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>Chapter 38. <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> - <ACRONYM
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> Procedural Language</TD
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><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING"
>38.12. Porting from <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>Oracle</SPAN
> PL/SQL</A
></H1
><A
NAME="AEN44823"
></A
><A
NAME="AEN44826"
></A
><P
> This section explains differences between
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>'s <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>
language and Oracle's <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> language,
to help developers who port applications from
<SPAN
CLASS="TRADEMARK"
>Oracle</SPAN
>® to <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
</P
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> is similar to PL/SQL in many
aspects. It is a block-structured, imperative language, and all
variables have to be declared. Assignments, loops, conditionals
are similar. The main differences you should keep in mind when
porting from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> are:
<P
></P
></P><UL
><LI
><P
> There are no default values for parameters in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> You can overload function names in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>. This is
often used to work around the lack of default parameters.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> If a name used in a SQL command could be either a column name of a
table or a reference to a variable of the function,
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> treats it as a column name, while
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> treats it as a variable name. It's best
to avoid such ambiguities in the first place, but if necessary you
can fix them by properly qualifying the ambiguous name.
(See <A
HREF="plpgsql-implementation.html#PLPGSQL-VAR-SUBST"
>Section 38.10.1</A
>.)
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> No need for cursors in <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>, just put the
query in the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>FOR</TT
> statement. (See <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX2"
>Example 38-6</A
>.)
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> In <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> the function body must be written as
a string literal. Therefore you need to use dollar quoting or escape
single quotes in the function body. (See <A
HREF="plpgsql-development-tips.html#PLPGSQL-QUOTE-TIPS"
>Section 38.11.1</A
>.)
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Instead of packages, use schemas to organize your functions
into groups.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Since there are no packages, there are no package-level variables
either. This is somewhat annoying. You can keep per-session state
in temporary tables instead.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integer <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>FOR</TT
> loops with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>REVERSE</TT
> work
differently: <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> counts down from the second
number to the first, while <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> counts down
from the first number to the second, requiring the loop bounds
to be swapped when porting. This incompatibility is unfortunate
but is unlikely to be changed. (See <A
HREF="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-INTEGER-FOR"
>Section 38.6.3.5</A
>.)
</P
></LI
></UL
><P>
</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN44871"
>38.12.1. Porting Examples</A
></H2
><P
> <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PGSQL-PORTING-EX1"
>Example 38-5</A
> shows how to port a simple
function from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><A
NAME="PGSQL-PORTING-EX1"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 38-5. Porting a Simple Function from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
></B
></P
><P
> Here is an <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>Oracle</SPAN
> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> function:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_fmt_browser_version(v_name varchar,
v_version varchar)
RETURN varchar IS
BEGIN
IF v_version IS NULL THEN
RETURN v_name;
END IF;
RETURN v_name || '/' || v_version;
END;
/
show errors;</PRE
><P>
</P
><P
> Let's go through this function and see the differences compared to
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>:
<P
></P
></P><UL
><LI
><P
> The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>RETURN</TT
> key word in the function
prototype (not the function body) becomes
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>RETURNS</TT
> in
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
Also, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS</TT
> becomes <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>AS</TT
>, and you need to
add a <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>LANGUAGE</TT
> clause because <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>
is not the only possible function language.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> In <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>, the function body is considered
to be a string literal, so you need to use quote marks or dollar
quotes around it. This substitutes for the terminating <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/</TT
>
in the Oracle approach.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>show errors</TT
> command does not exist in
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>, and is not needed since errors are
reported automatically.
</P
></LI
></UL
><P>
</P
><P
> This is how this function would look when ported to
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_fmt_browser_version(v_name varchar,
v_version varchar)
RETURNS varchar AS $$
BEGIN
IF v_version IS NULL THEN
RETURN v_name;
END IF;
RETURN v_name || '/' || v_version;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;</PRE
><P>
</P
></DIV
><P
> <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX2"
>Example 38-6</A
> shows how to port a
function that creates another function and how to handle the
ensuing quoting problems.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX2"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 38-6. Porting a Function that Creates Another Function from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
></B
></P
><P
> The following procedure grabs rows from a
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>SELECT</TT
> statement and builds a large function
with the results in <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IF</TT
> statements, for the
sake of efficiency. Notice particularly the differences in the
cursor and the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>FOR</TT
> loop.
