Re: Writing SQL functions in Postgres

Boulat Khakimov <boulat(at)inet-interactif(dot)com> said:

> I want to write an SQL function in postgres that returns
> row as a result.
>
> The problem is the select statement inside the funtion has
> a two table join. So I dont know what to put after SETOF
>
> CREATE FUNCTION dummy()
> RETURNS SETOF ?????
> AS 'select a.name,b.cc
> from tblusers a,
> tbldocs b
> where a.name=b.name'
> LANGUAGE 'SQL';
>
>
> SETOF tblusers -- doesnt work
> ERROR: function declared to return type tblusers does not retrieve
> (tblusers.*)
>
> neither does SETOF tbldocs
>
> SETOF tblusers,tbldocs wont work either.

There's good news and bad news.

The good news is that if you define a view "tblboth" that selects from your two tables you can then do "returns setof tblboth".

The bad news is that your function won't return a set of records - you'll get a list of OIDs (at least I think they're OIDs). Check the mailing archives for more on this.

You can do your example with a simple view, but if you want a parameterised view you'll have to wait until 7.2 (I think it's on the todo list)

- Richard Huxton