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2 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Chapter 41. PL/pgSQL — SQL Procedural Language</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="xplang-install.html" title="40.1. Installing Procedural Languages" /><link rel="next" href="plpgsql-overview.html" title="41.1. Overview" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">Chapter 41. <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span> — <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> Procedural Language</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="xplang-install.html" title="40.1. Installing Procedural Languages">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="server-programming.html" title="Part V. Server Programming">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Part V. Server Programming</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 18.0 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plpgsql-overview.html" title="41.1. Overview">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="chapter" id="PLPGSQL"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title">Chapter 41. <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span> — <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> Procedural Language</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-overview.html">41.1. Overview</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-overview.html#PLPGSQL-ADVANTAGES">41.1.1. Advantages of Using <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-overview.html#PLPGSQL-ARGS-RESULTS">41.1.2. Supported Argument and Result Data Types</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-structure.html">41.2. Structure of <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html">41.3. Declarations</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-PARAMETERS">41.3.1. Declaring Function Parameters</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-ALIAS">41.3.2. <code class="literal">ALIAS</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-TYPE">41.3.3. Copying Types</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-ROWTYPES">41.3.4. Row Types</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-RECORDS">41.3.5. Record Types</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-declarations.html#PLPGSQL-DECLARATION-COLLATION">41.3.6. Collation of <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span> Variables</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-expressions.html">41.4. Expressions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html">41.5. Basic Statements</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-ASSIGNMENT">41.5.1. Assignment</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-GENERAL-SQL">41.5.2. Executing SQL Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-SQL-ONEROW">41.5.3. Executing a Command with a Single-Row Result</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-EXECUTING-DYN">41.5.4. Executing Dynamic Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-DIAGNOSTICS">41.5.5. Obtaining the Result Status</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-statements.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-NULL">41.5.6. Doing Nothing At All</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html">41.6. Control Structures</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RETURNING">41.6.1. Returning from a Function</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RETURNING-PROCEDURE">41.6.2. Returning from a Procedure</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-CALLING-PROCEDURE">41.6.3. Calling a Procedure</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-CONDITIONALS">41.6.4. Conditionals</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-CONTROL-STRUCTURES-LOOPS">41.6.5. Simple Loops</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-RECORDS-ITERATING">41.6.6. Looping through Query Results</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-FOREACH-ARRAY">41.6.7. Looping through Arrays</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-ERROR-TRAPPING">41.6.8. Trapping Errors</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-control-structures.html#PLPGSQL-CALL-STACK">41.6.9. Obtaining Execution Location Information</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-cursors.html">41.7. Cursors</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-cursors.html#PLPGSQL-CURSOR-DECLARATIONS">41.7.1. Declaring Cursor Variables</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-cursors.html#PLPGSQL-CURSOR-OPENING">41.7.2. Opening Cursors</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-cursors.html#PLPGSQL-CURSOR-USING">41.7.3. Using Cursors</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-cursors.html#PLPGSQL-CURSOR-FOR-LOOP">41.7.4. Looping through a Cursor's Result</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-transactions.html">41.8. Transaction Management</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-errors-and-messages.html">41.9. Errors and Messages</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-errors-and-messages.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-RAISE">41.9.1. Reporting Errors and Messages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-errors-and-messages.html#PLPGSQL-STATEMENTS-ASSERT">41.9.2. Checking Assertions</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-trigger.html">41.10. Trigger Functions</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-trigger.html#PLPGSQL-DML-TRIGGER">41.10.1. Triggers on Data Changes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-trigger.html#PLPGSQL-EVENT-TRIGGER">41.10.2. Triggers on Events</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-implementation.html">41.11. <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span> under the Hood</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-implementation.html#PLPGSQL-VAR-SUBST">41.11.1. Variable Substitution</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-implementation.html#PLPGSQL-PLAN-CACHING">41.11.2. Plan Caching</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-development-tips.html">41.12. Tips for Developing in <span class="application">PL/pgSQL</span></a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-development-tips.html#PLPGSQL-QUOTE-TIPS">41.12.1. Handling of Quotation Marks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-development-tips.html#PLPGSQL-EXTRA-CHECKS">41.12.2. Additional Compile-Time and Run-Time Checks</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="plpgsql-porting.html">41.13. Porting from <span class="productname">Oracle</span> PL/SQL</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-EXAMPLES">41.13.1. Porting Examples</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-OTHER">41.13.2. Other Things to Watch For</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="plpgsql-porting.html#PLPGSQL-PORTING-APPENDIX">41.13.3. Appendix</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><a id="id-1.8.8.2" class="indexterm"></a></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="xplang-install.html" title="40.1. Installing Procedural Languages">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="server-programming.html" title="Part V. Server Programming">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plpgsql-overview.html" title="41.1. 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