How to automatically generate new UUID in PostgreSQL? - postgresql

I'm using PostgreSQL version 14.4. I installed the uuid-ossp extension.
I created a table like this:
CREATE TABLE reserved_words
ADD id uuid NOT NULL DEFAULT uuid_generate_v1()
ADD word NOT NULL varchar(20);
Unfortunately, when I try adding a new record, rather than a new UUID being generated, instead the "uuid_generate_v1()" string is added in as the id!
I've scoured the Internet but can't find out how to alter things so that the function itself is executed. Any ideas?

My apologies, it actually does work. What's happening is that in DBeaver, the DB client I user, it does at first show the UUID generation function but then when you save the new record, it creates the UUID correctly.
Note: I don't really understand the difference between uuid_generate_v1 and uuid_generate_v4 but am going to opt to use the latter one.

uuid_generate_v1 () → uuid
Generates a version 1 UUID. This involves the MAC address of the computer and a time stamp. Note that UUIDs of this kind reveal the identity of the computer that created the identifier and the time at which it did so, which might make it unsuitable for certain security-sensitive applications.
uuid_generate_v4 () → uuid
Generates a version 4 UUID, which is derived entirely from random numbers.
source

The foremost point is that data type should be of uuid
The 'uuid-ossp' extension offers functions to generate UUID values.
To add the extension to the database run the following command
CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp";
you can use the core function gen_random_uuid() to generate version-4 UUIDs.
To make use of this function in dbeaver ,follow the steps:
1.Go to table in which you want to generate UUID's
2.In the table properties tab find the column to which you need to apply the
uuid function
3.Double click on the column name and it will show expanded view of it's
properties
4.Under default value of that particular column properties, write the
function name as shown in the image
gen_random_uuid()
Dbeaver illustration

Related

Does anybody using SERAIL type instead of SEQUENCE in POSTGRESQL 13 Recently?

Could you please help me to choose SERAIL vs Sequence in project..
Which is best for future use?
I'm using POSTGRESQL13 for project Can I use SERAIL type
There is no serial type. Using serial is more like a macro, which creates a column of type integer, and a sequence to fill it. If you describe the table it \d or dump the create command of a table created with serial, you will see it not described/dumped as serial.
One thing that using serial does it mark the sequence as being owned by the column, so that it will get dropped if the column gets dropped. You can accomplish this after-the-fact by running something like this:
ALTER SEQUENCE public.x_x_seq OWNED BY public.x.x;
For new work happening in v13 (or back to v10) you might consider using generated always as identity instead.

Generating a UUID in Postgres for Insert statement?

