I have been fiddling with what you sent. I have it working mostly, save for I keep getting syntax errors on the "RETURN NEXT cid;" line. If I remove this line then the function works ( but returns nothing of course). Any ideas on why the RETURN NEXT doesn't like the variable as a parameter?
sp_demo_505=# CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION svp_getparentproviderids (INTEGER) RETURNS SETOF svp_getparentproviderids_uid_type AS ' DECLARE child_provider ALIAS FOR $1; cid INTEGER; BEGIN SELECT INTO cid count(*) FROM providers WHERE uid =child_provider; IF cid = 0 THEN RAISE EXCEPTION ''Inexistent ID --> %'', child_provider; RETURN; END IF; cid := child_provider; LOOP EXIT WHEN cid IS NULL; RETURN NEXT cid; SELECT INTO cid parent_id FROM providers WHERE uid=cid; END LOOP; RETURN; END;' LANGUAGE 'plpgsql'; CREATE FUNCTION sp_demo_505=# select * from svp_getparentproviderids(21112); ERROR: incorrect argument to RETURN NEXT at or near "cid" CONTEXT: compile of PL/pgSQL function "svp_getparentproviderids" near line 13 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 3: if posting/reading through Usenet, please send an appropriate subscribe-nomail command to [EMAIL PROTECTED] so that your message can get through to the mailing list cleanly