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Thread: Help with exclusion constraint

Help with exclusion constraint

From
Moshe Jacobson
Date:

Take the following table:

CREATE TABLE exclusion_example AS
(    pk_col  integer primary key,    fk_col integer not null references other_table,    bool_col boolean not null
);

I want to ensure that for any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum of one row with bool_col = true. I wanted to write an exclusion constraint such as this:

alter table exclusion_example add exclude using btree ( fk_col with = , bool_col with and );

But this doesn’t work because “and” is not an operator.
So I created my own operator &&(bool, bool):

create function fn_boolean_and( bool, bool ) returns bool as$_$   select $1 and $2;$_$   language sql stable strict;

create operator &&
(   procedure = fn_boolean_and(bool, bool),   leftarg = bool,   rightarg = bool,   commutator = &&
);

But now when I try to create the exclusion constraint, I get the following:

mydb=# alter table exclusion_example add exclude using btree ( fk_col with = , bool_col with and );
ERROR:  operator &&(boolean,boolean) is not a member of operator family "bool_ops"
DETAIL:  The exclusion operator must be related to the index operator class for the constraint.

I’m not sure what to do about this. Any help would be appreciated.

Moshe Jacobson
Manager of Systems Engineering, Nead Werx Inc.
2323 Cumberland Parkway · Suite 201 · Atlanta, GA 30339

“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” — Aristotle

Re: Help with exclusion constraint

From
Igor Neyman
Date:

From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Moshe Jacobson
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 10:31 AM
To: pgsql-general
Subject: [GENERAL] Help with exclusion constraint

Take the following table:
CREATE TABLE exclusion_example AS
(
     pk_col  integer primary key,
     fk_col integer not null references other_table,
     bool_col boolean not null
);
I want to ensure that for any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum of one row with bool_col = true. I wanted
towrite an exclusion constraint such as this: 
alter table exclusion_example add exclude using btree ( fk_col with = , bool_col with and );
..........................
..........................
..........................
Moshe Jacobson
Manager of Systems Engineering, Nead Werx Inc.
2323 Cumberland Parkway * Suite 201 * Atlanta, GA 30339
"Quality is not an act, it is a habit." - Aristotle

For this:

"any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum of one row with bool_col = true."

why don't you (instead) create partial unique index:

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX on exclusion_example(fk_col, bool_col) WHERE bool_col IS TRUE;

Regards,
Igor Neyman

Re: Help with exclusion constraint

From
hari.fuchs@gmail.com
Date:
Moshe Jacobson <moshe@neadwerx.com> writes:

> Take the following table:
>
> CREATE TABLE exclusion_example AS
> (
>      pk_col  integer primary key,
>      fk_col integer not null references other_table,
>      bool_col boolean not null
> );
>
> I want to ensure that for any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum
> of one row with bool_col = true.

This should be what you want:

ALTER TABLE exclusion_example
ADD CONSTRAINT ex
EXCLUDE (fk_col WITH =) WHERE (bool_col);

Re: Help with exclusion constraint

From
Moshe Jacobson
Date:

On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 12:21 PM, Igor Neyman <ineyman@perceptron.com> wrote:
For this:
"any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum of one row with bool_col = true."

why don't you (instead) create partial unique index:
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX on exclusion_example(fk_col, bool_col) WHERE bool_col IS TRUE;

Ahh yes, why didn't I think of that? Thank you.


Moshe Jacobson
Manager of Systems Engineering, Nead Werx Inc.
2323 Cumberland Parkway · Suite 201 · Atlanta, GA 30339

"Quality is not an act, it is a habit." -- Aristotle

Re: Help with exclusion constraint

From
Moshe Jacobson
Date:

On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 12:45 PM, <hari.fuchs@gmail.com> wrote:
> I want to ensure that for any given value of fk_col that there is a maximum
> of one row with bool_col = true.

This should be what you want:

ALTER TABLE exclusion_example
ADD CONSTRAINT ex
EXCLUDE (fk_col WITH =) WHERE (bool_col);

Yes, that would do the trick! 
I think I'll just set up a partial unique index as per Igor's suggestion, however.

Thank you!

Moshe Jacobson
Manager of Systems Engineering, Nead Werx Inc.
2323 Cumberland Parkway · Suite 201 · Atlanta, GA 30339

"Quality is not an act, it is a habit." -- Aristotle