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<!-- doc/src/sgml/xplang.sgml -->
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<chapter id="xplang">
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<title>Procedural Languages</title>
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<indexterm zone="xplang">
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<primary>procedural language</primary>
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</indexterm>
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<para>
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<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allows user-defined functions
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to be written in other languages besides SQL and C. These other
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languages are generically called <firstterm>procedural
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languages</firstterm> (<acronym>PL</acronym>s). For a function
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written in a procedural language, the database server has
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no built-in knowledge about how to interpret the function's source
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text. Instead, the task is passed to a special handler that knows
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the details of the language. The handler could either do all the
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work of parsing, syntax analysis, execution, etc. itself, or it
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could serve as <quote>glue</quote> between
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<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> and an existing implementation
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of a programming language. The handler itself is a
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C language function compiled into a shared object and
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loaded on demand, just like any other C function.
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</para>
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<para>
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There are currently four procedural languages available in the
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standard <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> distribution:
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<application>PL/pgSQL</application> (<xref linkend="plpgsql"/>),
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<application>PL/Tcl</application> (<xref linkend="pltcl"/>),
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<application>PL/Perl</application> (<xref linkend="plperl"/>), and
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<application>PL/Python</application> (<xref linkend="plpython"/>).
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There are additional procedural languages available that are not
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included in the core distribution. <xref linkend="external-projects"/>
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has information about finding them. In addition other languages can
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be defined by users; the basics of developing a new procedural
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language are covered in <xref linkend="plhandler"/>.
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</para>
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<sect1 id="xplang-install">
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<title>Installing Procedural Languages</title>
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<para>
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A procedural language must be <quote>installed</quote> into each
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database where it is to be used. But procedural languages installed in
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the database <literal>template1</literal> are automatically available in all
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subsequently created databases, since their entries in
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<literal>template1</literal> will be copied by <command>CREATE DATABASE</command>.
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So the database administrator can
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decide which languages are available in which databases and can make
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some languages available by default if desired.
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</para>
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<para>
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For the languages supplied with the standard distribution, it is
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only necessary to execute <command>CREATE EXTENSION</command>
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<replaceable>language_name</replaceable> to install the language into the
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current database.
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The manual procedure described below is only recommended for
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installing languages that have not been packaged as extensions.
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</para>
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<procedure>
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<title>
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Manual Procedural Language Installation
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</title>
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<para>
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A procedural language is installed in a database in five steps,
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which must be carried out by a database superuser. In most cases
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the required SQL commands should be packaged as the installation script
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of an <quote>extension</quote>, so that <command>CREATE EXTENSION</command> can be
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used to execute them.
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</para>
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<step performance="required" id="xplang-install-cr1">
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<para>
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The shared object for the language handler must be compiled and
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installed into an appropriate library directory. This works in the same
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way as building and installing modules with regular user-defined C
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functions does; see <xref linkend="dfunc"/>. Often, the language
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handler will depend on an external library that provides the actual
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programming language engine; if so, that must be installed as well.
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</para>
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</step>
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<step performance="required" id="xplang-install-cr2">
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<para>
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The handler must be declared with the command
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<synopsis>
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CREATE FUNCTION <replaceable>handler_function_name</replaceable>()
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RETURNS language_handler
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AS '<replaceable>path-to-shared-object</replaceable>'
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LANGUAGE C;
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</synopsis>
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The special return type of <type>language_handler</type> tells
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the database system that this function does not return one of
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the defined <acronym>SQL</acronym> data types and is not directly usable
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in <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements.
