CREATE FUNCTION

Name

Synopsis

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] FUNCTION
  ( [ [  ] [  ]  [, ...] ] )
 [ RETURNS  ]
 { LANGUAGE 
 | IMMUTABLE | STABLE | VOLATILE
 | CALLED ON NULL INPUT | RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT | STRICT
 | [ EXTERNAL ] SECURITY INVOKER | [ EXTERNAL ] SECURITY DEFINER
 | COST 
 | ROWS 
 | SET  { TO  | =  | FROM CURRENT }
 | AS ''
 | AS '', ''
 } ...
 [ WITH (  [, ...] ) ]

Description

defines a new function. will either create a new function, or replace an existing definition.

If a schema name is included, then the function is created in the specified schema. Otherwise it is created in the current schema. The name of the new function must not match any existing function with the same argument types in the same schema. However, functions of different argument types can share a name (this is called overloading).

To replace the current definition of an existing function, use . It is not possible to change the name or argument types of a function this way (if you tried, you would actually be creating a new, distinct function). Also, will not let you change the return type of an existing function. To do that, you must drop and recreate the function. (When using parameters, that means you cannot change the names or types of any parameters except by dropping the function.)

If you drop and then recreate a function, the new function is not the same entity as the old; you will have to drop existing rules, views, triggers, etc. that refer to the old function. Use to change a function definition without breaking objects that refer to the function. Also, can be used to change most of the auxiliary properties of an existing function.

The user that creates the function becomes the owner of the function.

Parameters

Notes

Refer to Section 34.3 for further information on writing functions.

The full type syntax is allowed for input arguments and return value. However, some details of the type specification (e.g., the precision field for type ) are the responsibility of the underlying function implementation and are silently swallowed (i.e., not recognized or enforced) by the command.

PostgreSQL allows function overloading; that is, the same name can be used for several different functions so long as they have distinct argument types. However, the C names of all functions must be different, so you must give overloaded C functions different C names (for example, use the argument types as part of the C names).

Two functions are considered the same if they have the same names and input argument types, ignoring any parameters. Thus for example these declarations conflict:

CREATE FUNCTION foo(int) ...
CREATE FUNCTION foo(int, out text) ...

When repeated calls refer to the same object file, the file is only loaded once per session. To unload and reload the file (perhaps during development), start a new session.

Use DROP FUNCTION to remove user-defined functions.

It is often helpful to use dollar quoting (see Section 4.1.2.2) to write the function definition string, rather than the normal single quote syntax. Without dollar quoting, any single quotes or backslashes in the function definition must be escaped by doubling them.

If a clause is attached to a function, then the effects of a command executed inside the function for the same variable are restricted to the function: the configuration parameter's prior value is still restored at function exit. However, an ordinary command (without ) overrides the clause, much as it would do for a previous command: the effects of such a command will persist after function exit, unless the current transaction is rolled back.

To be able to define a function, the user must have the privilege on the language.

When is used to replace an existing function, the ownership and permissions of the function do not change. All other function properties are assigned the values specified or implied in the command. You must own the function to replace it (this includes being a member of the owning role).

Examples

Here are some trivial examples to help you get started. For more information and examples, see Section 34.3.

CREATE FUNCTION add(integer, integer) RETURNS integer
 AS 'select $1 + $2;'
 LANGUAGE SQL
 IMMUTABLE
 RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT;

Increment an integer, making use of an argument name, in PL/pgSQL:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION increment(i integer) RETURNS integer AS $$
 BEGIN
 RETURN i + 1;
 END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Return a record containing multiple output parameters:

CREATE FUNCTION dup(in int, out f1 int, out f2 text)
 AS $$ SELECT $1, CAST($1 AS text) || ' is text' $$
 LANGUAGE SQL;

SELECT * FROM dup(42);

You can do the same thing more verbosely with an explicitly named composite type:

CREATE TYPE dup_result AS (f1 int, f2 text);

CREATE FUNCTION dup(int) RETURNS dup_result
 AS $$ SELECT $1, CAST($1 AS text) || ' is text' $$
 LANGUAGE SQL;

SELECT * FROM dup(42);

Writing Functions Safely

Because a function is executed with the privileges of the user that created it, care is needed to ensure that the function cannot be misused. For security, search_path should be set to exclude any schemas writable by untrusted users. This prevents malicious users from creating objects that mask objects used by the function. Particularly important in this regard is the temporary-table schema, which is searched first by default, and is normally writable by anyone. A secure arrangement can be had by forcing the temporary schema to be searched last. To do this, write as the last entry in . This function illustrates safe usage:

CREATE FUNCTION check_password(uname TEXT, pass TEXT)
RETURNS BOOLEAN AS $$
DECLARE passed BOOLEAN;
BEGIN
 SELECT (pwd = $2) INTO passed
 FROM pwds
 WHERE username = $1;

 RETURN passed;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql
 SECURITY DEFINER
 -- Set a secure search_path: trusted schema(s), then 'pg_temp'.
 SET search_path = admin, pg_temp;

Before PostgreSQL version 8.3, the option was not available, and so older functions may contain rather complicated logic to save, set, and restore . The option is far easier to use for this purpose.

Another point to keep in mind is that by default, execute privilege is granted to for newly created functions (see GRANT for more information). Frequently you will wish to restrict use of a security definer function to only some users. To do that, you must revoke the default privileges and then grant execute privilege selectively. To avoid having a window where the new function is accessible to all, create it and set the privileges within a single transaction. For example:

BEGIN;
CREATE FUNCTION check_password(uname TEXT, pass TEXT) ... SECURITY DEFINER;
REVOKE ALL ON FUNCTION check_password(uname TEXT, pass TEXT) FROM PUBLIC;
GRANT EXECUTE ON FUNCTION check_password(uname TEXT, pass TEXT) TO admins;
COMMIT;

Compatibility

A command is defined in SQL:1999 and later. The PostgreSQL version is similar but not fully compatible. The attributes are not portable, neither are the different available languages.

For compatibility with some other database systems, can be written either before or after . But only the first way is standard-compliant.

See Also