trigger.sgml

PostgreSQL7.4.6 for Linux

	  </listitem>
	 </varlistentry>
	</variablelist>
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><structfield>tg_relation</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A pointer to a structure describing the relation that the trigger fired for.
	Look at <filename>utils/rel.h</> for details about
	this structure.  The most interesting things are
	<literal>tg_relation->rd_att</> (descriptor of the relation
	tuples) and <literal>tg_relation->rd_rel->relname</>
	(relation name; the type is not <type>char*</> but
	<type>NameData</>; use
	<literal>SPI_getrelname(tg_relation)</> to get a <type>char*</> if you
	need a copy of the name).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><structfield>tg_trigtuple</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A pointer to the row for which the trigger was fired. This is
	the row being inserted, updated, or deleted.  If this trigger
	was fired for an <command>INSERT</command> or
	<command>DELETE</command> then this is what you should return
	to from the function if you don't want to replace the row with
	a different one (in the case of <command>INSERT</command>) or
	skip the operation.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><structfield>tg_newtuple</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A pointer to the new version of the row, if the trigger was
	fired for an <command>UPDATE</command>, and <symbol>NULL</> if
	it is for an <command>INSERT</command> or a
	<command>DELETE</command>. This is what you have to return
	from the function if the event is an <command>UPDATE</command>
	and you don't want to replace this row by a different one or
	skip the operation.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><structfield>tg_trigger</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A pointer to a structure of type <structname>Trigger</>,
	defined in <filename>utils/rel.h</>:

<programlisting>
typedef struct Trigger
{
    Oid         tgoid;
    char       *tgname;
    Oid         tgfoid;
    int16       tgtype;
    bool        tgenabled;
    bool        tgisconstraint;
    Oid         tgconstrrelid;
    bool        tgdeferrable;
    bool        tginitdeferred;
    int16       tgnargs;
    int16       tgattr[FUNC_MAX_ARGS];
    char      **tgargs;
} Trigger;
</programlisting>

       where <structfield>tgname</> is the trigger's name,
       <structfield>tgnargs</> is number of arguments in
       <structfield>tgargs</>, and <structfield>tgargs</> is an array of
       pointers to the arguments specified in the <command>CREATE
       TRIGGER</command> statement. The other members are for internal use
       only.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    A trigger function must return either <symbol>NULL</> or a
    <structname>HeapTuple</> pointer.  Be careful to return either
    <structfield>tg_trigtuple</> or <structfield>tg_newtuple</>,
    as appropriate, if you don't want to modify the row being operated on.
   </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="trigger-example">
   <title>A Complete Example</title>

   <para>
    Here is a very simple example of a trigger function written in C.
    (Examples of triggers written in procedural languages may be found
    in the documentation of the procedural languages.)
   </para>

   <para>
    The function <function>trigf</> reports the number of rows in the
    table <literal>ttest</> and skips the actual operation if the
    command attempts to insert a null value into the column
    <literal>x</>. (So the trigger acts as a not-null constraint but
    doesn't abort the transaction.)
   </para>

   <para>
    First, the table definition:
<programlisting>
CREATE TABLE ttest (
    x integer
);
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <para>
    This is the source code of the trigger function:
<programlisting>
#include "postgres.h"
#include "executor/spi.h"       /* this is what you need to work with SPI */
#include "commands/trigger.h"   /* ... and triggers */

extern Datum trigf(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);

PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(trigf);

Datum
trigf(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
{
    TriggerData *trigdata = (TriggerData *) fcinfo->context;
    TupleDesc   tupdesc;
    HeapTuple   rettuple;
    char       *when;
    bool        checknull = false;
    bool        isnull;
    int         ret, i;

    /* make sure it's called as a trigger at all */
    if (!CALLED_AS_TRIGGER(fcinfo))
        elog(ERROR, "trigf: not called by trigger manager");

    /* tuple to return to executor */
    if (TRIGGER_FIRED_BY_UPDATE(trigdata->tg_event))
        rettuple = trigdata->tg_newtuple;
    else
        rettuple = trigdata->tg_trigtuple;

    /* check for null values */
    if (!TRIGGER_FIRED_BY_DELETE(trigdata->tg_event)
        && TRIGGER_FIRED_BEFORE(trigdata->tg_event))
        checknull = true;

    if (TRIGGER_FIRED_BEFORE(trigdata->tg_event))
        when = "before";
    else
        when = "after ";

    tupdesc = trigdata->tg_relation->rd_att;

    /* connect to SPI manager */
    if ((ret = SPI_connect()) < 0)
        elog(INFO, "trigf (fired %s): SPI_connect returned %d", when, ret);

    /* get number of rows in table */
    ret = SPI_exec("SELECT count(*) FROM ttest", 0);

    if (ret < 0)
        elog(NOTICE, "trigf (fired %s): SPI_exec returned %d", when, ret);

    /* count(*) returns int8, so be careful to convert */
    i = DatumGetInt64(SPI_getbinval(SPI_tuptable->vals[0],
                                    SPI_tuptable->tupdesc,
                                    1,
                                    &amp;isnull));

    elog (INFO, "trigf (fired %s): there are %d rows in ttest", when, i);

    SPI_finish();

    if (checknull)
    {
        SPI_getbinval(rettuple, tupdesc, 1, &amp;isnull);
        if (isnull)
            rettuple = NULL;
    }

    return PointerGetDatum(rettuple);
}
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <para>
    After you have compiled the source code, declare the function and
    the triggers:
<programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION trigf() RETURNS trigger
    AS '<replaceable>filename</>'
    LANGUAGE C;

CREATE TRIGGER tbefore BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON ttest 
    FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE trigf();

CREATE TRIGGER tafter AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON ttest 
    FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE trigf();
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <para>
    Now you can test the operation of the trigger:
<screen>
=> INSERT INTO ttest VALUES (NULL);
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 0 rows in ttest
INSERT 0 0

-- Insertion skipped and AFTER trigger is not fired

=> SELECT * FROM ttest;
 x
---
(0 rows)

=> INSERT INTO ttest VALUES (1);
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 0 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired after ): there are 1 rows in ttest
                                       ^^^^^^^^
                             remember what we said about visibility.
INSERT 167793 1
vac=> SELECT * FROM ttest;
 x
---
 1
(1 row)

=> INSERT INTO ttest SELECT x * 2 FROM ttest;
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 1 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired after ): there are 2 rows in ttest
                                       ^^^^^^
                             remember what we said about visibility.
INSERT 167794 1
=> SELECT * FROM ttest;
 x
---
 1
 2
(2 rows)

=> UPDATE ttest SET x = NULL WHERE x = 2;
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 2 rows in ttest
UPDATE 0
=> UPDATE ttest SET x = 4 WHERE x = 2;
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 2 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired after ): there are 2 rows in ttest
UPDATE 1
vac=> SELECT * FROM ttest;
 x
---
 1
 4
(2 rows)

=> DELETE FROM ttest;
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 2 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired after ): there are 1 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired before): there are 1 rows in ttest
INFO:  trigf (fired after ): there are 0 rows in ttest
                                       ^^^^^^
                             remember what we said about visibility.
DELETE 2
=> SELECT * FROM ttest;
 x
---
(0 rows)
</screen>

   </para>

   <para>
    There are more complex examples in
    <filename>src/test/regress/regress.c</filename> and
    in <filename>contrib/spi</filename>.
   </para>
  </sect1>
 </chapter>

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