<!-- $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/spi.sgml,v 1.67.2.1 2010/08/17 04:37:19 petere Exp $ -->

<chapter id="spi">
 <title>Server Programming Interface</title>

 <indexterm zone="spi">
  <primary>SPI</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <para>
  The <firstterm>Server Programming Interface</firstterm>
  (<acronym>SPI</acronym>) gives writers of user-defined
  <acronym>C</acronym> functions the ability to run
  <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands inside their functions.
  <acronym>SPI</acronym> is a set of
  interface functions to simplify access to the parser, planner,
  and executor. <acronym>SPI</acronym> also does some
  memory management.
 </para>

 <note>
  <para>
   The available procedural languages provide various means to
   execute SQL commands from procedures.  Most of these facilities are
   based on SPI, so this documentation might be of use for users
   of those languages as well.
  </para>
 </note>

 <para>
  To avoid misunderstanding we'll use the term <quote>function</quote>
  when we speak of <acronym>SPI</acronym> interface functions and
  <quote>procedure</quote> for a user-defined C-function that is
  using <acronym>SPI</acronym>.
 </para>

 <para>
  Note that if a command invoked via SPI fails, then control will not be
  returned to your procedure.  Rather, the
  transaction or subtransaction in which your procedure executes will be
  rolled back.  (This might seem surprising given that the SPI functions mostly
  have documented error-return conventions.  Those conventions only apply
  for errors detected within the SPI functions themselves, however.)
  It is possible to recover control after an error by establishing your own
  subtransaction surrounding SPI calls that might fail.  This is not currently
  documented because the mechanisms required are still in flux.
 </para>

 <para>
  <acronym>SPI</acronym> functions return a nonnegative result on
  success (either via a returned integer value or in the global
  variable <varname>SPI_result</varname>, as described below).  On
  error, a negative result or <symbol>NULL</symbol> will be returned.
 </para>

 <para>
  Source code files that use SPI must include the header file
  <filename>executor/spi.h</filename>.
 </para>


<sect1 id="spi-interface">
 <title>Interface Functions</title>

 <refentry id="spi-spi-connect">
  <refmeta>
   <refentrytitle>SPI_connect</refentrytitle>
   <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
   <refname>SPI_connect</refname>
   <refpurpose>connect a procedure to the SPI manager</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_connect</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_connect(void)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_connect</function> opens a connection from a
   procedure invocation to the SPI manager.  You must call this
   function if you want to execute commands through SPI.  Some utility
   SPI functions can be called from unconnected procedures.
  </para>

  <para>
   If your procedure is already connected,
   <function>SPI_connect</function> will return the error code
   <returnvalue>SPI_ERROR_CONNECT</returnvalue>.  This could happen if
   a procedure that has called <function>SPI_connect</function>
   directly calls another procedure that calls
   <function>SPI_connect</function>.  While recursive calls to the
   <acronym>SPI</acronym> manager are permitted when an SQL command
   called through SPI invokes another function that uses
   <acronym>SPI</acronym>, directly nested calls to
   <function>SPI_connect</function> and
   <function>SPI_finish</function> are forbidden.
   (But see <function>SPI_push</function> and <function>SPI_pop</function>.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><symbol>SPI_OK_CONNECT</symbol></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      on success
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_CONNECT</symbol></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      on error
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-finish">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_finish</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_finish</refname>
  <refpurpose>disconnect a procedure from the SPI manager</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_finish</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_finish(void)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_finish</function> closes an existing connection to
   the SPI manager.  You must call this function after completing the
   SPI operations needed during your procedure's current invocation.
   You do not need to worry about making this happen, however, if you
   abort the transaction via <literal>elog(ERROR)</literal>.  In that
   case SPI will clean itself up automatically.
  </para>

  <para>
   If <function>SPI_finish</function> is called without having a valid
   connection, it will return <symbol>SPI_ERROR_UNCONNECTED</symbol>.
   There is no fundamental problem with this; it means that the SPI
   manager has nothing to do.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><symbol>SPI_OK_FINISH</symbol></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      if properly disconnected
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_UNCONNECTED</symbol></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      if called from an unconnected procedure
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-push">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_push</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_push</refname>
  <refpurpose>push SPI stack to allow recursive SPI usage</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_push</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_push(void)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_push</function> should be called before executing another
   procedure that might itself wish to use SPI.
   After <function>SPI_push</function>, SPI is no longer in a
   <quote>connected</> state, and SPI function calls will be rejected unless
   a fresh <function>SPI_connect</function> is done.  This ensures a clean
   separation between your procedure's SPI state and that of another procedure
   you call.  After the other procedure returns, call
   <function>SPI_pop</function> to restore access to your own SPI state.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that <function>SPI_execute</function> and related functions
   automatically do the equivalent of <function>SPI_push</function> before
   passing control back to the SQL execution engine, so it is not necessary
   for you to worry about this when using those functions.
   Only when you are directly calling arbitrary code that might contain
   <function>SPI_connect</function> calls do you need to issue
   <function>SPI_push</function> and <function>SPI_pop</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-pop">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_pop</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_pop</refname>
  <refpurpose>pop SPI stack to return from recursive SPI usage</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_pop</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_pop(void)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_pop</function> pops the previous environment from the
   SPI call stack.  See <function>SPI_push</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-execute">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_execute</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_execute</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a command</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_execute</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_execute(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_execute</function> executes the specified SQL command
   for <parameter>count</parameter> rows.  If <parameter>read_only</parameter>
   is <literal>true</>, the command must be read-only, and execution overhead
   is somewhat reduced.
  </para>

