Re: Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it. - Mailing list pgsql-sql

From Wolfe Whalen
Subject Re: Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it.
Date
Msg-id 1365060506.15519.140661213164229.7F345F5D@webmail.messagingengine.com
Whole thread Raw
In response to Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it.  (Kaleeswaran Velu <v_kalees@yahoo.com>)
Responses Re: Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it.  (Kaleeswaran Velu <v_kalees@yahoo.com>)
List pgsql-sql
Hi Kaleeswaran,
 
We're glad to have you on the mailing list.  I don't know enough about your trigger function to know exactly where it's going wrong, but I threw together a quick example that has an insert trigger on a child table that updates a row on the parent table.  I'm hoping this might help.  If it doesn't help, maybe you could give us a little more information about your function or tables.  I'd be happy to help in any way that I can.
 
CREATE TABLE survey_records (
  name varchar(100),
  obsoleted timestamp DEFAULT NULL
);
 
CREATE TABLE geo_surveys (
  measurement integer
) INHERITS (survey_records);
 
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION obsolete_old_surveys() RETURNS trigger AS $$
BEGIN
  UPDATE survey_records SET obsoleted = clock_timestamp()
    WHERE survey_records.name = NEW.name AND survey_records.obsoleted IS NULL;
  RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
 
CREATE TRIGGER obsolete_old_surveys_tr
BEFORE INSERT ON geo_surveys
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE obsolete_old_surveys();
 
INSERT INTO geo_surveys (name, measurement) VALUES ('Carbon Dioxide', 5);
INSERT INTO geo_surveys (name, measurement) VALUES ('Carbon Dioxide', 10);
INSERT INTO geo_surveys (name, measurement) VALUES ('Carbon Dioxide', 93);
 
You'd wind up with something like this:
 
SELECT * FROM survey_records;
      name      |         obsoleted          
----------------+----------------------------
 Carbon Dioxide | 2013-04-03 23:59:44.228225
 Carbon Dioxide | 2013-04-03 23:59:53.66243
 Carbon Dioxide | 
(3 rows)
 
SELECT * FROM geo_surveys;
      name      |         obsoleted          | measurement 
----------------+----------------------------+-------------
 Carbon Dioxide | 2013-04-03 23:59:44.228225 |           5
 Carbon Dioxide | 2013-04-03 23:59:53.66243  |          10
 Carbon Dioxide |                            |          93
(3 rows)
 
The parent survey_records is actually updating the child table rows when you do an update.  Parent tables can almost seem like a view in that respect.  You would have to be a bit careful if you're going to have an update trigger on a child that updated the parent table. It's easy to wind up with a loop like this:
 
Child: Update row 1 -> Trigger function -> Update Row 1 on parent
->Parent: Let's see...  Row 1 is contained in this child table, so let's update it there.
->Child: Update row 1 -> Trigger function -> Update Row 1 on parent
->Parent: Let's see...  Row 1 is contained in this child table, so let's update it there.
... etc etc.
 
 
Best Regards,
 
Wolfe
 
--
Wolfe Whalen
wolfe@quios.net
 
 
 
On Wed, Apr 3, 2013, at 09:08 PM, Kaleeswaran Velu wrote:
 
 
 Hello Friends,
I am new to Postgres DB. Recently installed Postgres 9.2. 
Facing an issue with very simple trigger, tried to resolve myself by reading documents or google search but no luck.
 
I have a table A(parent) and table B (child). There is a BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE trigger attached in table B. This trigger has a update statement in it. This update statement should update a respective record in table A when ever there is any insert/update happen in table B.  The issue here is where ever I insert/update record in table B, getting an error as below :
 
********** Error **********
ERROR: cannot begin/end transactions in PL/pgSQL
SQL state: 0A000
Hint: Use a BEGIN block with an EXCEPTION clause instead.
Context: PL/pgSQL function func_update_payment() line 53 at SQL statement
 
Line no 53 in the above error message is an update statement. If I comment out the update statement, trigger works fine.
 
 
Can anyone shed some lights on this? Your help is appreciated.
 
Thanks and Regards
Kaleeswaran Velu

pgsql-sql by date:

Previous
From: Kaleeswaran Velu
Date:
Subject: Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it.
Next
From: Adrian Klaver
Date:
Subject: Re: Postgres trigger issue with update statement in it.