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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Chapter 45. PL/Perl - Perl Procedural Language</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="pltcl-procnames.html" title="44.12. Tcl Procedure Names" /><link rel="next" href="plperl-funcs.html" title="45.1. PL/Perl Functions and Arguments" /></head><body><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">Chapter 45. PL/Perl - Perl Procedural Language</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pltcl-procnames.html" title="44.12. Tcl Procedure Names">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="server-programming.html" title="Part V. Server Programming">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Part V. Server Programming</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plperl-funcs.html" title="45.1. PL/Perl Functions and Arguments">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></hr></div><div class="chapter" id="PLPERL"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title">Chapter 45. PL/Perl - Perl Procedural Language</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-funcs.html">45.1. PL/Perl Functions and Arguments</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-data.html">45.2. Data Values in PL/Perl</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-builtins.html">45.3. Built-in Functions</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plperl-builtins.html#PLPERL-DATABASE">45.3.1. Database Access from PL/Perl</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plperl-builtins.html#PLPERL-UTILITY-FUNCTIONS">45.3.2. Utility Functions in PL/Perl</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-global.html">45.4. Global Values in PL/Perl</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-trusted.html">45.5. Trusted and Untrusted PL/Perl</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-triggers.html">45.6. PL/Perl Triggers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-event-triggers.html">45.7. PL/Perl Event Triggers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plperl-under-the-hood.html">45.8. PL/Perl Under the Hood</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plperl-under-the-hood.html#PLPERL-CONFIG">45.8.1. Configuration</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plperl-under-the-hood.html#PLPERL-MISSING">45.8.2. Limitations and Missing Features</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><a id="id-1.8.10.2" class="indexterm"></a><a id="id-1.8.10.3" class="indexterm"></a><p>
PL/Perl is a loadable procedural language that enables you to write
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> functions in the
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.perl.org" target="_top">Perl programming language</a>.
</p><p>
The main advantage to using PL/Perl is that this allows use,
within stored functions, of the manyfold <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">string
munging</span>”</span> operators and functions available for Perl. Parsing
complex strings might be easier using Perl than it is with the
string functions and control structures provided in PL/pgSQL.
</p><p>
To install PL/Perl in a particular database, use
<code class="literal">CREATE EXTENSION plperl</code>.
</p><div class="tip"><h3 class="title">Tip</h3><p>
If a language is installed into <code class="literal">template1</code>, all subsequently
created databases will have the language installed automatically.
</p></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Users of source packages must specially enable the build of
PL/Perl during the installation process. (Refer to <a class="xref" href="installation.html" title="Chapter 16. Installation from Source Code">Chapter 16</a> for more information.) Users of
binary packages might find PL/Perl in a separate subpackage.
</p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pltcl-procnames.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="server-programming.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plperl-funcs.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">44.12. Tcl Procedure Names </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 45.1. PL/Perl Functions and Arguments</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