  <para>
   This function can only be called from a connected procedure.
  </para>

  <para>
   If <parameter>count</parameter> is zero then the command is executed
   for all rows that it applies to.  If <parameter>count</parameter>
   is greater than 0, then the number of rows for which the command
   will be executed is restricted (much like a
   <literal>LIMIT</literal> clause). For example:
<programlisting>
SPI_execute("INSERT INTO foo SELECT * FROM bar", false, 5);
</programlisting>
   will allow at most 5 rows to be inserted into the table.
  </para>

  <para>
   You can pass multiple commands in one string, but later commands cannot
   depend on the creation of objects earlier in the string, because the
   whole string will be parsed and planned before execution begins.
   <function>SPI_execute</function> returns the
   result for the command executed last.  The <parameter>count</parameter>
   limit applies to each command separately, but it is not applied to
   hidden commands generated by rules.
  </para>

  <para>
   When <parameter>read_only</parameter> is <literal>false</>,
   <function>SPI_execute</function> increments the command
   counter and computes a new <firstterm>snapshot</> before executing each
   command in the string.  The snapshot does not actually change if the
   current transaction isolation level is <literal>SERIALIZABLE</>, but in
   <literal>READ COMMITTED</> mode the snapshot update allows each command to
   see the results of newly committed transactions from other sessions.
   This is essential for consistent behavior when the commands are modifying
   the database.
  </para>

  <para>
   When <parameter>read_only</parameter> is <literal>true</>,
   <function>SPI_execute</function> does not update either the snapshot
   or the command counter, and it allows only plain <command>SELECT</>
   commands to appear in the command string.  The commands are executed
   using the snapshot previously established for the surrounding query.
   This execution mode is somewhat faster than the read/write mode due
   to eliminating per-command overhead.  It also allows genuinely
   <firstterm>stable</> functions to be built: since successive executions
   will all use the same snapshot, there will be no change in the results.
  </para>

  <para>
   It is generally unwise to mix read-only and read-write commands within
   a single function using SPI; that could result in very confusing behavior,
   since the read-only queries would not see the results of any database
   updates done by the read-write queries.
  </para>

  <para>
   The actual number of rows for which the (last) command was executed
   is returned in the global variable <varname>SPI_processed</varname>.
   If the return value of the function is <symbol>SPI_OK_SELECT</symbol>,
   <symbol>SPI_OK_INSERT_RETURNING</symbol>,
   <symbol>SPI_OK_DELETE_RETURNING</symbol>, or
   <symbol>SPI_OK_UPDATE_RETURNING</symbol>,
   then you can use the
   global pointer <literal>SPITupleTable *SPI_tuptable</literal> to
   access the result rows.  Some utility commands (such as
   <command>EXPLAIN</>) also return row sets, and <literal>SPI_tuptable</>
   will contain the result in these cases too.
  </para>

  <para>
   The structure <structname>SPITupleTable</structname> is defined
   thus:
<programlisting>
typedef struct
{
    MemoryContext tuptabcxt;    /* memory context of result table */
    uint32      alloced;        /* number of alloced vals */
    uint32      free;           /* number of free vals */
    TupleDesc   tupdesc;        /* row descriptor */
    HeapTuple  *vals;           /* rows */
} SPITupleTable;
</programlisting>
   <structfield>vals</> is an array of pointers to rows.  (The number
   of valid entries is given by <varname>SPI_processed</varname>.)
   <structfield>tupdesc</> is a row descriptor which you can pass to
   SPI functions dealing with rows.  <structfield>tuptabcxt</>,
   <structfield>alloced</>, and <structfield>free</> are internal
   fields not intended for use by SPI callers.
  </para>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_finish</function> frees all
   <structname>SPITupleTable</>s allocated during the current
   procedure.  You can free a particular result table earlier, if you
   are done with it, by calling <function>SPI_freetuptable</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      string containing command to execute
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   If the execution of the command was successful then one of the
   following (nonnegative) values will be returned:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_SELECT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a <command>SELECT</command> (but not <command>SELECT
       INTO</>) was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_SELINTO</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a <command>SELECT INTO</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_INSERT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if an <command>INSERT</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_DELETE</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a <command>DELETE</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_UPDATE</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if an <command>UPDATE</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_INSERT_RETURNING</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if an <command>INSERT RETURNING</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_DELETE_RETURNING</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a <command>DELETE RETURNING</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_UPDATE_RETURNING</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if an <command>UPDATE RETURNING</command> was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_UTILITY</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a utility command (e.g., <command>CREATE TABLE</command>)
       was executed
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_OK_REWRITTEN</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if the command was rewritten into another kind of command (e.g.,
       <command>UPDATE</command> became an <command>INSERT</command>) by a <link linkend="rules">rule</link>.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>

