Please forgive me if this is silly, but if you wanted XML from the server,
couldn't you just write a PL/Perl untrusted function that takes a SELECT
statement as its parameter, and returns a single scalar containing the XML?
- The XML:: modules in Perl help with the XML formatting
- DBD::PgSPI could be handed the query as-is
- No change to BE/FE or wire protocols
- No impact on people who don't want it
- Probably works across versions with minimal fuss
Returning a simple XML structure with column names and rows should only take
a few lines. (I'd write an example if I knew XML:: better.)
I'll go back to lurking now. Thanks all for the great database!