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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>CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</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="sql-createopclass.html" title="CREATE OPERATOR CLASS" /><link rel="next" href="sql-createpolicy.html" title="CREATE POLICY" /></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">CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="sql-createopclass.html" title="CREATE OPERATOR CLASS">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="sql-commands.html" title="SQL Commands">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">SQL Commands</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="sql-createpolicy.html" title="CREATE POLICY">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></hr></div><div class="refentry" id="SQL-CREATEOPFAMILY"><div class="titlepage"></div><a id="id-1.9.3.74.1" class="indexterm"></a><div class="refnamediv"><h2><span class="refentrytitle">CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</span></h2><p>CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY — define a new operator family</p></div><div class="refsynopsisdiv"><h2>Synopsis</h2><pre class="synopsis">
CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY <em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em> USING <em class="replaceable"><code>index_method</code></em>
</pre></div><div class="refsect1" id="id-1.9.3.74.5"><h2>Description</h2><p>
<code class="command">CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</code> creates a new operator family.
An operator family defines a collection of related operator classes,
and perhaps some additional operators and support functions that are
compatible with these operator classes but not essential for the
functioning of any individual index. (Operators and functions that
are essential to indexes should be grouped within the relevant operator
class, rather than being <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">loose</span>”</span> in the operator family.
Typically, single-data-type operators are bound to operator classes,
while cross-data-type operators can be loose in an operator family
containing operator classes for both data types.)
</p><p>
The new operator family is initially empty. It should be populated
by issuing subsequent <code class="command">CREATE OPERATOR CLASS</code> commands
to add contained operator classes, and optionally
<code class="command">ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY</code> commands to add <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">loose</span>”</span>
operators and their corresponding support functions.
</p><p>
If a schema name is given then the operator family is created in the
specified schema. Otherwise it is created in the current schema.
Two operator families in the same schema can have the same name only if they
are for different index methods.
</p><p>
The user who defines an operator family becomes its owner. Presently,
the creating user must be a superuser. (This restriction is made because
an erroneous operator family definition could confuse or even crash the
server.)
</p><p>
Refer to <a class="xref" href="xindex.html" title="38.15. Interfacing Extensions To Indexes">Section 38.15</a> for further information.
</p></div><div class="refsect1" id="id-1.9.3.74.6"><h2>Parameters</h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term"><em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em></span></dt><dd><p>
The name of the operator family to be created. The name can be
schema-qualified.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><em class="replaceable"><code>index_method</code></em></span></dt><dd><p>
The name of the index method this operator family is for.
</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1" id="id-1.9.3.74.7"><h2>Compatibility</h2><p>
<code class="command">CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</code> is a
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> extension. There is no
<code class="command">CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY</code> statement in the SQL
standard.
</p></div><div class="refsect1" id="id-1.9.3.74.8"><h2>See Also</h2><span class="simplelist"><a class="xref" href="sql-alteropfamily.html" title="ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY"><span class="refentrytitle">ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY</span></a>, <a class="xref" href="sql-dropopfamily.html" title="DROP OPERATOR FAMILY"><span class="refentrytitle">DROP OPERATOR FAMILY</span></a>, <a class="xref" href="sql-createopclass.html" title="CREATE OPERATOR CLASS"><span class="refentrytitle">CREATE OPERATOR CLASS</span></a>, <a class="xref" href="sql-alteropclass.html" title="ALTER OPERATOR CLASS"><span class="refentrytitle">ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</span></a>, <a class="xref" href="sql-dropopclass.html" title="DROP OPERATOR CLASS"><span class="refentrytitle">DROP OPERATOR CLASS</span></a></span></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="sql-createopclass.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="sql-commands.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="sql-createpolicy.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">CREATE OPERATOR CLASS </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> CREATE POLICY</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
