extending SQL In the sections that follow, we will discuss how you can extend the PostgreSQL SQL query language by adding: functions (starting in ) aggregates (starting in ) data types (starting in ) operators (starting in ) operator classes for indexes (starting in ) PostgreSQL is extensible because its operation is catalog-driven. If you are familiar with standard relational database systems, you know that they store information about databases, tables, columns, etc., in what are commonly known as system catalogs. (Some systems call this the data dictionary.) The catalogs appear to the user as tables like any other, but the DBMS stores its internal bookkeeping in them. One key difference between PostgreSQL and standard relational database systems is that PostgreSQL stores much more information in its catalogs: not only information about tables and columns, but also information about data types, functions, access methods, and so on. These tables can be modified by the user, and since PostgreSQL bases its operation on these tables, this means that PostgreSQL can be extended by users. By comparison, conventional database systems can only be extended by changing hardcoded procedures in the source code or by loading modules specially written by the DBMS vendor. The PostgreSQL server can moreover incorporate user-written code into itself through dynamic loading. That is, the user can specify an object code file (e.g., a shared library) that implements a new type or function, and PostgreSQL will load it as required. Code written in SQL is even more trivial to add to the server. This ability to modify its operation on the fly makes PostgreSQL uniquely suited for rapid prototyping of new applications and storage structures. base type data type base composite type data type composite PostgreSQL data types are divided into base types, composite types, domains, and pseudo-types. Base types are those, like int4, that are implemented below the level of the SQL language (typically in a low-level language such as C). They generally correspond to what are often known as abstract data types. PostgreSQL can only operate on such types through functions provided by the user and only understands the behavior of such types to the extent that the user describes them. Base types are further subdivided into scalar and array types. For each scalar type, a corresponding array type is automatically created that can hold variable-size arrays of that scalar type. Composite types, or row types, are created whenever the user creates a table; it's also possible to define a stand-alone composite type with no associated table. A composite type is simply a list of base types with associated field names. A value of a composite type is a row or record of field values. The user can access the component fields from SQL queries. A domain is based on a particular base type and for many purposes is interchangeable with its base type. However, a domain may have constraints that restrict its valid values to a subset of what the underlying base type would allow. Domains can be created using the SQL command CREATE DOMAIN. Their creation and use is not discussed in this chapter. There are a few pseudo-types for special purposes. Pseudo-types cannot appear as columns of tables or attributes of composite types, but they can be used to declare the argument and result types of functions. This provides a mechanism within the type system to identify special classes of functions. lists the existing pseudo-types. polymorphic type polymorphic function type polymorphic function polymorphic Two pseudo-types of special interest are anyelement and anyarray, which are collectively called polymorphic types. Any function declared using these types is said to be a polymorphic function. A polymorphic function can operate on many different data types, with the specific data type(s) being determined by the data types actually passed to it in a particular call. Polymorphic arguments and results are tied to each other and are resolved to a specific data type when a query calling a polymorphic function is parsed. Each position (either argument or return value) declared as anyelement is allowed to have any specific actual data type, but in any given call they must all be the same actual type. Each position declared as anyarray can have any array data type, but similarly they must all be the same type. If there are positions declared anyarray and others declared anyelement, the actual array type in the anyarray positions must be an array whose elements are the same type appearing in the anyelement positions. Thus, when more than one argument position is declared with a polymorphic type, the net effect is that only certain combinations of actual argument types are allowed. For example, a function declared as foo(anyelement, anyelement) will take any two input values, so long as they are of the same data type. When the return value of a function is declared as a polymorphic type, there must be at least one argument position that is also polymorphic, and the actual data type supplied as the argument determines the actual result type for that call. For example, if there were not already an array subscripting mechanism, one could define a function that implements subscripting as subscript(anyarray, integer) returns anyelement. This declaration constrains the actual first argument to be an array type, and allows the parser to infer the correct result type from the actual first argument's type. &xfunc; &xaggr; &xtypes; &xoper; &xindex;