On 18 May 2010 16:37, Stephen Frost <sfr...@snowman.net> wrote: > Greetings, > > This doesn't seem right to me: > > postgres=# select > postgres-# string_agg(column1::text order by column1 asc,',') > postgres-# from (values (3),(4),(1),(2)) a; > string_agg > ------------ > 1234 > (1 row) > > I'm thinking we should toss a syntax error here and force the 'order > by' to be at the end of any arguments to the aggregate. > Alternatively, we should actually make this work like this one does: > > postgres=# select > postgres-# string_agg(column1::text,',' order by column1 asc) > postgres-# from (values (3),(4),(1),(2)) a; > string_agg > ------------ > 1,2,3,4 > (1 row) >
I find that 2nd example confusing. It suggests the delimiter is being ordered as the order by clause appears in its parameter. But I can see why the first one is returning the wrong result. The order by clause conflicts with the delimiter parameter as obviously the order by clause prevents you specifying a 2nd parameter in the aggregate function. The delimiter would either need to be the first parameter, or the order by clause would require a way to terminate it's order by list. Thom -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
