Re: Unique index problem

From: Jim Nasby <Jim(dot)Nasby(at)BlueTreble(dot)com>
To: Andreas Kretschmer <akretschmer(at)spamfence(dot)net>, <pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Re: Unique index problem
Date: 2015-12-20 23:17:45
Message-ID: 56773719.3090308@BlueTreble.com
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On 12/20/15 10:18 AM, Andreas Kretschmer wrote:
> test=*# create unique index on foo(a,b,c) where a is not null and b is
> not null and c is not null;
> CREATE INDEX

As you discovered, you'd have to build separate indexes for each of the
nullable fields:

UNIQUE ON (a,b) WHERE c IS NULL
a,c WHERE b IS NULL
b,c WHERE a IS NULL
a WHERE b IS NULL AND c IS NULL
....

That's doable for 3 fields, but obviously gets out of hand really quickly.

I wonder if it would be possible to construct an operator family
(class?) that would accept 2 rows( ie: ROW(a,b,c) ) and treat NULLs as
single values...
--
Jim Nasby, Data Architect, Blue Treble Consulting, Austin TX
Experts in Analytics, Data Architecture and PostgreSQL
Data in Trouble? Get it in Treble! http://BlueTreble.com

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