[GENERAL] Binary number data type?

[Doug Younger]

Hello,
  I was wondering if there is any way to implement a binary number type and
allow binary math functions (xor, and, or, etc.) on that data in queries etc.
  Specifically what I'm trying to do is store what departments an employee
works in (can be in multiple departments) and store that in a small amount
of space (16 departments could be 16 bit = 2bytes) and binary xor could be
used to create masks to easily return people in particular sets of
departments... I also have other uses for this as well.
  I don't think that binary data and operations are part of any specific
SQL standard so I don't know if there would be any hope of getting support
for this added if it isn't currently supported?


-Doug Younger
Programmer, MindSpring Enterprises
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
   -> Arthur C. Clarke

[GENERAL] Encrypting Data Requests (& returns)?

[Doug Younger]

Hello,
I currently have Postgres running on one of our web servers, so all
transactions are local. I wish to move Postgres to a dedicated server and
access the data remotely from at least 4 web servers.  My dilemma is that I
want all data requests & returns to and from the Postgres server to be
encrypted for security.  Is there an easy way to do this?
  We will be using Apache & StrongHold SSL for the web transactions. We are
using the Pg perl module for all the cgi. The web servers that will be
making the requests will be in physically different locations. The systems
are all Debian 1.3 linux with the latest kernels. The dedicated server will
be using the latest version of Postgres. (currently using 6.2.1)

Please reply directly to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Thanks,

-Doug Younger
MindSpring E-Services Programmer
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
   -> Arthur C. Clarke