Adding PL/pgSQL to your Database
Programming languages are made available to databases by being created as a database object. You will therefore need to add the PL/pgSQL language to your database before you can use it (it is installed with PostgreSQL by default). The following steps demonstrate how to add PL/pgSQL to an existing database.
Step 1: Add PL/pgSQL to your Database
To add PL/pgSQL to your PostgreSQL database, you can either use the createlang application from the command line, or the CREATE LANGUAGE SQL command from within a database client such as psql. The use of the CREATE LANGUAGE command first requires the creation of the PL/pgSQL call handler, which is the function that actually processes and interprets the PL/pgSQL code.
Though the createlang utility is simpler to use, as it abstracts the creation of the call handler and the language away from the user, the following sections document each method.
 | Installing PL/pgSQL in the template1 database causes all subsequent databases that are created with template1 as its template (which is the default) to be installed with it. |
Using psql to add PL/pgSQL
CREATE LANGUAGE is the SQL command which adds procedural languages to the currently connected database. Before it can be used, however, the CREATE FUNCTION command must first be used to create the procedural call handler.
Here is the syntax to create a PL/pgSQL call handler with CREATE FUNCTION:
CREATE FUNCTION plpgsql_call_handler()
RETURNS OPAQUE AS '/postgres_library_path/plpgsql.so' LANGUAGE 'C'In this syntax, postgres_library_path is the absolute system path to the installed PostgreSQL library files. This path, by default, is /usr/local/pgsql/lib. Example 11-1 uses the CREATE FUNCTION command to create the PL/pgSQL call handler, assuming the plpgsql.so file is in the default location.
Example 11-1. Creating the PL/pgSQL Call Handler
booktown=# CREATE FUNCTION plpgsql_call_handler () booktown-# RETURNS OPAQUE booktown-# AS '/usr/local/pgsql/lib/plpgsql.so' booktown-# LANGUAGE 'C'; CREATE
Example 11-1 only creates the function handler; the language itself must also be added with the CREATE LANGUAGE command. Here is the syntax to add PL/pgSQL to a database with this command:
CREATE LANGUAGE 'plpgsql' HANDLER plpgsql_call_handler
LANCOMPILER 'PL/pgSQL'In this syntax, plpgsql is the name of the language to be created, the plpgsql_call_handler is the name of the call handler function (e.g., the one created in Example 11-1), and the PL/pgSQL string constant following the LANCOMPILER keyword is an arbitrary descriptive note.
Example 11-2 adds PL/pgSQL to the booktown database with the CREATE LANGUAGE command.
Using createlang to add PL/pgSQL
To execute createlang you will first need to be at the command prompt. If the operating system username you are currently logged into is the same as that of a database superuser account on the target database, you can call createlang with the command shown in Example 11-3 (you will be asked for a password if the database requires one). Otherwise, to pass the username of a database superuser to createlang , use the -U flag as shown in Example 11-4.
Example 11-3. Using createlang as a Database Superuser
$ cd /usr/local/pgsql/bin booktown=# createlang plpgsql booktown
Example 11-4. Explicitly Passing a Superuser Account Name to createlang
$ cd /usr/local/pgsql/bin/ $ createlang plpgsql -U manager booktown
The createlang program will return you to a shell prompt upon successful execution.
Step 2: Start Programming in PL/pgSQL
Once PL/pgSQL is installed, you should be ready to connect to the database and use the PL/pgSQL language with PostgreSQL. The following sections contain information on the structure of the language, defining functions, and using variables with PL/pgSQL.