Use pl/pgsql variable in calculated columns [duplicate] - postgresql

This question already has answers here:
How to declare a variable in a PostgreSQL query
(15 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
I am building a query for a report and it has a lot of repeated const values in calculated columns. Simplified example:
select
c.title || ' corp', -- more than one column appending this
to_char(c.last_contact, 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI') -- this format is used for other columns as well
from clients c;
I want to extract those repeated const values into variables and use variables instead. In TSQL I could achieve it with code like this:
declare
#suffix varchar(8) = ' corp',
#dateFormat varchar(16) = 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI' -- let's pretend that's a correct format string for TSQL
select
c.title + #suffix,
convert(varchar(32), c.last_contact, #dateFormat)
from clients c
I'm trying to achieve same behavior in pl/pgsql with this:
do $$
declare
suffix text := ' corp';
date_format text := 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI';
begin
select
c.title || suffix,
to_char(c.last_contact, date_format)
from clients c;
end;
$$;
And it breaks:
ERROR: query has no destination for result data
Hint: If you want to discard the results of a SELECT, use PERFORM instead.
Where: PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 5 at SQL statement
1 statement failed.
So far I've only found examples of using variables in WHERE block, but none in SELECT block.
I've seen EXECUTE 'select ...' WITH examples, but my quick attempt of using that
do $$
declare
process_start timestamp := now();
begin
execute 'select $1;'
using process_start;
end;
$$;
just reports DO executed successfully without actually selecting anything.
Is there a way to use pl/pgsql variables in calculated columns?
Any other alternatives to achieve this in postgres?

What do you want to do with this value? Puzzling example.
Using a FUNCTION it could be solved more or less like this
create or replace function my_function()
returns timestamp as $$
declare
process_start timestamp := now();
begin
return process_start;
end;
$$
language plpgsql
If you really want to ignore the result of the only select in your code, you can use PERFORM
do $$
declare
process_start timestamp := now();
begin
perform (select process_start);
end;
$$;

To use SELECT in PL/pgSQL, you have to specify an INTO clause:
SELECT process_start, s.title || suffix
INTO var1, var2
FROM ...

Related

Can anybody please assist with syntax in a function in postgresql (from mysql)

I am trying to create the following function in PostgreSQL but get the following error. This is from a MySQL procedure that I need to convert to PostgreSQL. I am failing to convert the syntax to PostgreSQL. I am a beginner in PostgreSQL. Please assist me.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.usp_failed_analyze4()
RETURNS TABLE(status varchar) as
$BODY$
SET #maxdate = (SELECT MAX(analyzetime) FROM wp_analyze_history);
SET #maxdateint = (SELECT DATEDIFF(NOW() ,MAX(analyzetime)) FROM wp_analyze_history);
SET #STATUS = SELECT Status from wp_analyze_history WHERE Status NOT IN ('OK','Table is already up to date','The Analyze task DID NOT run!') AND analyzetime = #maxdate);
SET #STATUSNOTRUN = 'The Analyze task DID NOT run!';
IF #maxdateint > 7
THEN SELECT #STATUSNOTRUN;
ELSE SELECT #STATUS as "";
$BODY$
LANGUAGE sql;
error: ERROR: syntax error at or near "#"
Position: 109
It's hard to tell what you want as you tried to copy the MySQL 1:1.
However, there are several problems in your code:
language sql does not have variables or IF statements. You need to use PL/pgSQL (language plpgsql)
PL/pgSQL requires a declare block to declare all variables and the actual code needs a begin ... end; block as well.
You can use SET for assignment
To store the result of a single row query in a variable use select ... into ... from
The character # is invalid in an SQL identifier and can't be used for variable names (which follow the rules of SQL identifiers). In Postgres it's a common habit to prefix variable with something to avoid ambiguity with column names. I use l_ for local variables (but that's completely a personal preference)
You don't seem to want to return multiple rows, but a single value. So you don't need returns table
To return something from a function, use return not select
Putting that all together it should look something like this:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION usp_failed_analyze4()
RETURNS varchar -- return a single value
AS
$BODY$
declare
l_maxdate timestamp;
l_maxdatediff interval;
l_status text;
l_statusnotrun text;
begin
select MAX(analyzetime), current_timestamp - MAX(analyzetime)
into l_maxdate, l_maxdatediff
FROM wp_analyze_history;
SELECT Status
into l_status
from wp_analyze_history
WHERE Status NOT IN ('OK','Table is already up to date','The Analyze task DID NOT run!')
AND analyzetime = l_maxdate;
l_statusnotrun := 'The Analyze task DID NOT run!';
IF l_maxdatediff > interval '7 days'
THEN
return l_statusnotrun;
ELSE
return ''; -- strings are enclosed in single quotes in SQL
end if;
end;
$BODY$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
There is still room for a lot of optimization, but this matches your initial code as much as possible.

