Hello
>
> I noticed that it takes a long time to return the set of records. But if I
> run the same query at the psql cli, it runs blindingly fast. So it appears
> that the process of returning the records via "return next" is the
> performance culprit.
>
> Any ideas?
Try use holdable cursors
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/plpgsql-cursors.html#PLPGSQL-CURSOR-USING
But problem can be in
http://groups.google.com/group/pgsql.general/browse_thread/thread/38aa2064fcce53ed/69b7362839c3ab4c
Regards
Pavel Stehule