>> 4. And - of course - wake up and fix the code for handling delimited text
>> record formats and get REAL LOVE by enabling an external table to suck in
>> the contents of text or binary files (as XML processors can do) for
>> treatment as clobs and blobs.
>
> This is what is really worth discussing here. And it's really much to discuss
> before doing something.
>
> First problem. Currently external engines access is actively developed by the
> project. Looks like very soon we will be able access virtually any file
> format using ODBC. Would not extending of external tables be just a
> duplication of our efforts in that direction?

a) Direct access to external tables is much faster than access via ODBC

b) External Engines have no direct relation with external files (or external data
sources)

So, my opinion is - no, extending of external tables is not a duplication of
our efforts.

c) We can introduce some simple syntax to describe external file structure.
It allows us to support CSV, current fixed width format and may be something
else (XML ?). As example search for MSSQL's BULK INSERT syntax.

Regards,
Vlad

PS RedSoft already have some extension for external files, iirc