Dmitry Yemanov wrote:

> "Daniel Rail" <daniel@...> wrote:
>
>>So why not simply change the types SMALLINT fields to actual VARCHAR,
>>in the next ODS version change
>
> This will make database downgrade impossible as it breaks older gbak
> versions. We cannot change existing columns.
>
>>And, if this means one less step/code to execute, then I'm all for it.
>>Anything to improve performance, even if it might be small, is good.
>
> It has nothing to do with performance as the engine doesn't use RDB$TYPES at
> all.

Not exactly related, but I am having trouble getting the use of simple
integer fields for things like 'page type' - the postgres people seem to
prefer to use a 16 to 32 character text field in every record. To my
mind using the SMALLINT field makes a lot more sense, with a table for
the longer text conversions. Then you only need to work with the numbers
elsewhere. Currently some 120 odd bytes of data are duplicated on every
record, where half a dozen types are all that is needed.

So it's useful to have the SMALLINT field - WHERE the text goes is a
different problem ?

--
Lester Caine
-----------------------------
L.S.Caine Electronic Services
Treasurer - Firebird Foundation Inc.