Uwe Grauer wrote:

> This question came up for me in another mailing-list.
> What is the most used way to use double quoted names in FB?
> And WHY is it the way it is?
> Personally im always do not use double quotes for names because otherwise
> im forced to remember the case or i have to be really careful with
> case-different names.
> Maybe there were some backward compatibility issues introducing this?
> Please tell me the history of double quoted names in FB.

I beg to differ with the other people who replied. I like to quote all
identifiers. Why?

1. If all identifiers are always quoted, it makes the statement *easier*
to read, becuase if something is quoted you always know that it's an
identifier, without having to "parse" the actual name.

2. It allows for national characters in identifiers. Correction: It
*should* allow for national characters. Due to bugs in client tools (and
Firbird itself?) it doesn't work properly. It does work properly in SQL
Server and I hope it will in future Firebird releases too.

3. The fact that it make case significant is imo good. OK, it's not good
if misused to have different names that differ only in case. But it's
good that all names are written with the same case everywhere. It
improves readability.

4. Identifier names become more readable with mixed case than with all
uppercase. At least that's what I've learned in the field of text
communication. MyStrangeName is easier to read than MYSTRANGENAME.

But, you'll have to keep in mind that some DB:s and client tools have
problems with quoted identifiers, with national characters, etc. If
portability between different DB:s is important, don't us'em.

Kjell
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Kjell Rilbe
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