Re: Passing varchar parameter to INTERVAL

On 09/07/2016 06:05 AM, Alexander Farber wrote:
> Good afternoon,
>
> when trying to create a custom function to temporary ban a user:
>
> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION words_ban_user(
> IN in_uid integer,
> IN in_until varchar, -- '1 week' OR '1 month' OR '1 year'
> IN in_reason varchar)
> RETURNS void AS
> $func$
> BEGIN
> ........
> UPDATE words_users SET
> banned_until = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + INTERVAL in_until,
> banned_reason = in_reason,
> vip_until = vip_until + INTERVAL in_until, -- for
> paying user
> grand_until = grand_until + INTERVAL in_until
> WHERE uid = in_uid;
>
> END
> $func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
>
> in 9.5.4 I unfortunately get the error:
>
> ERROR: syntax error at or near "in_until"
> LINE 69: ... banned_until = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + INTERVAL in_until,
> ^
> Is there please a better way here?

DO
$$
DECLARE
in_until varchar := '1 day';
banned_until timestamp;
BEGIN
banned_until = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + in_until::interval;
RAISE NOTICE '%', banned_until;
END$$;

NOTICE: 2016-09-08 06:50:14.051719

When I did it your way I got:

test=> DO
$$
DECLARE
in_until varchar := '1 day';
banned_until timestamp;
BEGIN
banned_until = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + INTERVAL in_until;
END$$;
ERROR: column "interval" does not exist
LINE 1: SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + INTERVAL in_until
^
QUERY: SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + INTERVAL in_until
CONTEXT: PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 6 at assignment

>
> Thank you
> Alex
>

--
Adrian Klaver
adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com