Linked list with CTE

From: Mark Lubratt <mark(dot)lubratt(at)indeq(dot)com>
To: pgsql-sql(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Linked list with CTE
Date: 2010-03-14 23:51:53
Message-ID: ECD5EC35-ACAD-4D12-9505-620D86081F8B@indeq.com
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Hello,

I have a table in my database with multiple, independent linked lists. I would like to have a query that returns an entire linked list given a node (the node could be anywhere within the list).

I found on the web an example of how to use CTEs to do this:

http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/CTEReadme

I'll repeat the gist of it here:

CREATE TABLE department (
id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, -- department ID
parent_department INTEGER REFERENCES department, -- upper department ID
name TEXT -- department name
);

INSERT INTO department (id, parent_department, "name")
VALUES
(0, NULL, 'ROOT'),
(1, 0, 'A'),
(2, 1, 'B'),
(3, 2, 'C'),
(4, 2, 'D'),
(5, 0, 'E'),
(6, 4, 'F'),
(7, 5, 'G');

-- department structure represented here is as follows:
--
-- ROOT-+->A-+->B-+->C
-- | |
-- | +->D-+->F
-- +->E-+->G
To extract all departments under A, you can use the following recursive query:
WITH RECURSIVE subdepartment AS
(
-- non-recursive term
SELECT * FROM department WHERE name = 'A'

UNION ALL

-- recursive term
SELECT d.*
FROM
department AS d
JOIN
subdepartment AS sd
ON (d.parent_department = sd.id)
)
SELECT *
FROM subdepartment
ORDER BY name;

My database contains multiple, independent structures like the one given above. So, I can modify the above with:

insert into department (id, parent_department, name) values (8, NULL, 'Z'), (9, 8, 'Y');

I need a bidirectional query and since I'm quite new to CTE, I'm not sure how to modify the query to get parent departments as well as subdepartments... Thus, if I give the query any node in a linked list, I'd like the entire tree returned.

e.g. If I give the query 'A', I'd like it to return the ROOT, A, B, C, D, E, F, G tree. If I give the query 'Y', I'd like it to return the Z, Y tree.

I hope I made sense...

Thanks!
Mark

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