diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/rangetypes.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/rangetypes.sgml index 260545711b..784f18eb48 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/rangetypes.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/rangetypes.sgml @@ -344,6 +344,12 @@ SELECT '[1.234, 5.678]'::floatrange; function in this example. + + Defining your own range type also allows you to specify a different + subtype B-tree operator class or collation to use, so as to change the sort + ordering that determines which values fall into a given range. + + If the subtype is considered to have discrete rather than continuous values, the CREATE TYPE command should specify a @@ -365,29 +371,40 @@ SELECT '[1.234, 5.678]'::floatrange; - Defining your own range type also allows you to specify a different - subtype B-tree operator class or collation to use, so as to change the sort - ordering that determines which values fall into a given range. + In addition, any range type that is meant to be used with GiST or SP-GiST + indexes should define a subtype difference, or subtype_diff, + function. (The index will still work without subtype_diff, + but it is likely to be considerably less efficient than if a difference + function is provided.) The subtype difference function takes two input + values of the subtype, and returns their difference + (i.e., X minus Y) represented as + a float8 value. In our example above, the + function float8mi that underlies the regular float8 + minus operator can be used; but for any other subtype, some type + conversion would be necessary. Some creative thought about how to + represent differences as numbers might be needed, too. To the greatest + extent possible, the subtype_diff function should agree with + the sort ordering implied by the selected operator class and collation; + that is, its result should be positive whenever its first argument is + greater than its second according to the sort ordering. - In addition, any range type that is meant to be used with GiST or SP-GiST indexes - should define a subtype difference, or subtype_diff, function. - (the index will still work without subtype_diff, but it is - likely to be considerably less efficient than if a difference function is - provided.) The subtype difference function takes two input values of the - subtype, and returns their difference (i.e., X minus - Y) represented as a float8 value. In our example - above, the function that underlies the regular float8 minus - operator can be used; but for any other subtype, some type conversion would - be necessary. Some creative thought about how to represent differences as - numbers might be needed, too. To the greatest extent possible, the - subtype_diff function should agree with the sort ordering - implied by the selected operator class and collation; that is, its result - should be positive whenever its first argument is greater than its second - according to the sort ordering. + A less-oversimplified example of a subtype_diff function is: + +CREATE FUNCTION time_subtype_diff(x time, y time) RETURNS float8 AS +'SELECT EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM (x - y))' LANGUAGE sql STRICT IMMUTABLE; + +CREATE TYPE timerange AS RANGE ( + subtype = time, + subtype_diff = time_subtype_diff +); + +SELECT '[11:10, 23:00]'::timerange; + + See for more information about creating range types.