268 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
268 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
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<!-- doc/src/sgml/btree.sgml -->
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<chapter id="btree">
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<title>B-Tree Indexes</title>
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<indexterm>
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<primary>index</primary>
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<secondary>B-Tree</secondary>
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</indexterm>
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<sect1 id="btree-intro">
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<para>
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<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> includes an implementation of the
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standard <acronym>btree</acronym> (multi-way binary tree) index data
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structure. Any data type that can be sorted into a well-defined linear
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order can be indexed by a btree index. The only limitation is that an
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index entry cannot exceed approximately one-third of a page (after TOAST
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compression, if applicable).
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</para>
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<para>
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Because each btree operator class imposes a sort order on its data type,
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btree operator classes (or, really, operator families) have come to be
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used as <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>'s general representation
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and understanding of sorting semantics. Therefore, they've acquired
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some features that go beyond what would be needed just to support btree
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indexes, and parts of the system that are quite distant from the
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btree AM make use of them.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="btree-behavior">
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<title>Behavior of B-Tree Operator Classes</title>
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<para>
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As shown in <xref linkend="xindex-btree-strat-table"/>, a btree operator
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class must provide five comparison operators,
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<literal><</literal>,
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<literal><=</literal>,
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<literal>=</literal>,
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<literal>>=</literal> and
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<literal>></literal>.
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One might expect that <literal><></literal> should also be part of
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the operator class, but it is not, because it would almost never be
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useful to use a <literal><></literal> WHERE clause in an index
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search. (For some purposes, the planner treats <literal><></literal>
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as associated with a btree operator class; but it finds that operator via
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the <literal>=</literal> operator's negator link, rather than
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from <structname>pg_amop</structname>.)
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</para>
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<para>
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When several data types share near-identical sorting semantics, their
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operator classes can be grouped into an operator family. Doing so is
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advantageous because it allows the planner to make deductions about
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cross-type comparisons. Each operator class within the family should
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contain the single-type operators (and associated support functions)
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for its input data type, while cross-type comparison operators and
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support functions are <quote>loose</quote> in the family. It is
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recommendable that a complete set of cross-type operators be included
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in the family, thus ensuring that the planner can represent any
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comparison conditions that it deduces from transitivity.
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</para>
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<para>
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There are some basic assumptions that a btree operator family must
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satisfy:
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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An <literal>=</literal> operator must be an equivalence relation; that
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is, for all non-null values <replaceable>A</replaceable>,
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>, <replaceable>C</replaceable> of the
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data type:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal>=</literal>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> is true
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(<firstterm>reflexive law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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if <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal>=</literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>,
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then <replaceable>B</replaceable> <literal>=</literal>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable>
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(<firstterm>symmetric law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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if <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal>=</literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable> and <replaceable>B</replaceable>
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<literal>=</literal> <replaceable>C</replaceable>,
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then <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal>=</literal>
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<replaceable>C</replaceable>
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(<firstterm>transitive law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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A <literal><</literal> operator must be a strong ordering relation;
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that is, for all non-null values <replaceable>A</replaceable>,
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>, <replaceable>C</replaceable>:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> is false
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(<firstterm>irreflexive law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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if <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>
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and <replaceable>B</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>C</replaceable>,
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then <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>C</replaceable>
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(<firstterm>transitive law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Furthermore, the ordering is total; that is, for all non-null
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values <replaceable>A</replaceable>, <replaceable>B</replaceable>:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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exactly one of <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>, <replaceable>A</replaceable>
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<literal>=</literal> <replaceable>B</replaceable>, and
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<replaceable>B</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> is true
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(<firstterm>trichotomy law</firstterm>)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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(The trichotomy law justifies the definition of the comparison support
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function, of course.)
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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The other three operators are defined in terms of <literal>=</literal>
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and <literal><</literal> in the obvious way, and must act consistently
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with them.
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</para>
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<para>
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For an operator family supporting multiple data types, the above laws must
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hold when <replaceable>A</replaceable>, <replaceable>B</replaceable>,
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<replaceable>C</replaceable> are taken from any data types in the family.
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The transitive laws are the trickiest to ensure, as in cross-type
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situations they represent statements that the behaviors of two or three
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different operators are consistent.
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As an example, it would not work to put <type>float8</type>
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and <type>numeric</type> into the same operator family, at least not with
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the current semantics that <type>numeric</type> values are converted
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to <type>float8</type> for comparison to a <type>float8</type>. Because
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of the limited accuracy of <type>float8</type>, this means there are
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distinct <type>numeric</type> values that will compare equal to the
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same <type>float8</type> value, and thus the transitive law would fail.
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</para>
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<para>
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Another requirement for a multiple-data-type family is that any implicit
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or binary-coercion casts that are defined between data types included in
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the operator family must not change the associated sort ordering.
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</para>
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<para>
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It should be fairly clear why a btree index requires these laws to hold
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within a single data type: without them there is no ordering to arrange
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the keys with. Also, index searches using a comparison key of a
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different data type require comparisons to behave sanely across two
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data types. The extensions to three or more data types within a family
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are not strictly required by the btree index mechanism itself, but the
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planner relies on them for optimization purposes.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="btree-support-funcs">
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<title>B-Tree Support Functions</title>
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<para>
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As shown in <xref linkend="xindex-btree-support-table"/>, btree defines
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one required and one optional support function.
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</para>
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<para>
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For each combination of data types that a btree operator family provides
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comparison operators for, it must provide a comparison support function,
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registered in <structname>pg_amproc</structname> with support function
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number 1 and
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<structfield>amproclefttype</structfield>/<structfield>amprocrighttype</structfield>
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equal to the left and right data types for the comparison (i.e., the
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same data types that the matching operators are registered with
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in <structname>pg_amop</structname>).
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The comparison function must take two non-null values
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<replaceable>A</replaceable> and <replaceable>B</replaceable> and
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return an <type>int32</type> value that
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is <literal><</literal> <literal>0</literal>, <literal>0</literal>,
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or <literal>></literal> <literal>0</literal>
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when <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal><</literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>, <replaceable>A</replaceable>
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<literal>=</literal> <replaceable>B</replaceable>,
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or <replaceable>A</replaceable> <literal>></literal>
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<replaceable>B</replaceable>, respectively. The function must not
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return <literal>INT_MIN</literal> for the <replaceable>A</replaceable>
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<literal><</literal> <replaceable>B</replaceable> case,
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since the value may be negated before being tested for sign. A null
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result is disallowed, too.
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See <filename>src/backend/access/nbtree/nbtcompare.c</filename> for
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examples.
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</para>
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<para>
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If the compared values are of a collatable data type, the appropriate
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collation OID will be passed to the comparison support function, using
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the standard <function>PG_GET_COLLATION()</function> mechanism.
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</para>
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<para>
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Optionally, a btree operator family may provide <firstterm>sort
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support</firstterm> function(s), registered under support function number
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2. These functions allow implementing comparisons for sorting purposes
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in a more efficient way than naively calling the comparison support
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function. The APIs involved in this are defined in
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<filename>src/include/utils/sortsupport.h</filename>.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="btree-implementation">
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<title>Implementation</title>
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<para>
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An introduction to the btree index implementation can be found in
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<filename>src/backend/access/nbtree/README</filename>.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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