[postgis-tickets] [PostGIS] #2487: Support invalid keys in GiST index

[PostGIS]

#2487: Support invalid keys in GiST index
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  Reporter:  pramsey  |      Owner:  pramsey
      Type:  defect   |     Status:  closed
  Priority:  high     |  Milestone:  PostGIS 2.2.7
 Component:  postgis  |    Version:  2.2.x
Resolution:  wontfix  |   Keywords:
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Changes (by pramsey):

 * status:  new => closed
 * resolution:   => wontfix


Comment:

 I'm declaring defeat on this ticket... without a facility at the GIST API
 that exposes how GIST already handles NULL values (somewhere out-of-line
 from the other entries, I guess) we cannot create a good key for invalid
 (empty) inputs, that are searchable, since the whole space we have
 available to us (the 2d plane) is monopolized by valid keys. We could pick
 an arbitrary place on the plane (our own "null island" for empties) and
 say "that's where we put them!" but such a hack would (a) pollute the
 space for things that are actually there and (b) would cause the root
 bounds to immediately be really huge, every time.

 The downside, which doesn't seem to have caused anyone to complain, ever,
 is lack of indexed searches for empty geometry (also, geography). Finding
 them requires a full table scan using the '=' operator.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/ticket/2487#comment:8>
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