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PostgreSQL, Second Edition
book

PostgreSQL, Second Edition

by Korry Douglas, Susan Douglas
July 2005
Intermediate to advanced
1032 pages
27h 10m
English
Sams
Content preview from PostgreSQL, Second Edition

Chapter 7. PL/pgSQL

PL/pgSQL (Procedural Language/PostgreSQL) is a language that combines the expressive power of SQL with the more typical features of a programming language. PL/pgSQL adds control structures such as conditionals, loops, and exception handling to the SQL language. When you write a PL/pgSQL function, you can include any and all SQL commands, as well as the procedural statements added by PL/pgSQL.

Functions written in PL/pgSQL can be called from other functions. You can also define a PL/pgSQL function as a trigger. A trigger is a procedure that executes when some event occurs. For example, you might want to execute a PL/pgSQL function that fires when a new row is added to a table—that's what a trigger is for. You can define triggers ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0672327562Purchase book