Find primary key of table in Postgresql from information_schema with only SELECT - postgresql

Question

I am using the following query to discover (1) the primary key columns and (2) if the columns have a default value from the information_schema in Postgresql 9.1.
SELECT kcu.column_name, (c.column_default is not null) AS has_default
FROM information_schema.key_column_usage kcu
JOIN information_schema.table_constraints tc ON tc.constraint_name = kcu.constraint_name
JOIN information_schema.columns c on c.column_name = kcu.column_name and c.table_name = kcu.table_name
WHERE tc.constraint_type = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND kcu.table_name like :tablename
It works fine when run as the database owner, but when I run it as a "read-only" user (which I need to do in my application), it returns no data. Some research revealed that the problem is the information.table_constraints view; from the documentation:
The view table_constraints contains all constraints belonging to tables that the current user owns or has some non-SELECT privilege on.
So in order to retrieve table_constraints, my login role needs more than SELECT on the table? Is there no way to get the information from information_schema without giving write permissions to the login role?

Answer 1

Use pg_* views instead of information_schema views. pg_* views display all information regardles of granted privileges.
Try this query:
select
t.relname as table_name,
i.relname as index_name,
a.attname as column_name,
d.adsrc as default_value
from
pg_class t
join pg_attribute a on a.attrelid = t.oid
join pg_index ix on t.oid = ix.indrelid AND a.attnum = ANY(ix.indkey)
join pg_class i on i.oid = ix.indexrelid
left join pg_attrdef d on d.adrelid = t.oid and d.adnum = a.attnum
where
t.relkind = 'r'
and t.relname in ( 'aa', 'bb', 'cc' )
order by
t.relname,
i.relname,
a.attnum;
An example of the query results:
create table aa(
x int primary KEY
);
create table bb(
x int default 1,
constraint pk primary key ( x )
);
create table cc(
x int default 20,
y varchar(10) default 'something',
constraint cc_pk primary key ( x, y )
);
table_name | index_name | column_name | default_value
------------+------------+-------------+--------------------------------
aa | aa_pkey | x |
bb | pk | x | 1
cc | cc_pk | x | 20
cc | cc_pk | y | 'something'::character varying

Answer 2

This is correct, the official postgresql query is below
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Retrieve_primary_key_columns
if schema is needed the query is as follows
SELECT
pg_attribute.attname,
format_type(pg_attribute.atttypid, pg_attribute.atttypmod)
FROM pg_index, pg_class, pg_attribute, pg_namespace
WHERE
pg_class.oid = 'MY TABLE'::regclass AND
indrelid = pg_class.oid AND
nspname = 'MY CLASS' AND
pg_class.relnamespace = pg_namespace.oid AND
pg_attribute.attrelid = pg_class.oid AND
pg_attribute.attnum = any(pg_index.indkey)
AND indisprimary
The difference can be up to 6000~7000 times. The pg_ one runs often in 0.56ms where the schema based one can run up 6500ms. This is a huge difference especially if you have a high load on the server.

Answer 3

There is another way to provide access for data in information_schema.
A. Envelop SQL in a function with SECURITY DEFINER modifier
CREATE FUNCTION fn_inf(name)
RETURNS TABLE (column_name information_schema.sql_identifier, has_default bool)
LANGUAGE SQL
SECURITY DEFINER
AS $$
SELECT kcu.column_name, (c.column_default is not null) AS has_default
FROM information_schema.key_column_usage kcu
JOIN information_schema.table_constraints tc ON tc.constraint_name = kcu.constraint_name
JOIN information_schema.columns c on c.column_name = kcu.column_name and c.table_name = kcu.table_name
WHERE tc.constraint_type = 'PRIMARY KEY' AND kcu.table_name like $1;
$$;
B. GRANT EXECUTE to user read_only
GRANT EXECUTE ON FUNCTION fn_inf to read_only;
C. Use as user read_only
SELECT * FROM fn_inf('spatial_ref_sys');
column_name
has_default
srid
false