9218689b69
types for Table Functions, as previously proposed on HACKERS. Here is a
brief explanation:
1. Creates a new pg_type typtype: 'p' for pseudo type (currently either
'b' for base or 'c' for catalog, i.e. a class).
2. Creates new builtin type of typtype='p' named RECORD. This is the
first of potentially several pseudo types.
3. Modify FROM clause grammer to accept:
SELECT * FROM my_func() AS m(colname1 type1, colname2 type1, ...)
where m is the table alias, colname1, etc are the column names, and
type1, etc are the column types.
4. When typtype == 'p' and the function return type is RECORD, a list
of column defs is required, and when typtype != 'p', it is
disallowed.
5. A check was added to ensure that the tupdesc provide via the parser
and the actual return tupdesc match in number and type of
attributes.
When creating a function you can do:
CREATE FUNCTION foo(text) RETURNS setof RECORD ...
When using it you can do:
SELECT * from foo(sqlstmt) AS (f1 int, f2 text, f3 timestamp)
or
SELECT * from foo(sqlstmt) AS f(f1 int, f2 text, f3 timestamp)
or
SELECT * from foo(sqlstmt) f(f1 int, f2 text, f3 timestamp)
Included in the patches are adjustments to the regression test sql and
expected files, and documentation.
p.s.
This potentially solves (or at least improves) the issue of builtin
Table Functions. They can be bootstrapped as returning RECORD, and
we can wrap system views around them with properly specified column
defs. For example:
CREATE VIEW pg_settings AS
SELECT s.name, s.setting
FROM show_all_settings()AS s(name text, setting text);
Then we can also add the UPDATE RULE that I previously posted to
pg_settings, and have pg_settings act like a virtual table, allowing
settings to be queried and set.
Joe Conway
PostgreSQL Database Management System ===================================== This directory contains the source code distribution of the PostgreSQL database management system. PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system that supports an extended subset of the SQL standard, including transactions, foreign keys, subqueries, triggers, user-defined types and functions. This distribution also contains several language bindings, including C, C++, Perl, Python, and Tcl, as well as drivers for JDBC and ODBC. See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to build and install PostgreSQL. That file also lists supported operating systems and hardware platforms and contains information regarding any other software packages that are required to build or run the PostgreSQL system. Changes between all PostgreSQL releases are recorded in the file HISTORY. Copyright and license information can be found in the file COPYRIGHT. A comprehensive documentation set is included in this distribution; it can be read as described in the installation instructions. The latest version of this software may be obtained at ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/. For more information look at our web site located at http://www.postgresql.org/.