  <para>
   On error, one of the following negative values is returned:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>command</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or
       <parameter>count</parameter> is less than 0
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_COPY</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <command>COPY TO stdout</> or <command>COPY FROM stdin</>
       was attempted
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_TRANSACTION</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if a transaction manipulation command was attempted
       (<command>BEGIN</>,
       <command>COMMIT</>,
       <command>ROLLBACK</>,
       <command>SAVEPOINT</>,
       <command>PREPARE TRANSACTION</>,
       <command>COMMIT PREPARED</>,
       <command>ROLLBACK PREPARED</>,
       or any variant thereof)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_OPUNKNOWN</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if the command type is unknown (shouldn't happen)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_UNCONNECTED</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if called from an unconnected procedure
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   The functions <function>SPI_execute</function>,
   <function>SPI_exec</function>,
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>, and
   <function>SPI_execp</function> change both
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> (just the pointer, not the contents
   of the structure).  Save these two global variables into local
   procedure variables if you need to access the result table of
   <function>SPI_execute</function> or a related function
   across later calls.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-exec">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_exec</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_exec</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a read/write command</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_exec</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_exec(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_exec</function> is the same as
   <function>SPI_execute</function>, with the latter's
   <parameter>read_only</parameter> parameter always taken as
   <literal>false</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      string containing command to execute
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   See <function>SPI_execute</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-execute-with-args">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_execute_with_args</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_execute_with_args</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a command with out-of-line parameters</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_execute_with_args</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_execute_with_args(const char *<parameter>command</parameter>,
                          int <parameter>nargs</parameter>, Oid *<parameter>argtypes</parameter>,
                          Datum *<parameter>values</parameter>, const char *<parameter>nulls</parameter>,
                          bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_execute_with_args</function> executes a command that might
   include references to externally supplied parameters.  The command text
   refers to a parameter as <literal>$<replaceable>n</></literal>, and
   the call specifies data types and values for each such symbol.
   <parameter>read_only</parameter> and <parameter>count</parameter> have
   the same interpretation as in <function>SPI_execute</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   The main advantage of this routine compared to
   <function>SPI_execute</function> is that data values can be inserted
   into the command without tedious quoting/escaping, and thus with much
   less risk of SQL-injection attacks.
  </para>

  <para>
   Similar results can be achieved with <function>SPI_prepare</> followed by
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>; however, when using this function
   the query plan is customized to the specific parameter values provided.
   For one-time query execution, this function should be preferred.
   If the same command is to be executed with many different parameters,
   either method might be faster, depending on the cost of re-planning
   versus the benefit of custom plans.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      command string
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>nargs</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of input parameters (<literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array containing the <acronym>OID</acronym>s of
      the data types of the parameters
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array of actual parameter values
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array describing which parameters are null
     </para>

     <para>
      If <parameter>nulls</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> then
      <function>SPI_execute_with_args</function> assumes that no parameters are
      null.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The return value is the same as for <function>SPI_execute</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-prepare">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_prepare</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_prepare</refname>
  <refpurpose>prepare a plan for a command, without executing it yet</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_prepare</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
SPIPlanPtr SPI_prepare(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, int <parameter>nargs</parameter>, Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare</function> creates and returns an execution
   plan for the specified command, but doesn't execute the command.
   This function should only be called from a connected procedure.
  </para>

  <para>
   When the same or a similar command is to be executed repeatedly, it
   might be advantageous to perform the planning only once.
   <function>SPI_prepare</function> converts a command string into an
   execution plan that can be executed repeatedly using
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   A prepared command can be generalized by writing parameters
   (<literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.) in place of what would be
   constants in a normal command.  The actual values of the parameters
   are then specified when <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> is called.
   This allows the prepared command to be used over a wider range of
   situations than would be possible without parameters.
  </para>

