The may/can/might business - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Tom Lane
Subject The may/can/might business
Date
Msg-id 23985.1170361174@sss.pgh.pa.us
Whole thread Raw
Responses Re: The may/can/might business
List pgsql-hackers
3606c3606
<                    errmsg("aggregate function calls cannot be nested")));
---
>                    errmsg("aggregate function calls may not be nested")));

I don't think that this is an improvement, or even correct English.

You have changed a message that states that an action is logically
impossible into one that implies we are arbitrarily refusing to let
the user do something that *could* be done, if only we'd let him.

There is relevant material in the message style guidelines, section
45.3.8: it says that "cannot open file "%s" ... indicates that the
functionality of opening the named file does not exist at all in the
program, or that it's conceptually impossible."
        regards, tom lane


pgsql-hackers by date:

Previous
From: Bruce Momjian
Date:
Subject: Re: pg_restore fails with a custom backup file
Next
From: Tom Lane
Date:
Subject: Re: [PATCHES] Full page writes improvement