[GRASS-dev] v.db.update: any reason to keep both value and qcolumn parameter ?

[Moritz Lennert]

In v.db.update we currently have:

#%option
#% key: value
#% type: string
#% description: Value to update the column with, can be (combination of) 
other column(s)
#% required : no
#%end
#%option
#% key: qcolumn
#% type: string
#% description: Column to query
#% required : no
#%end


'qcolumn' was added in a later stage, AFAIK mostly because of a 
misunderstanding of 'value'. As said in the help text, value can be 
either a value, a name of another column or a combination of other 
columns, so it already comprises qcolumn.

However, in its current version (since rev 23578), value is now adapted 
according to column type, which means that you cannot use column 
operations on varchar columns (e.g. concatenation).

So, we should either:

- change the doc to reflect that value should only be a nominal value, or
- go back to the original, i.e. no qcolumn and no type checking for 
value, so that it's up to the user to use correct quoting

Any preferences ?

Moritz