  <para>
   The plan returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function> can be used
   only in the current invocation of the procedure, since
   <function>SPI_finish</function> frees memory allocated for a plan.
   But a plan can be saved for longer using the function
   <function>SPI_saveplan</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      command string
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>nargs</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of input parameters (<literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to an array containing the <acronym>OID</acronym>s of
      the data types of the parameters
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare</function> returns a non-null pointer to an
   execution plan.  On error, <symbol>NULL</symbol> will be returned,
   and <varname>SPI_result</varname> will be set to one of the same
   error codes used by <function>SPI_execute</function>, except that
   it is set to <symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol> if
   <parameter>command</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol>, or if
   <parameter>nargs</> is less than 0, or if <parameter>nargs</> is
   greater than 0 and <parameter>argtypes</> is <symbol>NULL</symbol>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   <type>SPIPlanPtr</> is declared as a pointer to an opaque struct type in
   <filename>spi.h</>.  It is unwise to try to access its contents
   directly, as that makes your code much more likely to break in
   future revisions of <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.
  </para>

  <para>
   There is a disadvantage to using parameters: since the planner does
   not know the values that will be supplied for the parameters, it
   might make worse planning choices than it would make for a normal
   command with all constants visible.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-prepare-cursor">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_prepare_cursor</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_prepare_cursor</refname>
  <refpurpose>prepare a plan for a command, without executing it yet</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_prepare_cursor</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
SPIPlanPtr SPI_prepare_cursor(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, int <parameter>nargs</parameter>,
                              Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter>, int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare_cursor</function> is identical to
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>, except that it also allows specification
   of the planner's <quote>cursor options</> parameter.  This is a bit mask
   having the values shown in <filename>nodes/parsenodes.h</filename>
   for the <structfield>options</> field of <structname>DeclareCursorStmt</>.
   <function>SPI_prepare</function> always takes the cursor options as zero.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      command string
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>nargs</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of input parameters (<literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to an array containing the <acronym>OID</acronym>s of
      the data types of the parameters
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      integer bit mask of cursor options; zero produces default behavior
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare_cursor</function> has the same return conventions as
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Useful bits to set in <parameter>cursorOptions</> include
   <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_SCROLL</symbol>,
   <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_NO_SCROLL</symbol>, and
   <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_FAST_PLAN</symbol>.  Note in particular that
   <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_HOLD</symbol> is ignored.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-prepare-params">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_prepare_params</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_prepare_params</refname>
  <refpurpose>prepare a plan for a command, without executing it yet</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_prepare_params</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
SPIPlanPtr SPI_prepare_params(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>,
                              ParserSetupHook <parameter>parserSetup</parameter>,
                              void * <parameter>parserSetupArg</parameter>,
                              int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare_params</function> creates and returns an execution
   plan for the specified command, but doesn't execute the command.
   This function is equivalent to <function>SPI_prepare_cursor</function>,
   with the addition that the caller can specify parser hook functions
   to control the parsing of external parameter references.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      command string
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>ParserSetupHook <parameter>parserSetup</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Parser hook setup function
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>void * <parameter>parserSetupArg</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      passthrough argument for <parameter>parserSetup</parameter>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      integer bit mask of cursor options; zero produces default behavior
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_prepare_params</function> has the same return conventions as
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-getargcount">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getargcount</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getargcount</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the number of arguments needed by a plan
  prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getargcount</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_getargcount(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getargcount</function> returns the number of arguments needed
   to execute a plan prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>
  <para>
    The count of expected arguments for the <parameter>plan</parameter>.
    If the <parameter>plan</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid,
    <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to <symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol>
    and <literal>-1</literal> is returned.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-getargtypeid">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getargtypeid</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getargtypeid</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the data type OID for an argument of
  a plan prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getargtypeid</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Oid SPI_getargtypeid(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>, int <parameter>argIndex</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getargtypeid</function> returns the OID representing the type
   id for the <parameter>argIndex</parameter>'th argument of a plan prepared by
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>. First argument is at index zero.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>argIndex</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      zero based index of the argument
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>
  <para>
    The type id of the argument at the given index.
    If the <parameter>plan</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid,
    or <parameter>argIndex</parameter> is less than 0 or
    not less than the number of arguments declared for the
    <parameter>plan</parameter>,
    <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to <symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol>
    and <symbol>InvalidOid</symbol> is returned.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-is-cursor-plan">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_is_cursor_plan</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_is_cursor_plan</refname>
  <refpurpose>return <symbol>true</symbol> if a plan
  prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function> can be used with
  <function>SPI_cursor_open</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_is_cursor_plan</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool SPI_is_cursor_plan(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_is_cursor_plan</function> returns <symbol>true</symbol>
   if a plan prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function> can be passed
   as an argument to <function>SPI_cursor_open</function>, or
   <symbol>false</symbol> if that is not the case. The criteria are that the
   <parameter>plan</parameter> represents one single command and that this
   command returns tuples to the caller; for example, <command>SELECT</>
   is allowed unless it contains an <literal>INTO</> clause, and
   <command>UPDATE</> is allowed only if it contains a <literal>RETURNING</>
   clause.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>
  <para>
    <symbol>true</symbol> or <symbol>false</symbol> to indicate if the
    <parameter>plan</parameter> can produce a cursor or not, with
    <varname>SPI_result</varname> set to zero.
    If it is not possible to determine the answer (for example,
    if the <parameter>plan</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid,
    or if called when not connected to SPI), then
    <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to a suitable error code
    and <symbol>false</symbol> is returned.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-execute-plan">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_execute_plan</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_execute_plan</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a plan prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_execute_plan</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_execute_plan(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>, Datum * <parameter>values</parameter>, const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter>,
                     bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> executes a plan prepared by
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>.  <parameter>read_only</parameter> and
   <parameter>count</parameter> have the same interpretation as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array of actual parameter values.  Must have same length as the
      plan's number of arguments.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array describing which parameters are null.  Must have same length as
      the plan's number of arguments.
      <literal>n</literal> indicates a null value (entry in
      <parameter>values</> will be ignored); a space indicates a
      nonnull value (entry in <parameter>values</> is valid).
     </para>

