BUG #7543: Invalid table alias: DELETE FROM table *

From: barrybrown(at)sierracollege(dot)edu
To: pgsql-bugs(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: BUG #7543: Invalid table alias: DELETE FROM table *
Date: 2012-09-16 09:01:13
Message-ID: E1TDAj3-0008JO-V0@wrigleys.postgresql.org
Views: Raw Message | Whole Thread | Download mbox | Resend email
Thread:
Lists: pgsql-bugs pgsql-docs

The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference: 7543
Logged by: Barry Brown
Email address: barrybrown(at)sierracollege(dot)edu
PostgreSQL version: 9.1.5
Operating system: Ubuntu 12.04
Description:

I sometime see my users delete all rows from a table using a command like
this:

DELETE FROM customer *;

The question is: what is the star? Is it a table alias or an
output_expression?

The grammar for DELETE is:

[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
DELETE FROM [ ONLY ] table [ [ AS ] alias ]
[ USING using_list ]
[ WHERE condition | WHERE CURRENT OF cursor_name ]
[ RETURNING * | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...] ]

According to the grammar, the star could be an alias. We can alias the table
being affected with a "normal" alias. The following also works:

DELETE FROM customer foo;
DELETE FROM customer foo where foo.id = 1;

However, the star isn't treated as an alias in this next command. Instead,
it generates a syntax error, as one might expected:

DELETE FROM customer * where *.id = 1;

So perhaps the star is an output_expression. The grammar for the RETURNING
clause is:

RETURNING * | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...]

Since it has no parentheses to alter the operator precedence, it is
interpreted as:

(RETURNING *) | (output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...])

In other words, one can write just an output_expression without the
RETURNING keyword. However, I'm sure the grammar is supposed to require the
RETURNING keyword. Consequently, the grammar ought to be:

RETURNING (* | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...])

The written documentation implies that * is a valid output_expression.

In summary:
Should * be an acceptable table alias for the DELETE command?
Should the grammar for the RETURNING clause include some parentheses to make
it clearer what's expected?

Responses

Browse pgsql-bugs by date

  From Date Subject
Next Message sharkke.w 2012-09-16 13:54:10 BUG #7544: cmd, chcp 65001, show client_encoding, get "not enough memory" error
Previous Message Amit kapila 2012-09-16 06:10:43 Re: [BUGS] BUG #7534: walreceiver takes long time to detect n/w breakdown

Browse pgsql-docs by date

  From Date Subject
Next Message Jeff Janes 2012-09-16 21:39:34 Re: [PERFORM] Planner selects different execution plans depending on limit
Previous Message Sebastien FLAESCH 2012-09-14 09:43:43 Re: Details about libpq cross-version compatibility