My question is rather simple. I'm aware of the concept of a UUID and I want to generate one to refer to each 'item' from a 'store' in my DB with. Seems reasonable right?
The problem is the following line returns an error:
honeydb=# insert into items values(
uuid_generate_v4(), 54.321, 31, 'desc 1', 31.94);
ERROR: function uuid_generate_v4() does not exist
LINE 2: uuid_generate_v4(), 54.321, 31, 'desc 1', 31.94);
^
HINT: No function matches the given name and argument types. You might need to add explicit type casts.
I've read the page at: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/uuid-ossp.html
I'm running Postgres 8.4 on Ubuntu 10.04 x64.
uuid-ossp is a contrib module, so it isn't loaded into the server by default. You must load it into your database to use it.
For modern PostgreSQL versions (9.1 and newer) that's easy:
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "uuid-ossp";
but for 9.0 and below you must instead run the SQL script to load the extension. See the documentation for contrib modules in 8.4.
For Pg 9.1 and newer instead read the current contrib docs and CREATE EXTENSION. These features do not exist in 9.0 or older versions, like your 8.4.
If you're using a packaged version of PostgreSQL you might need to install a separate package containing the contrib modules and extensions. Search your package manager database for 'postgres' and 'contrib'.
Without extensions (cheat)
If you need a valid v4 UUID
SELECT uuid_in(overlay(overlay(md5(random()::text || ':' || random()::text) placing '4' from 13) placing to_hex(floor(random()*(11-8+1) + 8)::int)::text from 17)::cstring);
Thanks to #Denis Stafichuk #Karsten and #autronix
Or you can simply get UUID-like value by doing this (if you don't care about the validity):
SELECT uuid_in(md5(random()::text || random()::text)::cstring);
output>> c2d29867-3d0b-d497-9191-18a9d8ee7830
(works at least in 8.4)
PostgreSQL 13 supports natively gen_random_uuid ():
PostgreSQL includes one function to generate a UUID:
gen_random_uuid () → uuid
This function returns a version 4 (random) UUID. This is the most commonly used type of UUID and is appropriate for most applications.
db<>fiddle demo
The answer by Craig Ringer is correct. Here's a little more info for Postgres 9.1 and later…
Is Extension Available?
You can only install an extension if it has already been built for your Postgres installation (your cluster in Postgres lingo). For example, I found the uuid-ossp extension included as part of the installer for Mac OS X kindly provided by EnterpriseDB.com. Any of a few dozen extensions may be available.
To see if the uuid-ossp extension is available in your Postgres cluster, run this SQL to query the pg_available_extensions system catalog:
SELECT * FROM pg_available_extensions;
Install Extension
To install that UUID-related extension, use the CREATE EXTENSION command as seen in this this SQL:
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "uuid-ossp";
Beware: I found the QUOTATION MARK characters around extension name to be required, despite documentation to the contrary.
The SQL standards committee or Postgres team chose an odd name for that command. To my mind, they should have chosen something like "INSTALL EXTENSION" or "USE EXTENSION".
Verify Installation
You can verify the extension was successfully installed in the desired database by running this SQL to query the pg_extension system catalog:
SELECT * FROM pg_extension;
UUID as default value
For more info, see the Question: Default value for UUID column in Postgres
The Old Way
The information above uses the new Extensions feature added to Postgres 9.1. In previous versions, we had to find and run a script in a .sql file. The Extensions feature was added to make installation easier, trading a bit more work for the creator of an extension for less work on the part of the user/consumer of the extension. See my blog post for more discussion.
Types of UUIDs
By the way, the code in the Question calls the function uuid_generate_v4(). This generates a type known as Version 4 where nearly all of the 128 bits are randomly generated. While this is fine for limited use on smaller set of rows, if you want to virtually eliminate any possibility of collision, use another "version" of UUID.
For example, the original Version 1 combines the MAC address of the host computer with the current date-time and an arbitrary number, the chance of collisions is practically nil.
For more discussion, see my Answer on related Question.
pgcrypto Extension
As of Postgres 9.4, the pgcrypto module includes the gen_random_uuid() function. This function generates one of the random-number based Version 4 type of UUID.
Get contrib modules, if not already available.
sudo apt-get install postgresql-contrib-9.4
Use pgcrypto module.
CREATE EXTENSION "pgcrypto";
The gen_random_uuid() function should now available;
Example usage.
INSERT INTO items VALUES( gen_random_uuid(), 54.321, 31, 'desc 1', 31.94 ) ;
Quote from Postgres doc on uuid-ossp module.
Note: If you only need randomly-generated (version 4) UUIDs, consider using the gen_random_uuid() function from the pgcrypto module instead.
Update from 2021,
There is no need for a fancy trick to auto generate uuid on insert statement.
Just do one thing:
Set default value of DEFAULT gen_random_uuid () to your uuid column.
That is all.
Say, you have a table like this:
CREATE TABLE table_name (
unique_id UUID DEFAULT gen_random_uuid (),
first_name VARCHAR NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR NOT NULL,
email VARCHAR NOT NULL,
phone VARCHAR,
PRIMARY KEY (unique_id)
);
Now you need NOT to do anything to auto insert uuid values to unique_id column. Because you already defined a default value for it. You can simply focus on inserting onto other columns, and postgresql takes care of your unique_id. Here is a sample insert statement:
INSERT INTO table_name (first_name, last_name, email, phone)
VALUES (
'Beki',
'Otaev',
'beki#bekhruz.com',
'123-456-123'
)
Notice there is no inserting into unique_id as it is already taken care of.
About other extensions like uuid-ossp, you can bring them on if you are not satisfied with postgres's standard gen_random_uuid () function. Most of the time, you should be fine without them on
ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT uuid_in((md5((random())::text))::cstring);
After reading #ZuzEL's answer, i used the above code as the default value of the column id and it's working fine.
The uuid-ossp module provides functions to generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs)
uuid_generate_v1() This function generates a version 1 UUID.
Add Extension
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "uuid-ossp";
Verify Extension
SELECT * FROM pg_extension;
Run Query
INSERT INTO table_name(id, column1, column2 , column3, ...) VALUES
(uuid_generate_v1(), value1, value2, value3...);
Verify table data
SELECT uuid_generate_v5(uuid_ns_url (), 'test');