     <para>
      If <parameter>nulls</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> then
      <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> assumes that no parameters are
      null.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The return value is the same as for <function>SPI_execute</function>,
   with the following additional possible error (negative) results:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>plan</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid,
       or <parameter>count</parameter> is less than 0
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_PARAM</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>values</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> and
       <parameter>plan</parameter> was prepared with some parameters
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-execute-plan-with-paramlist">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a plan prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>,
                                    ParamListInfo <parameter>params</parameter>,
                                    bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>,
                                    long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist</function> executes a plan
   prepared by <function>SPI_prepare</function>.
   This function is equivalent to <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>
   except that information about the parameter values to be passed to the
   query is presented differently.  The <literal>ParamListInfo</>
   representation can be convenient for passing down values that are
   already available in that format.  It also supports use of dynamic
   parameter sets via hook functions specified in <literal>ParamListInfo</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>ParamListInfo <parameter>params</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      data structure containing parameter types and values; NULL if none
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The return value is the same as for <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-execp">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_execp</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_execp</refname>
  <refpurpose>execute a plan in read/write mode</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_execp</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_execp(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>, Datum * <parameter>values</parameter>, const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_execp</function> is the same as
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>, with the latter's
   <parameter>read_only</parameter> parameter always taken as
   <literal>false</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array of actual parameter values.  Must have same length as the
      plan's number of arguments.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array describing which parameters are null.  Must have same length as
      the plan's number of arguments.
      <literal>n</literal> indicates a null value (entry in
      <parameter>values</> will be ignored); a space indicates a
      nonnull value (entry in <parameter>values</> is valid).
     </para>

     <para>
      If <parameter>nulls</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> then
      <function>SPI_execp</function> assumes that no parameters are
      null.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to process or return
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   See <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-open">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_open</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_open</refname>
  <refpurpose>set up a cursor using a plan created with <function>SPI_prepare</function></refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_open</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Portal SPI_cursor_open(const char * <parameter>name</parameter>, SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>,
                       Datum * <parameter>values</parameter>, const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter>,
                       bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_open</function> sets up a cursor (internally,
   a portal) that will execute a plan prepared by
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>.  The parameters have the same
   meanings as the corresponding parameters to
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   Using a cursor instead of executing the plan directly has two
   benefits.  First, the result rows can be retrieved a few at a time,
   avoiding memory overrun for queries that return many rows.  Second,
   a portal can outlive the current procedure (it can, in fact, live
   to the end of the current transaction).  Returning the portal name
   to the procedure's caller provides a way of returning a row set as
   result.
  </para>

  <para>
   The passed-in parameter data will be copied into the cursor's portal, so it
   can be freed while the cursor still exists.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>name</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      name for portal, or <symbol>NULL</symbol> to let the system
      select a name
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array of actual parameter values.  Must have same length as the
      plan's number of arguments.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      An array describing which parameters are null.  Must have same length as
      the plan's number of arguments.
      <literal>n</literal> indicates a null value (entry in
      <parameter>values</> will be ignored); a space indicates a
      nonnull value (entry in <parameter>values</> is valid).
     </para>

     <para>
      If <parameter>nulls</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> then
      <function>SPI_cursor_open</function> assumes that no parameters are
      null.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Pointer to portal containing the cursor.  Note there is no error
   return convention; any error will be reported via <function>elog</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-open-with-args">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_open_with_args</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_open_with_args</refname>
  <refpurpose>set up a cursor using a query and parameters</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_open_with_args</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Portal SPI_cursor_open_with_args(const char *<parameter>name</parameter>,
                                 const char *<parameter>command</parameter>,
                                 int <parameter>nargs</parameter>, Oid *<parameter>argtypes</parameter>,
                                 Datum *<parameter>values</parameter>, const char *<parameter>nulls</parameter>,
                                 bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>, int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_open_with_args</function> sets up a cursor
   (internally, a portal) that will execute the specified query.
   Most of the parameters have the same meanings as the corresponding
   parameters to <function>SPI_prepare_cursor</function>
   and <function>SPI_cursor_open</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   For one-time query execution, this function should be preferred
   over <function>SPI_prepare_cursor</function> followed by
   <function>SPI_cursor_open</function>.
   If the same command is to be executed with many different parameters,
   either method might be faster, depending on the cost of re-planning
   versus the benefit of custom plans.
  </para>

