CONSTRAINT to check values from a remotely related table (via join etc.) - postgresql

Question

I would like to add a constraint that will check values from related table.
I have 3 tables:
CREATE TABLE somethink_usr_rel (
user_id BIGINT NOT NULL,
stomethink_id BIGINT NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE usr (
id BIGINT NOT NULL,
role_id BIGINT NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE role (
id BIGINT NOT NULL,
type BIGINT NOT NULL
);
(If you want me to put constraint with FK let me know.)
I want to add a constraint to somethink_usr_rel that checks type in role ("two tables away"), e.g.:
ALTER TABLE somethink_usr_rel
ADD CONSTRAINT CH_sm_usr_type_check
CHECK (usr.role.type = 'SOME_ENUM');
I tried to do this with JOINs but didn't succeed. Any idea how to achieve it?

Answer 1

CHECK constraints cannot currently reference other tables. The manual:
Currently, CHECK expressions cannot contain subqueries nor refer to
variables other than columns of the current row.
One way is to use a trigger like demonstrated by #Wolph.
A clean solution without triggers: add redundant columns and include them in FOREIGN KEY constraints, which are the first choice to enforce referential integrity. Related answer on dba.SE with detailed instructions:
Enforcing constraints “two tables away”
Another option would be to "fake" an IMMUTABLE function doing the check and use that in a CHECK constraint. Postgres will allow this, but be aware of possible caveats. Best make that a NOT VALID constraint. See:
Disable all constraints and table checks while restoring a dump

Answer 2

A CHECK constraint is not an option if you need joins. You can create a trigger which raises an error instead.
Have a look at this example: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/plpgsql-trigger.html#PLPGSQL-TRIGGER-EXAMPLE
CREATE TABLE emp (
empname text,
salary integer,
last_date timestamp,
last_user text
);
CREATE FUNCTION emp_stamp() RETURNS trigger AS $emp_stamp$
BEGIN
-- Check that empname and salary are given
IF NEW.empname IS NULL THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'empname cannot be null';
END IF;
IF NEW.salary IS NULL THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION '% cannot have null salary', NEW.empname;
END IF;
-- Who works for us when she must pay for it?
IF NEW.salary < 0 THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION '% cannot have a negative salary', NEW.empname;
END IF;
-- Remember who changed the payroll when
NEW.last_date := current_timestamp;
NEW.last_user := current_user;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$emp_stamp$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER emp_stamp BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE ON emp
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE emp_stamp();

Answer 3

...i did it so (nazwa=user name, firma = company name) :
CREATE TABLE users
(
id bigserial CONSTRAINT firstkey PRIMARY KEY,
nazwa character varying(20),
firma character varying(50)
);
CREATE TABLE test
(
id bigserial CONSTRAINT firstkey PRIMARY KEY,
firma character varying(50),
towar character varying(20),
nazwisko character varying(20)
);
ALTER TABLE public.test ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION whoIAM3() RETURNS varchar(50) as $$
declare
result varchar(50);
BEGIN
select into result users.firma from users where users.nazwa = current_user;
return result;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE POLICY user_policy ON public.test
USING (firma = whoIAM3());
CREATE FUNCTION test_trigger_function()
RETURNS trigger AS $$
BEGIN
NEW.firma:=whoIam3();
return NEW;
END
$$ LANGUAGE 'plpgsql'
CREATE TRIGGER test_trigger_insert BEFORE INSERT ON test FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE test_trigger_function();