Thread: Re: [BUGS] libpgtcl doesn't use UTF encoding of TCL

Reinhard Max <max@suse.de> writes:
>> [ concerning libpgtcl ]
>> We really don't want to give up backwards compatibility just yet.

> How far do you want it to be backwards compatible? If >= 8.0 is OK,
> I'll possibly overwork libpq later this year to use Tcl's object
> interface. I expect at least some performance gain out of this.

That's been on the to-do list for awhile, but we haven't really faced up
to the question of whether Tcl 7.* compatibility is still important to
retain.  I can see three plausible paths:

1. Drop 7.* compatibility, rework code to use 8.0 object interfaces.

2. Rework code to use object interfaces #if TCL >= 8.0, else not.

3. Build a separate, new implementation that's only for Tcl >= 8.0,  but leave the old code available as a separate
library.

My guess is that #2 would uglify the code to the point of
unmaintainability --- but I haven't really looked to see how extensive
the changes might be; perhaps it'd be workable.  #3 would create a
different sort of maintainability issue, namely updating two parallel
sets of code when there were common bugs.  Probably the old code would
get dropped at some future time anyway, so that ultimately #3 becomes
#1.

I don't have a strong opinion about what to do.  I've cc'd this to
pgsql-interfaces, maybe we can get some comments there.  Does anyone
still use/care about Tcl 7.* ?
        regards, tom lane

> My guess is that #2 would uglify the code to the point of
> unmaintainability --- but I haven't really looked to see how extensive
> the changes might be; perhaps it'd be workable.  #3 would create a
> different sort of maintainability issue, namely updating two parallel
> sets of code when there were common bugs.  Probably the old code would
> get dropped at some future time anyway, so that ultimately #3 becomes
> #1.
> 
> I don't have a strong opinion about what to do.  I've cc'd this to
> pgsql-interfaces, maybe we can get some comments there.  Does anyone
> still use/care about Tcl 7.* ?

BSD/OS still ships with 7.5 but I have requested 8.0 in the next
release.  Let's see what happens.  BSD/OS is usually up on the newer
stuff so it is strange they have held back.  I think part of the problem
is that everyone is not happy with how TCL went with 8.1+ so many have
held back on upgrading and are still on 7.5 or 8.0.5.  My guess is
considering the number of platforms we support that we will have to keep
7.5 perhaps another year.  Part of the problem is that we haven't had
any complaints about the 7.5-supported functionality.

I have 8.0.5 custom-installed here.  I agree dropping 7.5 support is the
only reasonable option rather than ifdef or separate files.

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