Date part in WHERE clause of a function

I want to select persons from a table where the date is within a given month.
This is what I have so far, but it's not working:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION u7()
RETURNS character varying AS
$BODY$
DECLARE
data varchar=`data`;
mes varchar=`2016-11-21`;
incidencia varchar=`expulsions`;
valor varchar;
BEGIN
EXECUTE `SELECT `
||quote_ident(data)
||`FROM `
||quote_ident(incidencia)
||` WHERE data IN(select date_part(`month`, TIMESTAMP $1))`
INTO valor USING mes;
return valor;
END;
$BODY$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
select * FROM u7();
Clean syntax for what you are trying to do could look like this:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION u7()
RETURNS TABLE (valor text) AS
$func$
DECLARE
data text := 'data'; -- the first 3 would typically be function parameters
incidencia text := 'expulsions';
mes timestamp = '2016-11-21';
mes0 timestamp := date_trunc('month', mes);
mes1 timestamp := (mes0 + interval '1 month');
BEGIN
RETURN QUERY EXECUTE format(
'SELECT %I
FROM %I
WHERE datetime_column_name >= $1
AND datetime_column_name < $2'
, data, incidencia)
USING mes0, mes1;
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
SELECT * FROM u7();
Obviously, data cannot be a text column and a timestamp or date column at the same time. I use datetime_column_name for the timestamp column - assuming it's data type timestamp.
Aside from various syntax errors, do not use the construct with date_part(). This way you would have to process every row of the table and could not use an index on datetime_column_name - which my proposed alternative can.
See related answers for explanation:
EXECUTE...INTO...USING statement in PL/pgSQL can't execute into a record?
Table name as a PostgreSQL function parameter
How do I match an entire day to a datetime field?

Postgresql9-4 - User define function that uses a join - ERROR: missing FROM-clause entry for table

