Re: now() in PL/pgSQL Functions - Mailing list pgsql-bugs

From Yosef Haas
Subject Re: now() in PL/pgSQL Functions
Date
Msg-id 00a801c74481$42bfbb40$0100a8c0@cqg2y51
Whole thread Raw
In response to now() in PL/pgSQL Functions  ("Yosef Haas" <yosef@karatedepot.com>)
List pgsql-bugs
Ok. Right after I posted I noticed this:



"It is important to know that CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and related functions return
the start time of the current transaction; their values do not change during
the transaction. This is considered a feature: the intent is to allow a
single transaction to have a consistent notion of the "current" time, so
that multiple modifications within the same transaction bear the same time
stamp."



Using timeofday(), gives me the result I want (timeofday()::timestamp casts
it nicely to a timestamp).





Yosef Haas

Lead Developer

KarateDepot.com

845-875-6423

yosef@karatedepot.com

  _____

From: pgsql-bugs-owner@postgresql.org
[mailto:pgsql-bugs-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Yosef Haas
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:44 AM
To: pgsql-bugs@postgresql.org
Subject: [BUGS] now() in PL/pgSQL Functions



This is in version 8.1.4.



I've noticed what seems to be a strange behavior - it may be by design, but
I figured I'd ask.



Run this simple test function:



create or replace function test() RETURNS bool AS '

begin

            raise notice ''%'',now();

            for i IN 0..50000000  loop

            end loop;

            raise notice ''%'',now();

            return true;

end;

'

LANGUAGE 'plpgsql';



It should print the current date, wait a few seconds (by counting to 50
million)

And then print the current date. Clearly, the two dates are not identical;
however this is how it executes:



catalog=# select test();

NOTICE:  2007-01-30 09:33:19.323702-05

NOTICE:  2007-01-30 09:33:19.323702-05

 test

------

 t

(1 row)



For some reason it is using the same value for both "now()" calls. Is this a
bug, or by design? If it's by design what can I do to get the right time. I
know that the function only returns when it's finished executing, but
shouldn't now() return the actual time and not the time that the function
begins?



Thanks,



Yosef Haas

yosef@karatedepot.com

pgsql-bugs by date:

Previous
From: "Yosef Haas"
Date:
Subject: now() in PL/pgSQL Functions
Next
From: Tom Lane
Date:
Subject: Re: BUG #2945: possibly forgotten SPI_push()/SPI_pop()