At 5/6/00 01:57 PM (Saturday), Jim Starkey wrote:

>At 01:19 AM 5/6/00 -0400, Doug Chamberlin wrote:
> >At 5/6/00 12:25 AM (Saturday), Bill Karwin wrote:
> >>This would be the first time AFAIK that the _server_ cares about the Blob
> >>subtype.
> >
> >This is a bright red flag to me!
> >
> >Do we really want to introduce this change? I see the blob-to-string and
> >string-to-blob stuff as a mildly interesting capability with no real need
> >addressed except a vague sense of symmetry.
> >
>
>And what is your objection to symmetry? Those of us of a mathematical
>bent find symmetry satisfying and occasionally useful.

No objection at all. I also find it agreeable.

Having the engine recognize the text subtype so that string-to-blob and
blob-to-string conversions can be included certainly has merit. Very
convenient.

My caution was due to the statement that the engine heretofore did not care
about subtypes and did not pay attention to them. I was just questioning if
the proposed convenience is worth educating the engine about subtypes when
it was happy before being ignorant.