</P
><P
> This is the Oracle version:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE cs_update_referrer_type_proc IS
CURSOR referrer_keys IS
SELECT * FROM cs_referrer_keys
ORDER BY try_order;
func_cmd VARCHAR(4000);
BEGIN
func_cmd := 'CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_find_referrer_type(v_host IN VARCHAR,
v_domain IN VARCHAR, v_url IN VARCHAR) RETURN VARCHAR IS BEGIN';
FOR referrer_key IN referrer_keys LOOP
func_cmd := func_cmd ||
' IF v_' || referrer_key.kind
|| ' LIKE ''' || referrer_key.key_string
|| ''' THEN RETURN ''' || referrer_key.referrer_type
|| '''; END IF;';
END LOOP;
func_cmd := func_cmd || ' RETURN NULL; END;';
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE func_cmd;
END;
/
show errors;</PRE
><P>
</P
><P
> Here is how this function would end up in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_update_referrer_type_proc() RETURNS void AS $func$
DECLARE
referrer_key RECORD; -- declare a generic record to be used in a FOR
func_body text;
func_cmd text;
BEGIN
func_body := 'BEGIN';
-- Notice how we scan through the results of a query in a FOR loop
-- using the FOR <record> construct.
FOR referrer_key IN SELECT * FROM cs_referrer_keys ORDER BY try_order LOOP
func_body := func_body ||
' IF v_' || referrer_key.kind
|| ' LIKE ' || quote_literal(referrer_key.key_string)
|| ' THEN RETURN ' || quote_literal(referrer_key.referrer_type)
|| '; END IF;' ;
END LOOP;
func_body := func_body || ' RETURN NULL; END;';
func_cmd :=
'CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_find_referrer_type(v_host varchar,
v_domain varchar,
v_url varchar)
RETURNS varchar AS '
|| quote_literal(func_body)
|| ' LANGUAGE plpgsql;' ;
EXECUTE func_cmd;
END;
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;</PRE
><P>
Notice how the body of the function is built separately and passed
through <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>quote_literal</TT
> to double any quote marks in it. This
technique is needed because we cannot safely use dollar quoting for
defining the new function: we do not know for sure what strings will
be interpolated from the <TT
CLASS="STRUCTFIELD"
>referrer_key.key_string</TT
> field.
(We are assuming here that <TT
CLASS="STRUCTFIELD"
>referrer_key.kind</TT
> can be
trusted to always be <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>host</TT
>, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>domain</TT
>, or
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>url</TT
>, but <TT
CLASS="STRUCTFIELD"
>referrer_key.key_string</TT
> might be
anything, in particular it might contain dollar signs.) This function
is actually an improvement on the Oracle original, because it will
not generate broken code when <TT
CLASS="STRUCTFIELD"
>referrer_key.key_string</TT
> or
<TT
CLASS="STRUCTFIELD"
>referrer_key.referrer_type</TT
> contain quote marks.
</P
></DIV
><P
> <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX3"
>Example 38-7</A
> shows how to port a function
with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>OUT</TT
> parameters and string manipulation.
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> does not have a built-in
<CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>instr</CODE
> function, but you can create one
using a combination of other
functions.<A
NAME="AEN44937"
></A
> In <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-APPENDIX"
>Section 38.12.3</A
> there is a
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> implementation of
<CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>instr</CODE
> that you can use to make your porting
easier.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX3"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 38-7. Porting a Procedure With String Manipulation and
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>OUT</TT
> Parameters from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
></B
></P
><P
> The following <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>Oracle</SPAN
> PL/SQL procedure is used
to parse a URL and return several elements (host, path, and query).
