Thread: Expressing a result set as an array (and vice versa)?
Good day, Is it possible to construct an array from an appropriate select expression that generates a result set of unknown cardinality? To focus on the simple case: Is it possible to construct a one- dimensional array from a select of a single column in a table with an unknown number of rows? Conversely, is it possible to construct a (single column) result set from a select expression on a one-dimensional array with an unknown number of elements? Thanks for any hints! Regards, Don Maier
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION foreach( liste INTEGER[] ) RETURNS SETOF
INTEGER AS $$
DECLARE i INTEGER;
BEGIN FOR i IN 1..icount(liste) LOOP RETURN NEXT liste[i]; END LOOP;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE AGGREGATE array_accum ( sfunc = array_append, basetype = anyelement, stype = anyarray, initcond =
'{}'
);
SELECT array_accum( DISTINCT list_id ) FROM bookmarks; array_accum
--------------- {1,2,3,4,5,7}
SELECT * FROM foreach( '{1,2,3,4,5,7}' ); foreach
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 7
On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:44:32 +0100, Don Maier <dMaier@genome.stanford.edu>
wrote:
> Good day,
>
> Is it possible to construct an array from an appropriate select
> expression that generates a result set of unknown cardinality?
> To focus on the simple case: Is it possible to construct a one-
> dimensional array from a select of a single column in a table with an
> unknown number of rows?
>
> Conversely, is it possible to construct a (single column) result set
> from a select expression on a one-dimensional array with an unknown
> number of elements?
>
> Thanks for any hints!
>
> Regards,
> Don Maier
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
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On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:44:32 -0800 Don Maier <dMaier@genome.stanford.edu> threw this fish to the penguins: > Is it possible to construct an array from an appropriate select > expression that generates a result set of unknown cardinality? > To focus on the simple case: Is it possible to construct a one- > dimensional array from a select of a single column in a table with an > unknown number of rows? select array(select some_int_field from my_table where something); produces an array of integers. No user defined function is required. > Conversely, is it possible to construct a (single column) result set > from a select expression on a one-dimensional array with an unknown > number of elements? Not so easy without a custom function. > Thanks for any hints! > > Regards, > Don Maier > > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 1: if posting/reading through Usenet, please send an appropriate > subscribe-nomail command to majordomo@postgresql.org so that your > message can get through to the mailing list cleanly > -- "Are the gods not just?" "Oh no, child. What would become of us if they were?" (CSL)
On Mar 25 10:11, george young wrote:
> On Mar 23 11:44, Don Maier <dMaier@genome.stanford.edu> wrote:
> > Conversely, is it possible to construct a (single column) result set
> > from a select expression on a one-dimensional array with an unknown
> > number of elements?
>
> Not so easy without a custom function.
But not that hard:
test=> SELECT id, val FROM t_arr;id | val
----+--------------- 1 | {1,2,3} 2 | {4,5,6} 3 | {7,8,9} 4 | {10,11,12,13}
(4 rows)
--
-- First Way
--
test=> SELECT id, val[s.i]
test-> FROM t_arr
test-> LEFT OUTER JOIN
test-> (SELECT g.s
test(> FROM generate_series(1, (SELECT max(array_upper(val, 1)) FROM t_arr)) AS g(s)
test(> ) AS s(i)
test-> ON (s.i <= array_upper(val, 1));id | val
----+----- 1 | 1 1 | 2 1 | 3 2 | 4 2 | 5 2 | 6 3 | 7 3 | 8 3 | 9 4 | 10 4 | 11 4 | 12 4 | 13
(13 rows)
--
-- Second Way (by using contrib/intagg)
--
SELECT id, int_array_enum(val) FROM t_arr;
Regards.
On Sat, Mar 25, 2006 at 12:17:08AM +0100, PFC wrote:
>
>
> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION foreach( liste INTEGER[] ) RETURNS SETOF
> INTEGER AS $$
> DECLARE
> i INTEGER;
> BEGIN
> FOR i IN 1..icount(liste) LOOP
> RETURN NEXT liste[i];
> END LOOP;
> END;
> $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Seems like this should really exist in the backend...
> CREATE AGGREGATE array_accum (
> sfunc = array_append,
> basetype = anyelement,
> stype = anyarray,
> initcond = '{}'
> );
>
> SELECT array_accum( DISTINCT list_id ) FROM bookmarks;
> array_accum
> ---------------
> {1,2,3,4,5,7}
Couldn't you just use array()?
--
Jim C. Nasby, Sr. Engineering Consultant jnasby@pervasive.com
Pervasive Software http://pervasive.com work: 512-231-6117
vcard: http://jim.nasby.net/pervasive.vcf cell: 512-569-9461
>> SELECT array_accum( DISTINCT list_id ) FROM bookmarks;
>> array_accum
>> ---------------
>> {1,2,3,4,5,7}
>
> Couldn't you just use array()?
Yes, you can do this :
SELECT ARRAY( SELECT something with one column );
However, array_accum() as an aggregate is more interesting because you
can use GROUP BY. For instance :
SELECT parent, array_accum( child ) FROM table GROUP BY parent;
I have another question. Suppose I have these tables :
CREATE TABLE items (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,category INTEGER NOT NULL,name TEXT NOT NULL,
);
CREATE TABLE comments (item_id INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES items(id),id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,comment
TEXTNOT NULL,added TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT now()
)
Say I want to display some items and the associated comments :
SELECT * FROM items WHERE category = ...
Then, I gather the item ids which were returned by this query, and do :
SELECT * FROM comments WHERE item_id IN ( the ids ) ORDER BY item_id,
added;
Is there a more elegant and efficient way which would avoid making a big
IN() query ? I could join comments with items, but in my case the search
condition on items is quite complicated and slow ; hence I only want to do
the search once. And I have several different tables in the same style of
the "comments" table, and so I make several queries using the same IN
(...) term. It isn't very elegant... is there a better way ? Use a
temporary table ? How do you do it ?