Bill,
I don't understand at all. If I do "SELECT * FROM set_returning_function()" and all I'm going to do is iterate through the columns and rows, adding them to a two dimensional array that will be marshalled as a SOAP message, what about not knowing the nature of the return set can cause me to get no data?
Because that's not the syntax for a function that returns SETOF RECORD.
The syntax is:
SELECT * FROM set_returning_function(var1, var2) AS alias (col1 TYPE, col2 TYPE);
That is, if the function definition does not contain a clear row structure, the query has to contain one.
This does not apply to functions that are based on a table or composite type:
CREATE FUNCTION .... RETURNS SETOF table1 ... CREATE FUNCTION .... RETURNS SETOF comp_type
Can be called with:
SELECT * FROM some_function(var1, var2) as alias;
What this means is that you have to know the structure of the result set, either at function creation time or at function execution time.
Yep. You're right, I hadn't looked at that, but I'm probably better off creating types and returning setof those types as much as possible.
One of the things I love about working with open source databases is I don't see a lot of that. The people on these lists are almost always smarter than me, and I find that comforting ;)
Flattery will get you everywhere.
Really? I'll have to use it more often.
-- Bill Moran Potential Technologies http://www.potentialtech.com
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