Re: [PATCH] Exorcise "zero-dimensional" arrays (Was: Re: Should array_length() Return NULL)

On 2013.03.25 5:55 PM, Craig Ringer wrote:
> On 03/25/2013 10:28 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
>> Yeah, they are, because things break when they're set wrong.
> They also make debugging and support harder; you need to get an
> ever-growing list of GUC values from the user to figure out what their
> query does. bytea_output, standard_conforming_strings, etc. Yick.
>
> That said, I don't have a better answer for introducing non-BC changes.

Given the general trouble GUC values cause, is there a plan to deprecate and 
remove each of the existing ones over time?  As long as post-removal there isn't 
any actual loss of functionality, but users might have to change their code to 
do it "the one true way", that would seem a good thing. -- Darren Duncan