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</para>
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</step>
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<step performance="optional" id="xplang-install-cr3">
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<para>
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Optionally, the language handler can provide an <quote>inline</quote>
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handler function that executes anonymous code blocks
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(<xref linkend="sql-do"/> commands)
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written in this language. If an inline handler function
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is provided by the language, declare it with a command like
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<synopsis>
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CREATE FUNCTION <replaceable>inline_function_name</replaceable>(internal)
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RETURNS void
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AS '<replaceable>path-to-shared-object</replaceable>'
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LANGUAGE C;
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</synopsis>
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</para>
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</step>
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<step performance="optional" id="xplang-install-cr4">
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<para>
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Optionally, the language handler can provide a <quote>validator</quote>
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function that checks a function definition for correctness without
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actually executing it. The validator function is called by
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<command>CREATE FUNCTION</command> if it exists. If a validator function
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is provided by the language, declare it with a command like
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<synopsis>
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CREATE FUNCTION <replaceable>validator_function_name</replaceable>(oid)
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RETURNS void
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AS '<replaceable>path-to-shared-object</replaceable>'
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LANGUAGE C STRICT;
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</synopsis>
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</para>
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</step>
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<step performance="required" id="xplang-install-cr5">
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<para>
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Finally, the PL must be declared with the command
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<synopsis>
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CREATE <optional>TRUSTED</optional> <optional>PROCEDURAL</optional> LANGUAGE <replaceable>language-name</replaceable>
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HANDLER <replaceable>handler_function_name</replaceable>
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<optional>INLINE <replaceable>inline_function_name</replaceable></optional>
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<optional>VALIDATOR <replaceable>validator_function_name</replaceable></optional> ;
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</synopsis>
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The optional key word <literal>TRUSTED</literal> specifies that
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the language does not grant access to data that the user would
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not otherwise have. Trusted languages are designed for ordinary
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database users (those without superuser privilege) and allows them
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to safely create functions and trigger
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procedures. Since PL functions are executed inside the database
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server, the <literal>TRUSTED</literal> flag should only be given
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for languages that do not allow access to database server
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internals or the file system. The languages
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<application>PL/pgSQL</application>,
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<application>PL/Tcl</application>, and
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<application>PL/Perl</application>
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are considered trusted; the languages
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<application>PL/TclU</application>,
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<application>PL/PerlU</application>, and
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<application>PL/PythonU</application>
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are designed to provide unlimited functionality and should
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<emphasis>not</emphasis> be marked trusted.
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</para>
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</step>
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</procedure>
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<para>
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<xref linkend="xplang-install-example"/> shows how the manual
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installation procedure would work with the language
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<application>PL/Perl</application>.
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</para>
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<example id="xplang-install-example">
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<title>Manual Installation of <application>PL/Perl</application></title>
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<para>
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The following command tells the database server where to find the
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shared object for the <application>PL/Perl</application> language's call
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handler function:
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<programlisting>
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CREATE FUNCTION plperl_call_handler() RETURNS language_handler AS
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'$libdir/plperl' LANGUAGE C;
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</programlisting>
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</para>
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2004-12-30 22:45:37 +01:00
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<para>
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<application>PL/Perl</application> has an inline handler function
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and a validator function, so we declare those too:
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<programlisting>
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CREATE FUNCTION plperl_inline_handler(internal) RETURNS void AS
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'$libdir/plperl' LANGUAGE C;
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CREATE FUNCTION plperl_validator(oid) RETURNS void AS
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'$libdir/plperl' LANGUAGE C STRICT;
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</programlisting>
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</para>
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<para>
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The command:
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<programlisting>
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CREATE TRUSTED PROCEDURAL LANGUAGE plperl
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HANDLER plperl_call_handler
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INLINE plperl_inline_handler
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VALIDATOR plperl_validator;
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</programlisting>
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then defines that the previously declared functions
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should be invoked for functions and trigger procedures where the
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language attribute is <literal>plperl</literal>.
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</para>
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</example>
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<para>
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In a default <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> installation,
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the handler for the <application>PL/pgSQL</application> language
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is built and installed into the <quote>library</quote>
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directory; furthermore, the <application>PL/pgSQL</application> language
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itself is installed in all databases.
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If <application>Tcl</application> support is configured in, the handlers for
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<application>PL/Tcl</application> and <application>PL/TclU</application> are built and installed
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in the library directory, but the language itself is not installed in any
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database by default.
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Likewise, the <application>PL/Perl</application> and <application>PL/PerlU</application>
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handlers are built and installed if Perl support is configured, and the
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<application>PL/PythonU</application> handler is installed if Python support is
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configured, but these languages are not installed by default.
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</para>
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2000-03-31 00:13:30 +02:00
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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