I am venturing into pg/sql for the first time and I wrote this function that (attempts) to return results from a query that uses a JOIN.
The query works when I run on it self. However, when it is running within the function I wrote it complains about a missing "FROM". I also used table aliases hoping that it may fix the problem but it did not.
I am getting information from the following tables and rows.
TABLE | ROW
---------------------------------------
banned_users | banned_lcl_account
---------------------------------------
rhost_active_users | active_users
Here is the error when I run my function
ERROR: missing FROM-clause entry for table "a_u"
LINE 1: SELECT LOOP_V.a_u.ipaddress
And here is the function I wrote.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION GET_BANNED_ACTIVE_USERS()
RETURNS TABLE
(
SRC_HOST TEXT,
DST_HOST TEXT
)
AS $$
DECLARE
LOOP_V RECORD;
BEGIN
FOR LOOP_V IN (
select
b_u.banned_lcl_account,
a_u.ipaddress,
a_u.hostip,
date_trunc ('second', a_u.time_captured)
from banned_users as b_u
inner join rhost_active_users as a_u
on b_u.banned_lcl_account = a_u.active_users
and a_u.hostip <> 'TTY Login'
or a_u.hostip <> 'Local PTS Login'
)
LOOP
SRC_HOST := LOOP_V.a_u.ipaddress;
DST_HOST := LOOP_V.a_u.hostip;
END LOOP;
END; $$
LANGUAGE 'plpgsql';
--select CHECK_BANNED_ACCOUNTS()
your problem is this:
SRC_HOST := LOOP_V.a_u.ipaddress;
DST_HOST := LOOP_V.a_u.hostip;
The record that is used for the loop variable only contains column names, not their table aliases. So the record only has the fields: ipaddress and hostip. So your immediate problem can be fixed using:
SRC_HOST := LOOP_V.ipaddress;
DST_HOST := LOOP_V.hostip;
However the whole function is overly complex. You don't need the loop nor do you need PL/pgSQL. This can be written as a simple SQL function:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION GET_BANNED_ACTIVE_USERS()
RETURNS TABLE (SRC_HOST TEXT,DST_HOST TEXT)
AS $$
select a_u.ipaddress,
a_u.hostip,
from banned_users as b_u
join rhost_active_users as a_u
on b_u.banned_lcl_account = a_u.active_users
and (a_u.hostip <> 'TTY Login' or a_u.hostip <> 'Local PTS Login')
$$
LANGUAGE sql;
Note that I also removed the unused columns from the SELECT statement in order to match the function's signature of returning two columns
Some additional notes:
--select CHECK_BANNED_ACCOUNTS()
This is wrong, you need to use a set returning function like a table:
select *
from CHECK_BANNED_ACCOUNTS();
And finally:
LANGUAGE 'plpgsql';
The language name is an identifier, do not enclose it in single quotes:
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
or
LANGUAGE sql;

Dynamic columns in SQL statement

I am trying to have a dynamic variable that I can specify different column's with (depending on some if statements). Explained in code, I am trying to replace this:
IF (TG_TABLE_NAME='this') THEN INSERT INTO table1 (name_id) VALUES id.NEW END IF;
IF (TG_TABLE_NAME='that') THEN INSERT INTO table1 (lastname_id) VALUES id.NEW END IF;
IF (TG_TABLE_NAME='another') THEN INSERT INTO table1 (age_id) VALUES id.NEW END IF;
With this:
DECLARE
varName COLUMN;
BEGIN
IF (TG_TABLE_NAME='this') THEN varName = 'name_id';
ELSE IF (TG_TABLE_NAME='that') THEN varName = 'lastname_id';
ELSE (TG_TABLE_NAME='another') THEN varName = 'age_id';
END IF;
INSERT INTO table1 (varName) VALUES id.NEW;
END;
The INSERT string is just an example, it's actually something longer. I am a beginner at pgSQL. I've seen some examples but I'm only getting more confused. If you can provide an answer that is also more safe from SQL injection that would be awesome.
One way to do what you're looking for is to compose your INSERT statement dynamically based on the named table. The following function approximates the logic you laid out in the question:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION smart_insert(table_name TEXT) RETURNS VOID AS $$
DECLARE
target TEXT;
statement TEXT;
BEGIN
CASE table_name
WHEN 'this' THEN target := 'name_id';
WHEN 'that' THEN target := 'lastname_id';
WHEN 'another' THEN target := 'age_id';
END CASE;
statement :=
'INSERT INTO '||table_name||'('||target||') VALUES (nextval(''id''));';
EXECUTE statement;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Note that I'm using a sequence to populate these tables (the call to nextval). I'm not sure if that is your use case, but hopefully this example is extensible enough for you to modify it to fit your scenario. A contrived demo:
postgres=# SELECT smart_insert('this');
smart_insert
--------------
(1 row)
postgres=# SELECT smart_insert('that');
smart_insert
--------------
(1 row)
postgres=# SELECT name_id FROM this;
name_id
---------
101
(1 row)
postgres=# SELECT lastname_id FROM that;
lastname_id
-------------
102
(1 row)
Your example doesn't make a lot of sense. Probably over-simplified. Anyway, here is a trigger function for the requested functionality that inserts the new id in a selected column of a target table, depending on the triggering table:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION smart_insert(table_name TEXT)
RETURNS trigger AS
$func$
BEGIN
EXECUTE
'INSERT INTO table1 ('
|| CASE TG_TABLE_NAME
WHEN 'this' THEN 'name_id'
WHEN 'that' THEN 'lastname_id'
WHEN 'another' THEN 'age_id'
END CASE
||') VALUES ($1)'
USING NEW.id;
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
To refer to the id column of the new row, use NEW.id not id.NEW.
To pass a value to dynamic code, use the USING clause of EXECUTE. This is faster and more elegant, avoids casting to text and back and also makes SQL injection impossible.
Don't use many variables and assignments in plpgsql, where this is comparatively expensive.
If the listed columns of the target table don't have non-default column defaults, you don't even need dynamic SQL:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION smart_insert(table_name TEXT)
RETURNS trigger AS
$func$
BEGIN
INSERT INTO table1 (name_id, lastname_id, age_id)
SELECT CASE WHEN TG_TABLE_NAME = 'this' THEN NEW.id END
, CASE WHEN TG_TABLE_NAME = 'that' THEN NEW.id END
, CASE WHEN TG_TABLE_NAME = 'another' THEN NEW.id END;
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
A CASE expression without ELSE clause defaults to NULL, which is the default column default.
Both variants are safe against SQL injection.

