Declaring the table name in constant in Postgres Stored procedure - postgresql

Question

I have a sample stored procedure where in I have to use a table for multiple operations. I want to declare the table name as a constant and then re-use it wherever required. Below is the sample code which i wrote:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_data()
RETURNS void AS
$func$
DECLARE
table_name_a CONSTANT TEXT = asp.monitoring_bookmark_original;
cursor_file CURSOR FOR
select distinct filename,systemuid from table_name_a;
cursor_data CURSOR FOR
select * from table_name_a where filename = v_filename and systemuid=v_systemuid order by mindatetime, maxdatetime;
BEGIN
--open the file cursor
//logic goes here
END;
$func$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
When I try to run this procedure I am getting error:
ERROR: missing FROM-clause entry for table "asp"
LINE 1: SELECT asp.monitoring_bookmark_original
What is wrong in this code? How do I correct this?

Answer 1

Well you can use dynamic SQL, but realize dynamic SQL often adds way more complexity. Good when really needed but should be avoided when possible. The following shows what would be needed for what you want to do. Is not having to type the table name for each SQL statement worth the additional trouble?
create or replace function get_data()
returns void as
$func$
declare
table_name_a constant text = 'asp.monitoring_bookmark_original';
file_cursor text = 'select distinct filename,systemuid from %i';
file_ref refcursor;
file_rec record;
data_cursor text =$stmt$select * from %i where filename = '%s' and systemuid= '%s' order by mindatetime, maxdatetime$stmt$;
data_ref refcursor;
data_rec record;
begin
--open the file cursor
open file_ref for execute format(file_cursor,table_name_a);
loop
fetch next from file_ref into file_rec;
exit when not found;
-- and extending from what the second query inplies
open data_ref for execute format(data_cursor,table_name_a,file_rec.filename,file_rec.systemid);
loop
fetch next from data_ref into data_rec;
exit when not found;
--//logic goes here
end loop;
end loop ;
end;
$func$
language plpgsql;