  <para>
   The passed-in parameter data will be copied into the cursor's portal, so it
   can be freed while the cursor still exists.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>name</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      name for portal, or <symbol>NULL</symbol> to let the system
      select a name
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>command</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      command string
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>nargs</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of input parameters (<literal>$1</>, <literal>$2</>, etc.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Oid * <parameter>argtypes</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array containing the <acronym>OID</acronym>s of
      the data types of the parameters
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array of actual parameter values
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      an array describing which parameters are null
     </para>

     <para>
      If <parameter>nulls</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> then
      <function>SPI_cursor_open_with_args</function> assumes that no
      parameters are null.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>cursorOptions</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      integer bit mask of cursor options; zero produces default behavior
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Pointer to portal containing the cursor.  Note there is no error
   return convention; any error will be reported via <function>elog</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-open-with-paramlist">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_open_with_paramlist</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_open_with_paramlist</refname>
  <refpurpose>set up a cursor using parameters</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_open_with_paramlist</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Portal SPI_cursor_open_with_paramlist(const char *<parameter>name</parameter>,
                                      SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>,
                                      ParamListInfo <parameter>params</parameter>,
                                      bool <parameter>read_only</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_open_with_paramlist</function> sets up a cursor
   (internally, a portal) that will execute a plan prepared by
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>.
   This function is equivalent to <function>SPI_cursor_open</function>
   except that information about the parameter values to be passed to the
   query is presented differently.  The <literal>ParamListInfo</>
   representation can be convenient for passing down values that are
   already available in that format.  It also supports use of dynamic
   parameter sets via hook functions specified in <literal>ParamListInfo</>.
  </para>

  <para>
   The passed-in parameter data will be copied into the cursor's portal, so it
   can be freed while the cursor still exists.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>name</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      name for portal, or <symbol>NULL</symbol> to let the system
      select a name
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      execution plan (returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function>)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>ParamListInfo <parameter>params</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      data structure containing parameter types and values; NULL if none
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>read_only</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>true</> for read-only execution
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Pointer to portal containing the cursor.  Note there is no error
   return convention; any error will be reported via <function>elog</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-find">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_find</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_find</refname>
  <refpurpose>find an existing cursor by name</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_find</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Portal SPI_cursor_find(const char * <parameter>name</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_find</function> finds an existing portal by
   name.  This is primarily useful to resolve a cursor name returned
   as text by some other function.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>name</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      name of the portal
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   pointer to the portal with the specified name, or
   <symbol>NULL</symbol> if none was found
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-fetch">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_fetch</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_fetch</refname>
  <refpurpose>fetch some rows from a cursor</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_fetch</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_cursor_fetch(Portal <parameter>portal</parameter>, bool <parameter>forward</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_fetch</function> fetches some rows from a
   cursor.  This is equivalent to a subset of the SQL command
   <command>FETCH</> (see <function>SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch</function>
   for more functionality).
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Portal <parameter>portal</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      portal containing the cursor
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>forward</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      true for fetch forward, false for fetch backward
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to fetch
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Fetching backward may fail if the cursor's plan was not created
   with the <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_SCROLL</symbol> option.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-move">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_move</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_move</refname>
  <refpurpose>move a cursor</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_move</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_cursor_move(Portal <parameter>portal</parameter>, bool <parameter>forward</parameter>, long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_move</function> skips over some number of rows
   in a cursor.  This is equivalent to a subset of the SQL command
   <command>MOVE</> (see <function>SPI_scroll_cursor_move</function>
   for more functionality).
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Portal <parameter>portal</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      portal containing the cursor
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool <parameter>forward</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      true for move forward, false for move backward
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      maximum number of rows to move
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Moving backward may fail if the cursor's plan was not created
   with the <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_SCROLL</symbol> option.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-scroll-cursor-fetch">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch</refname>
  <refpurpose>fetch some rows from a cursor</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch(Portal <parameter>portal</parameter>, FetchDirection <parameter>direction</parameter>,
                             long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_scroll_cursor_fetch</function> fetches some rows from a
   cursor.  This is equivalent to the SQL command <command>FETCH</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Portal <parameter>portal</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      portal containing the cursor
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>FetchDirection <parameter>direction</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      one of <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol>,
      <symbol>FETCH_BACKWARD</symbol>,
      <symbol>FETCH_ABSOLUTE</symbol> or
      <symbol>FETCH_RELATIVE</symbol>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of rows to fetch for
      <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol> or
      <symbol>FETCH_BACKWARD</symbol>; absolute row number to fetch for
      <symbol>FETCH_ABSOLUTE</symbol>; or relative row number to fetch for
      <symbol>FETCH_RELATIVE</symbol>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> are set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   See the SQL <xref linkend="sql-fetch"> command
   for details of the interpretation of the
   <parameter>direction</parameter> and
   <parameter>count</parameter> parameters.
  </para>