I want to have my pl/pgsql script output to the screen

I have the following script that I want output to the screen from.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION randomnametest() RETURNS integer AS $$
DECLARE
rec RECORD;
BEGIN
FOR rec IN SELECT * FROM my_table LOOP
SELECT levenshtein('mystring',lower('rec.Name')) ORDER BY levenshtein;
END LOOP;
RETURN 1;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
I want to get the output of the levenshein() function in a table along with the rec.Name. How would I do that? Also, it is giving me an error about the line where I call levenshtein(), saying that I should use perform instead.
Assuming that you want to insert the function's return value and the rec.name into a different table. Here is what you can do (create the table new_tab first)-
SELECT levenshtein('mystring',lower(rec.Name)) AS L_val;
INSERT INTO new_tab (L_val, rec.name);
The usage above is demonstrated below.
I guess, you can use RAISE INFO 'This is %', rec.name; to view the values.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION randomnametest() RETURNS integer AS $$
DECLARE
rec RECORD;
BEGIN
FOR rec IN SELECT * FROM my_table LOOP
SELECT levenshtein('mystring',lower(rec.Name))
AS L_val;
RAISE INFO '% - %', L_val, rec.name;
END LOOP;
RETURN 1;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Note- the FROM clause is optional in case you select from a function in a select like netxval(sequence_name) and don't have any actual table to select from i.e. like SELECT nextval(sequence_name) AS next_value;, in Oracle terms it would be SELECT sequence_name.nextval FROM dual; or SELECT function() FROM dual;. There is no dual in postgreSQL.
I also think that the ORDER BY is not necessary since my assumption would be that your function levenshtein() will most likely return only one value at any point of time, and hence wouldn't have enough data to ORDER.
If you want the output from a plpgsql function like the title says:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION randomnametest(_mystring text)
RETURNS TABLE (l_dist int, name text) AS
$BODY$
BEGIN
RETURN QUERY
SELECT levenshtein(_mystring, lower(t.name)), t.name
FROM my_table t
ORDER BY 1;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Declare the table with RETURNS TABLE.
Use RETURN QUERY to return records from the function.
Avoid naming conflicts between column names and OUT parameters (from the RETURNS TABLE clause) by table-qualifying column names in queries. OUT parameters are visible everywhere in the function body.
I made the string to compare to a parameter to the function to make this more useful.
There are other ways, but this is the most effective for the task. You need PostgreSQL 8.4 or later.
For a one-time use I would consider to just use a plain query (= function body without the RETURN QUERY above).