On INSERT to a table INSERT data in connected tables

I have two tables that have a column named id_user in common. These two tables are created in my Drupal webpage at some point (that I don't know because I didn't created the Netbeans project).
I checked on the internet and found that probably by adding REFERENCES 1sttable (id_user) to the second table, it should copy the value of the 1sttable (that is always created when a new user arrives) to the id_user value of the 2ndtable (that I don't know at which point is created). Is it correct?
If it's not correct I would like to know a way in pgAdmin that could make me synchronize those tables, or at least create both of them in the same moment.
The problem I have is that the new user has a new row on 1sttable automatically as soon as he registers, while to get a new row on 2ndtable it needs some kind of "activation" like inserting all of the data. What I'm looking for is a way that as soon as there is a new row in the 1sttable, it automatically creates the new row on the other table too. I don't know how to make it more clear (English is not my native language).
The solution you gave me seems clear for the question, but the problem is a little bigger: the two tables presents different kinds of variables, and it should be that they are, one in mySQL, with the user data (drupal default for users), then i have 2 in postgresql, both with the same primary key (id_user):
the first has 118 columns, most of them real integer;
the second has 50 columns, with mixed types.
the web application i'm using needs both this column with all the values NOT EMPTY (otherwise i get a NullPointerException) to work, so what i'm searching for is (i think):
when the user register -inserting his email- in drupal, automatically it creates the two fulfilled columns, to make the web automatically works as soon as the email is stored in mysql. Is it possible? Is it well explained?
My environment is:
windows server 2008 enterprise edition
glassfish 2.1
netbeans 6.7.1
drupal 6.17
postgresql 8.4
mysql 5.1.48
pgAdmin is just the GUI. You mean PostgreSQL, the RDBMS.
A foreign key constraint, like you have only enforces that no value can be used, that isn't present in the referenced column. You can use ON UPDATE CASCADE or ON DELETE CASCADE to propagate changes from the referenced column, but you cannot create new rows with it like you describe. You got the wrong tool.
What you describe could be achieved with a trigger. Another, more complex way would be a RULE. Go with a trigger here.
In PostgreSQL you need a trigger function, mostly using plpgsql, and a trigger on a table that makes use of it.
Something like:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION trg_insert_row_in_tbl2()
RETURNS trigger AS
$func$
BEGIN
INSERT INTO tbl2 (my_id, col1)
VALUES (NEW.my_id, NEW.col1) -- more columns?
RETURN NEW; -- doesn't matter much for AFTER trigger
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
And a trigger AFTER INSERT on tbl1:
CREATE TRIGGER insaft
AFTER INSERT ON tbl1
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE trg_insert_row_in_tbl2();
You might want to read about using Drupal hooks to add extra code to be run when a user is registered. Once you know how to use hooks, you can write code (in a module) to insert a corresponding record in the 2nd table. A good candidate hook to use here would be hook_user for Drupal 6 or hook_user_insert for Drupal 7.
The REFERENCES you read about is part of an SQL command to define a foreign key constraint from the second table to the first. This is not strictly necessary to solve your problem, but it can help in keeping your database consistent. I suggest you read up on database structures and constraints if you want to learn more on this topic.

Creating a "table of tables" in PostgreSQL or achieving similar functionality?

