Re: BUG #18195: PL/pgSQL: invalid syntax allowed in SELECT INTO statement

PG Bug reporting form <noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org> writes:
> 1. The following code is successfully executed although it has incorrect
> syntax: there must be comma (,) between _n and _s in 'into' section.

> select 1, 'string1', 'string2'
> into _n _s;

I believe this is being read the same as

select 1, 'string1', 'string2' _s into _n;

That is, the lack of a comma causes the INTO sub-clause to end,
and then _s is taken as an AS-less column label. As the manual
explains, for backwards-compatibility reasons we allow INTO to be
embedded anywhere in the command, even though that leads to
surprising-looking cases like this one.

As for the question of why you don't get an error for the wrong
number of INTO targets, again that's backwards compatibility.
There's a "strict_multi_assignment" check you can turn on to make
it complain about that [1].

regards, tom lane

[1] https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/plpgsql-development-tips.html#PLPGSQL-EXTRA-CHECKS