</P
><P
> This is the Oracle version:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE cs_parse_url(
v_url IN VARCHAR,
v_host OUT VARCHAR, -- This will be passed back
v_path OUT VARCHAR, -- This one too
v_query OUT VARCHAR) -- And this one
IS
a_pos1 INTEGER;
a_pos2 INTEGER;
BEGIN
v_host := NULL;
v_path := NULL;
v_query := NULL;
a_pos1 := instr(v_url, '//');
IF a_pos1 = 0 THEN
RETURN;
END IF;
a_pos2 := instr(v_url, '/', a_pos1 + 2);
IF a_pos2 = 0 THEN
v_host := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 2);
v_path := '/';
RETURN;
END IF;
v_host := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 2, a_pos2 - a_pos1 - 2);
a_pos1 := instr(v_url, '?', a_pos2 + 1);
IF a_pos1 = 0 THEN
v_path := substr(v_url, a_pos2);
RETURN;
END IF;
v_path := substr(v_url, a_pos2, a_pos1 - a_pos2);
v_query := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 1);
END;
/
show errors;</PRE
><P>
</P
><P
> Here is a possible translation into <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_parse_url(
v_url IN VARCHAR,
v_host OUT VARCHAR, -- This will be passed back
v_path OUT VARCHAR, -- This one too
v_query OUT VARCHAR) -- And this one
AS $$
DECLARE
a_pos1 INTEGER;
a_pos2 INTEGER;
BEGIN
v_host := NULL;
v_path := NULL;
v_query := NULL;
a_pos1 := instr(v_url, '//');
IF a_pos1 = 0 THEN
RETURN;
END IF;
a_pos2 := instr(v_url, '/', a_pos1 + 2);
IF a_pos2 = 0 THEN
v_host := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 2);
v_path := '/';
RETURN;
END IF;
v_host := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 2, a_pos2 - a_pos1 - 2);
a_pos1 := instr(v_url, '?', a_pos2 + 1);
IF a_pos1 = 0 THEN
v_path := substr(v_url, a_pos2);
RETURN;
END IF;
v_path := substr(v_url, a_pos2, a_pos1 - a_pos2);
v_query := substr(v_url, a_pos1 + 1);
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;</PRE
><P>
This function could be used like this:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>SELECT * FROM cs_parse_url('http://foobar.com/query.cgi?baz');</PRE
><P>
</P
></DIV
><P
> <A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX4"
>Example 38-8</A
> shows how to port a procedure
that uses numerous features that are specific to Oracle.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-EX4"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 38-8. Porting a Procedure from <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
></B
></P
><P
> The Oracle version:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE cs_create_job(v_job_id IN INTEGER) IS
a_running_job_count INTEGER;
PRAGMA AUTONOMOUS_TRANSACTION;<A
NAME="CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-PRAGMA"
><B
>(1)</B
></A
>
BEGIN
LOCK TABLE cs_jobs IN EXCLUSIVE MODE;<A
NAME="CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-LOCKTABLE"
><B
>(2)</B
></A
>
SELECT count(*) INTO a_running_job_count FROM cs_jobs WHERE end_stamp IS NULL;
IF a_running_job_count > 0 THEN
COMMIT; -- free lock<A
NAME="CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-COMMIT"
><B
>(3)</B
></A
>
raise_application_error(-20000, 'Unable to create a new job: a job is currently running.');
END IF;
DELETE FROM cs_active_job;
INSERT INTO cs_active_job(job_id) VALUES (v_job_id);
BEGIN
INSERT INTO cs_jobs (job_id, start_stamp) VALUES (v_job_id, sysdate);
EXCEPTION
WHEN dup_val_on_index THEN NULL; -- don't worry if it already exists
END;
COMMIT;
END;
/
show errors</PRE
><P>
</P
><P
> Procedures like this can easily be converted into <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>
functions returning <TT
CLASS="TYPE"
>void</TT
>. This procedure in
particular is interesting because it can teach us some things:
<DIV
CLASS="CALLOUTLIST"
><DL
COMPACT="COMPACT"
><DT
><A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-PRAGMA"
><B
>(1)</B
></A
></DT
><DD
> There is no <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PRAGMA</TT
> statement in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
</DD
><DT
><A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-LOCKTABLE"
><B
>(2)</B
></A
></DT
><DD
> If you do a <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>LOCK TABLE</TT
> in <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>,
the lock will not be released until the calling transaction is
finished.