  <para>
   Direction values other than <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol>
   may fail if the cursor's plan was not created
   with the <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_SCROLL</symbol> option.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-scroll-cursor-move">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_scroll_cursor_move</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_scroll_cursor_move</refname>
  <refpurpose>move a cursor</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_scroll_cursor_move</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_scroll_cursor_move(Portal <parameter>portal</parameter>, FetchDirection <parameter>direction</parameter>,
                            long <parameter>count</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_scroll_cursor_move</function> skips over some number of rows
   in a cursor.  This is equivalent to the SQL command
   <command>MOVE</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Portal <parameter>portal</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      portal containing the cursor
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>FetchDirection <parameter>direction</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      one of <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol>,
      <symbol>FETCH_BACKWARD</symbol>,
      <symbol>FETCH_ABSOLUTE</symbol> or
      <symbol>FETCH_RELATIVE</symbol>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of rows to move for
      <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol> or
      <symbol>FETCH_BACKWARD</symbol>; absolute row number to move to for
      <symbol>FETCH_ABSOLUTE</symbol>; or relative row number to move to for
      <symbol>FETCH_RELATIVE</symbol>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_processed</varname> is set as in
   <function>SPI_execute</function> if successful.
   <varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> is set to <symbol>NULL</>, since
   no rows are returned by this function.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   See the SQL <xref linkend="sql-fetch"> command
   for details of the interpretation of the
   <parameter>direction</parameter> and
   <parameter>count</parameter> parameters.
  </para>

  <para>
   Direction values other than <symbol>FETCH_FORWARD</symbol>
   may fail if the cursor's plan was not created
   with the <symbol>CURSOR_OPT_SCROLL</symbol> option.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-cursor-close">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_cursor_close</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_cursor_close</refname>
  <refpurpose>close a cursor</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_cursor_close</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_cursor_close(Portal <parameter>portal</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_cursor_close</function> closes a previously created
   cursor and releases its portal storage.
  </para>

  <para>
   All open cursors are closed automatically at the end of a
   transaction.  <function>SPI_cursor_close</function> need only be
   invoked if it is desirable to release resources sooner.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Portal <parameter>portal</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      portal containing the cursor
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-saveplan">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_saveplan</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_saveplan</refname>
  <refpurpose>save a plan</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_saveplan</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
SPIPlanPtr SPI_saveplan(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_saveplan</function> saves a passed plan (prepared by
   <function>SPI_prepare</function>) in memory that will not be freed
   by <function>SPI_finish</function> nor by the transaction manager,
   and returns a pointer to the saved plan.  This gives you the
   ability to reuse prepared plans in the subsequent invocations of
   your procedure in the current session.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      the plan to be saved
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Pointer to the saved plan; <symbol>NULL</symbol> if unsuccessful.
   On error, <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set thus:

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>plan</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_UNCONNECTED</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if called from an unconnected procedure
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   The passed-in plan is not freed, so you might wish to do
   <function>SPI_freeplan</function> on it to avoid leaking memory
   until <function>SPI_finish</>.
  </para>

  <para>
   If one of the objects (a table, function, etc.) referenced by the
   prepared plan is dropped or redefined, then future executions of
   <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> may fail or return different
   results than the plan initially indicates.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="spi-interface-support">
 <title>Interface Support Functions</title>

 <para>
  The functions described here provide an interface for extracting
  information from result sets returned by <function>SPI_execute</> and
  other SPI functions.
 </para>

 <para>
  All functions described in this section can be used by both
  connected and unconnected procedures.
 </para>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-fname">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_fname</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_fname</refname>
  <refpurpose>determine the column name for the specified column number</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_fname</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
char * SPI_fname(TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, int <parameter>colnumber</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_fname</function> returns a copy of the column name of the
   specified column.  (You can use <function>pfree</function> to
   release the copy of the name when you don't need it anymore.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>colnumber</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column number (count starts at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The column name; <symbol>NULL</symbol> if
   <parameter>colnumber</parameter> is out of range.
   <varname>SPI_result</varname> set to
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol> on error.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-fnumber">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_fnumber</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_fnumber</refname>
  <refpurpose>determine the column number for the specified column name</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_fnumber</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_fnumber(TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, const char * <parameter>colname</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_fnumber</function> returns the column number for the
   column with the specified name.
  </para>

