Re: BUG #6651: macaddr length constraint violates standard

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> On fre, 2012-05-18 at 19:57 +0000, erlkonig@talisman.org wrote:
>> Given compatibility concerns, renaming
>> it is probably infeasible.  However, being able to parameterize the
>> length, defaulting to 6 bytes, would be adequate.

> That could be a workable solution.

That's far more easily said than done, considering macaddr is a
fixed-length type with essentially no overhead info.  I don't see a way
to do this at all without an on-disk compatibility break.  Given the
number of requests so far (viz, one) it doesn't seem like something
we should expend much effort on.  We might at some point consider
introducing a different type that could handle variable length data
... although it's not clear that text or bytea couldn't meet the
apparently limited need.

            regards, tom lane