[gnome-db] get_schema call - a couple of queries about information returned.

[Steve Fosdick <gnomedb pelvoux demon co uk>]

I'd a like a little clarification please on what some of these are
supposed to return.

First, the GDA_CONNECTION_SCHEMA_TYPES category.

Oracle will accept a large number of type names but maps these all to a
few fundamental types that it stores in the database and, when you query
the definition of a table, it will be the Oracle fundamental type for
each colulm that is returned not what you wrote in the original SQL. 
Neither set quite matches the set of available GDA types.

Is the GDA_CONNECTION_SCHEMA_TYPE intended to return every type name the
database recognsies even if some of them are indistinguishable once
stored, or is it acceptabe to return the fundamental types that actually
get stored?

Is the types list supposed to provide a mapping for all GDA types to
database types or it it accpetable that some of the GDA types don't
appear in this list?

What GDA type should be used for large objects (BLOBs CLOBs etc)?

Second, the GDA_CONNECTION_SCHEMA_AGGREGATES category.

There is only space in the column list for this for one input type and
one output type which is sufficient to describe aggregate functions
which are applied to table columns and typically used in 'group by'
situations like count(*), max, sum etc., i.e. these are calculated
per-group in a  'group by' or for the whole table in the absense of a
group by.

The oracle provide currently includes in it's aggregate list some
functions which aren't aggregates, they are functions which can be
applied to a column but can also be applied to any expression - these
may take more than one argument and, if applied to columns, are
calculated for each row, not for each group in a 'group by' or for the
whole table.

Is it safe to say that these functions are misplaced and should be in
the PROCEDURES category instead (or indeed somewhere else)?

Are the type names specified in the AGGREGATES category strings and are
they supposed to be drawn from the same set as returned by the TYPES
category?

TiA,
Steve.