You can specifiy a "comment" on each field....
"Don Y" <pgsql@DakotaCom.Net> wrote in message
news:443D3EF7.10205@DakotaCom.Net...
> Hi,
>
> Is there any way that I can consistently (across all
> tables) add a parameter defining "what" each column
> "is"? (sorry, crappy grammar and ill-formed question).
>
> I want to be able to embed in the database parameters
> that tell it how to interpret each column. In other
> words, while the TYPE for two columns might be
> text/char/varchar/etc., the data that each contained
> could have vastly different interpretations.
>
> For example, it might be a surname. Or, the name of
> a city. Or, the name of a handtool. Or a street address.
>
> I would like the support routines to be able to look at
> these parameters and adjust queries and other activities
> accordingly. So, when matching a surname, it might
> apply some heuristics built on metaphone. Yet, when
> matching a book's title, may try some simple substitutions
> and permutations (e.g., stripping words like "The" from
> the beginning of the title; or relaxing rules for
> punctuation or capitalization).
>
> Burying this information in the database itself will let
> the applications be unconcerned with adding this level
> of support at their level -- and afford all applications
> a consistent set of capabilities.
>
> On a similar, but different, note, are there any ways
> to "hide" a value behind each datum? I.e. to treat
> each entry as a struct containing the actual data type
> PLUS this "hidden" value? Without explicitly creating
> ADT's for each potential datatype?
>
> (sorry, I realize both questions are off-the-wall and
> I can undoubtedly come up with kludges to implement them
> but I was hoping for something "slicker"... :>)
>
> Thanks!
> --don
>
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