The $$ notation for quotes are great, it will make the '''''' style of quoting go away forever, no one likes to be as confused as that can cause. You can still use ' quotes, they only need to be used for strings, which is the way it's supposed to be.
Backslash usages, could you name one plpgsql func using that so I can see what you're talking about?
Dropping aliases, I'll just note that the api browser should be adjusted to handle non-aliased parameter listings; as it stands the most useful source view is in the original source files.
You state (providing "null" as default means the argument is
optional), and I would ask, doesn't anything provided as default for a formal parameter mean the corresponding actual parameter is optional? Is it that providing anything other than null would cause the parameter to be supplied whereas if the default is null, that causes the parameter to not be supplied at all?
I've considered situations like this, and (while I recognize this is one of many ways) I always thought that a parameter that defaults to null should just be passed, where the function itself will see the null, recognize it as the default case and respond as appropriate. I had never considered failing to provide the parameter instead. Your thoughts on this part?
All in all, this is all going towards allowing the use of pg beyond 8, it's probably necessary, and some points will make reading and maintaining the plpgsql funcs easier.
Finally, I didn't see a TIP... are you going to TIP this stuff?
-Jim