</DD
><DT
><A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-COMMIT"
><B
>(3)</B
></A
></DT
><DD
> You cannot issue <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>COMMIT</TT
> in a
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> function. The function is
running within some outer transaction and so <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>COMMIT</TT
>
would imply terminating the function's execution. However, in
this particular case it is not necessary anyway, because the lock
obtained by the <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>LOCK TABLE</TT
> will be released when
we raise an error.
</DD
></DL
></DIV
>
</P
><P
> This is how we could port this procedure to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION cs_create_job(v_job_id integer) RETURNS void AS $$
DECLARE
a_running_job_count integer;
BEGIN
LOCK TABLE cs_jobs IN EXCLUSIVE MODE;
SELECT count(*) INTO a_running_job_count FROM cs_jobs WHERE end_stamp IS NULL;
IF a_running_job_count > 0 THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Unable to create a new job: a job is currently running';<A
NAME="CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-RAISE"
><B
>(1)</B
></A
>
END IF;
DELETE FROM cs_active_job;
INSERT INTO cs_active_job(job_id) VALUES (v_job_id);
BEGIN
INSERT INTO cs_jobs (job_id, start_stamp) VALUES (v_job_id, now());
EXCEPTION
WHEN unique_violation THEN <A
NAME="CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-EXCEPTION"
><B
>(2)</B
></A
>
-- don't worry if it already exists
END;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;</PRE
><P>
<DIV
CLASS="CALLOUTLIST"
><DL
COMPACT="COMPACT"
><DT
><A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-RAISE"
><B
>(1)</B
></A
></DT
><DD
> The syntax of <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>RAISE</TT
> is considerably different from
Oracle's similar statement.
</DD
><DT
><A
HREF="plpgsql-porting.html#CO.PLPGSQL-PORTING-EXCEPTION"
><B
>(2)</B
></A
></DT
><DD
> The exception names supported by <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> are
different from Oracle's. The set of built-in exception names
is much larger (see <A
HREF="errcodes-appendix.html"
>Appendix A</A
>). There
is not currently a way to declare user-defined exception names.
</DD
></DL
></DIV
>
The main functional difference between this procedure and the
Oracle equivalent is that the exclusive lock on the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>cs_jobs</TT
>
table will be held until the calling transaction completes. Also, if
the caller later aborts (for example due to an error), the effects of
this procedure will be rolled back.
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-OTHER"
>38.12.2. Other Things to Watch For</A
></H2
><P
> This section explains a few other things to watch for when porting
Oracle <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> functions to
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-EXCEPTIONS"
>38.12.2.1. Implicit Rollback after Exceptions</A
></H3
><P
> In <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
>, when an exception is caught by an
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>EXCEPTION</TT
> clause, all database changes since the block's
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>BEGIN</TT
> are automatically rolled back. That is, the behavior
is equivalent to what you'd get in Oracle with:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
> BEGIN
SAVEPOINT s1;
... code here ...
EXCEPTION
WHEN ... THEN
ROLLBACK TO s1;
... code here ...
WHEN ... THEN
ROLLBACK TO s1;
... code here ...
