BUG #1257: add support for 1-byte integer and 4-bit integer

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      1257
Logged by:          stig

Email address:      stigerikson@yahoo.se

PostgreSQL version: 8.0 Beta

Operating system:   all

Description:        add support for 1-byte integer and 4-bit integer

Details:

hello, i could not find this in the 7.4.5 docs.

for the next version of postgresql i would like to see support for 1-byte
integers (signed and unsigned) and also for 4-bit (1/2-byte) integers
(signed and unsigned).

in case both signed/unsigned is a problem to implement, unsigned is more
important (at least to me).

why is this feature important?
having in mind the development of datawarehouses with huge amount of data
(hundreds of millions, or billions of rows in fact tables) every byte is of
importance.