pl/pgsql does not return all the results using record - postgresql

Question

I am trying to create a complicated pl/pgsql function that gathers some results from a query and then checks each one and returns it or not.
This is my code so far. The record and loop part confuse me.
CREATE FUNCTION __a_search_creator(creator text, ordertype integer, orderdate integer, areaid bigint) RETURNS record
AS $$
DECLARE
fromText text;
whereText text;
usingText text;
firstrecord record;
areageom geometry;
BEGIN
IF areaid IS NOT NULL
THEN
EXECUTE format('SELECT area.geom FROM area WHERE area.id=$1')
INTO areageom
USING areaid;
FOR firstrecord IN
EXECUTE format(
'SELECT place.id, person.name, place.geom
FROM '||fromText||'
WHERE '||whereText)
USING creator, ordertype , orderdate
LOOP
--return only data that the place.geom is inside areageom using PostGIS
END LOOP;
END IF;
RETURN firstrecord;
END;
$$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
I plan to do some extra checks in the loop, as you can see and RETURN only data that the place.geom (lon/lat) is inside areageom. But since I am new to pl/pgsql, I am creating now the first step, just gathering all the data, put them in a record and return.
My problem is that, no matter what I try I keep getting only one result back. I call select __a_search_creator('johnson',8, 19911109, 20); and I get 1,"seth johnson", 65485,84545 but I know I should be getting another row of results. Is there overwrite happening?
I tried putting RETURN NEXT firstrecord; I tried something like
select place.id from place INTO placeid;
select person.name from person INTO personname;
select place.geom from place INTO placegeom;
firstrecord.id := placeid;
firstrecord.name := personname;
firstrecord.geom := placegeom;
That still brings back just one result, I tried testing just this RAISE NOTICE '%', firstrecord.id; that still brings back just one full set of result.
I don't know how to proceed, please advice.

Answer 1

You declared your function with RETURNS record, so it returns a single record (of unknown type).
Use RETURNS SETOF record to return a set of rows. The manual:
The SETOF modifier indicates that the function will return a set of items, rather than a single item.
Better yet, use RETURNS TABLE with a proper table definition. Like you already had it in your recent questions:
Syntax error in dynamic SQL in pl/pgsql function
Using text in pl/pgsql brings empty set of results
Related (with detailed explanation and links to the manual):
How to return result of a SELECT inside a function in PostgreSQL?
Return setof record (virtual table) from function
Return a query from a function?

Answer 2

This is my solution on the problem
IF areaid IS NOT NULL
THEN
EXECUTE format('SELECT area.geom FROM area WHERE area.id=$1')
INTO areageom
USING areaid;
FOR firstrecord IN
EXECUTE format(
'SELECT place.id, person.name, place.geom FROM '||fromText||' WHERE '||whereText)
USING creator, ordertype, orderdate
LOOP
IF ST_Within(firstrecord.geom , areageom)
THEN
RETURN QUERY VALUES(firstrecord.id, firstrecord.name, firstrecord.geom);
END IF;
END LOOP;
END IF;
RETURN;
Thanks to #Erwin Brandstetter for the useful links.