter, and I think psql ought to follow that convention.  (That
> wouldn't in itself stop the array-subscript problem, though, since
> an array subscript could be a simple field reference.)
> 


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