END;</PRE
><P>
If you are translating an Oracle procedure that uses
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>SAVEPOINT</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>ROLLBACK TO</TT
> in this style,
your task is easy: just omit the <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>SAVEPOINT</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>ROLLBACK TO</TT
>. If you have a procedure that uses
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>SAVEPOINT</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>ROLLBACK TO</TT
> in a different way
then some actual thought will be required.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN45016"
>38.12.2.2. <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>EXECUTE</TT
></A
></H3
><P
> The <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> version of
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>EXECUTE</TT
> works similarly to the
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/SQL</SPAN
> version, but you have to remember to use
<CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>quote_literal</CODE
> and
<CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>quote_ident</CODE
> as described in <A
HREF="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-EXECUTING-DYN"
>Section 38.5.4</A
>. Constructs of the
type <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>EXECUTE 'SELECT * FROM $1';</TT
> will not work
reliably unless you use these functions.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-OPTIMIZATION"
>38.12.2.3. Optimizing <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>PL/pgSQL</SPAN
> Functions</A
></H3
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> gives you two function creation
modifiers to optimize execution: <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"volatility"</SPAN
> (whether
the function always returns the same result when given the same
arguments) and <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"strictness"</SPAN
> (whether the function
returns null if any argument is null). Consult the <A
HREF="sql-createfunction.html"
><I
>CREATE FUNCTION</I
></A
>
reference page for details.
</P
><P
> When making use of these optimization attributes, your
<TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>CREATE FUNCTION</TT
> statement might look something
like this:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>CREATE FUNCTION foo(...) RETURNS integer AS $$
...
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql STRICT IMMUTABLE;</PRE
><P>
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="PLPGSQL-PORTING-APPENDIX"
>38.12.3. Appendix</A
></H2
><P
> This section contains the code for a set of Oracle-compatible
<CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>instr</CODE
> functions that you can use to simplify
your porting efforts.
</P
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>--
-- instr functions that mimic Oracle's counterpart
-- Syntax: instr(string1, string2, [n], [m]) where [] denotes optional parameters.
--
-- Searches string1 beginning at the nth character for the mth occurrence
-- of string2. If n is negative, search backwards. If m is not passed,
-- assume 1 (search starts at first character).
--
CREATE FUNCTION instr(varchar, varchar) RETURNS integer AS $$
DECLARE
pos integer;
BEGIN
pos:= instr($1, $2, 1);
RETURN pos;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql STRICT IMMUTABLE;
CREATE FUNCTION instr(string varchar, string_to_search varchar, beg_index integer)
RETURNS integer AS $$
DECLARE
pos integer NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
temp_str varchar;
beg integer;
length integer;
ss_length integer;
BEGIN
IF beg_index > 0 THEN
temp_str := substring(string FROM beg_index);
pos := position(string_to_search IN temp_str);
IF pos = 0 THEN
RETURN 0;
ELSE
RETURN pos + beg_index - 1;
END IF;
ELSE
ss_length := char_length(string_to_search);
length := char_length(string);
beg := length + beg_index - ss_length + 2;
WHILE beg > 0 LOOP
temp_str := substring(string FROM beg FOR ss_length);
pos := position(string_to_search IN temp_str);
IF pos > 0 THEN
RETURN beg;
END IF;
beg := beg - 1;
END LOOP;
RETURN 0;
END IF;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql STRICT IMMUTABLE;
CREATE FUNCTION instr(string varchar, string_to_search varchar,
beg_index integer, occur_index integer)
RETURNS integer AS $$
DECLARE
pos integer NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
occur_number integer NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
temp_str varchar;
beg integer;
i integer;
length integer;
ss_length integer;
BEGIN
IF beg_index > 0 THEN
beg := beg_index;
temp_str := substring(string FROM beg_index);
FOR i IN 1..occur_index LOOP
pos := position(string_to_search IN temp_str);
IF i = 1 THEN
beg := beg + pos - 1;
ELSE
beg := beg + pos;
END IF;
temp_str := substring(string FROM beg + 1);
END LOOP;
IF pos = 0 THEN
RETURN 0;
ELSE
RETURN beg;
END IF;
ELSE
ss_length := char_length(string_to_search);
length := char_length(string);
beg := length + beg_index - ss_length + 2;
WHILE beg > 0 LOOP
temp_str := substring(string FROM beg FOR ss_length);
pos := position(string_to_search IN temp_str);
IF pos > 0 THEN
occur_number := occur_number + 1;
IF occur_number = occur_index THEN
RETURN beg;
END IF;
END IF;
beg := beg - 1;
END LOOP;
RETURN 0;
END IF;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql STRICT IMMUTABLE;</PRE
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