I'm just getting started with PostgreSQL, and I'm new to database design.
I'm writing software in which I have various plugins that update a database. Each plugin periodically updates its own designated table in the database. So a plugin named 'KeyboardPlugin' will update the 'KeyboardTable', and 'MousePlugin' will update the 'MouseTable'. I'd like for my database to store these 'plugin-table' relationships while enforcing referential integrity. So ideally, I'd like a configuration table with the following columns:
Plugin-Name (type 'text')
Table-Name (type ?)
My software will read from this configuration table to help the plugins determine which table to update. Originally, my idea was to have the second column (Table-Name) be of type 'text'. But then, if someone mistypes the table name, or an existing relationship becomes invalid because of someone deleting a table, we have problems. I'd like for the 'Table-Name' column to act as a reference to another table, while enforcing referential integrity.
What is the best way to do this in PostgreSQL? Feel free to suggest an entirely new way to setup my database, different from what I'm currently exploring. Also, if it helps you answer my question, I'm using the pgAdmin tool to setup my database.
I appreciate your help.
I would go with your original plan to store the name as text. Possibly enhanced by additionally storing the schema name:
addin text
,sch text
,tbl text
Tables have an OID in the system catalog (pg_catalog.pg_class). You can get those with a nifty special cast:
SELECT 'myschema.mytable'::regclass
But the OID can change over a dump / restore. So just store the names as text and verify the table is there by casting it like demonstrated at application time.
Of course, if you use each tables for multiple addins it might pay to make a separate table
CREATE TABLE tbl (
,tbl_id serial PRIMARY KEY
,sch text
,name text
);
and reference it in ...
CREATE TABLE addin (
,addin_id serial PRIMARY KEY
,addin text
,tbl_id integer REFERENCES tbl(tbl_id) ON UPDATE CASCADE ON DELETE CASCADE
);
Or even make it an n:m relationship if addins have multiple tables. But be aware, as #OMG_Ponies commented, that a setup like this will require you to execute a lot of dynamic SQL because you don't know the identifiers beforehand.
I guess all plugins have a set of basic attributes and then each plugin will have a set of plugin-specific attributes. If this is the case you can use a single table together with the hstore datatype (a standard extension that just needs to be installed).
Something like this:
CREATE TABLE plugins
(
plugin_name text not null primary key,
common_int_attribute integer not null,
common_text_attribute text not null,
plugin_atttributes hstore
)
Then you can do something like this:
INSERT INTO plugins
(plugin_name, common_int_attribute, common_text_attribute, hstore)
VALUES
('plugin_1', 42, 'foobar', 'some_key => "the fish", other_key => 24'),
('plugin_2', 100, 'foobar', 'weird_key => 12345, more_info => "10.2.4"');
This creates two plugins named plugin_1 and plugin_2
Plugin_1 has the additional attributes "some_key" and "other_key", while plugin_2 stores the keys "weird_key" and "more_info".
You can index those hstore columns and query them very efficiently.
The following will select all plugins that have a key "weird_key" defined.
SELECT *
FROM plugins
WHERE plugin_attributes ? 'weird_key'
The following statement will select all plugins that have a key some_key with the value the fish:
SELECT *
FROM plugins
WHERE plugin_attributes #> ('some_key => "the fish"')
Much more convenient than using an EAV model in my opinion (and most probably a lot faster as well).
The only drawback is that you lose type-safety with this approach (but usually you'd lose that with the EAV concept as well).
You don't need an application catalog. Just add the application name to the keys of the table. This of course assumes that all the tables have the same structure. If not: use the application name for a table name, or as others have suggested: as a schema name( which also would allow for multiple tables per application).
EDIT:
But the real issue is of course that you should first model your data, and than build the applications to manipulate it. The data should not serve the code; the code should serve the data.

How to get the key fields for a table in plpgsql function?

I need to make a function that would be triggered after every UPDATE and INSERT operation and would check the key fields of the table that the operation is performed on vs some conditions.
The function (and the trigger) needs to be an universal one, it shouldn't have the table name / fields names hardcoded.
I got stuck on the part where I need to access the table name and its schema part - check what fields are part of the PRIMARY KEY.
After getting the primary key info as already posted in the first answer you can check the code in http://github.com/fgp/pg_record_inspect to get record field values dynamicaly in PL/pgSQL.
Have a look at How do I get the primary key(s) of a table from Postgres via plpgsql? The answer in that one should be able to help you.
Note that you can't use dynamic SQL in PL/pgSQL; it's too strongly-typed a language for that. You'll have more luck with PL/Perl, on which you can access a hash of the columns and use regular Perl accessors to check them. (PL/Python would also work, but sadly that's an untrusted language only. PL/Tcl works too.)
In 8.4 you can use EXECUTE 'something' USING NEW, which in some cases is able to do the job.