  <para>
   If <parameter>colname</parameter> refers to a system column (e.g.,
   <literal>oid</>) then the appropriate negative column number will
   be returned.  The caller should be careful to test the return value
   for exact equality to <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol> to
   detect an error; testing the result for less than or equal to 0 is
   not correct unless system columns should be rejected.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>colname</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column name
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Column number (count starts at 1), or
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol> if the named column was not
   found.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-getvalue">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getvalue</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getvalue</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the string value of the specified column</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getvalue</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
char * SPI_getvalue(HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>, TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, int <parameter>colnumber</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getvalue</function> returns the string representation
   of the value of the specified column.
  </para>

  <para>
   The result is returned in memory allocated using
   <function>palloc</function>.  (You can use
   <function>pfree</function> to release the memory when you don't
   need it anymore.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row to be examined
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>colnumber</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column number (count starts at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   Column value, or <symbol>NULL</symbol> if the column is null,
   <parameter>colnumber</parameter> is out of range
   (<varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol>), or no output function is
   available (<varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOOUTFUNC</symbol>).
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-getbinval">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getbinval</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getbinval</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the binary value of the specified column</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getbinval</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Datum SPI_getbinval(HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>, TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, int <parameter>colnumber</parameter>,
                    bool * <parameter>isnull</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getbinval</function> returns the value of the
   specified column in the internal form (as type <type>Datum</type>).
  </para>

  <para>
   This function does not allocate new space for the datum.  In the
   case of a pass-by-reference data type, the return value will be a
   pointer into the passed row.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row to be examined
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>colnumber</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column number (count starts at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>bool * <parameter>isnull</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      flag for a null value in the column
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The binary value of the column is returned.  The variable pointed
   to by <parameter>isnull</parameter> is set to true if the column is
   null, else to false.
  </para>

  <para>
   <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol> on error.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-gettype">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_gettype</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_gettype</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the data type name of the specified column</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_gettype</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
char * SPI_gettype(TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, int <parameter>colnumber</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_gettype</function> returns a copy of the data type name of the
   specified column.  (You can use <function>pfree</function> to
   release the copy of the name when you don't need it anymore.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>colnumber</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column number (count starts at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The data type name of the specified column, or
   <symbol>NULL</symbol> on error.  <varname>SPI_result</varname> is
   set to <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol> on error.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-gettypeid">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_gettypeid</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_gettypeid</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the data type <acronym>OID</acronym> of the specified column</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_gettypeid</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
Oid SPI_gettypeid(TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>, int <parameter>colnumber</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_gettypeid</function> returns the
   <acronym>OID</acronym> of the data type of the specified column.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input row description
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>colnumber</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      column number (count starts at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The <acronym>OID</acronym> of the data type of the specified column
   or <symbol>InvalidOid</symbol> on error.  On error,
   <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set to
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-getrelname">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getrelname</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getrelname</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the name of the specified relation</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getrelname</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
char * SPI_getrelname(Relation <parameter>rel</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getrelname</function> returns a copy of the name of the
   specified relation.  (You can use <function>pfree</function> to
   release the copy of the name when you don't need it anymore.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Relation <parameter>rel</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input relation
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The name of the specified relation.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="spi-spi-getnspname">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_getnspname</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_getnspname</refname>
  <refpurpose>return the namespace of the specified relation</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_getnspname</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
char * SPI_getnspname(Relation <parameter>rel</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_getnspname</function> returns a copy of the name of
   the namespace that the specified <structname>Relation</structname>
   belongs to. This is equivalent to the relation's schema. You should
   <function>pfree</function> the return value of this function when
   you are finished with it.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Relation <parameter>rel</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      input relation
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   The name of the specified relation's namespace.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="spi-memory">
  <title>Memory Management</title>

  <para>
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allocates memory within
   <firstterm>memory contexts</firstterm><indexterm><primary>memory
   context</primary><secondary>in SPI</secondary></indexterm>, which provide a convenient method of
   managing allocations made in many different places that need to
   live for differing amounts of time.  Destroying a context releases
   all the memory that was allocated in it.  Thus, it is not necessary
   to keep track of individual objects to avoid memory leaks; instead
   only a relatively small number of contexts have to be managed.
   <function>palloc</function> and related functions allocate memory
   from the <quote>current</> context.
  </para>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_connect</function> creates a new memory context and
   makes it current.  <function>SPI_finish</function> restores the
   previous current memory context and destroys the context created by
   <function>SPI_connect</function>.  These actions ensure that
   transient memory allocations made inside your procedure are
   reclaimed at procedure exit, avoiding memory leakage.
  </para>

  <para>
   However, if your procedure needs to return an object in allocated
   memory (such as a value of a pass-by-reference data type), you
   cannot allocate that memory using <function>palloc</function>, at
   least not while you are connected to SPI.  If you try, the object
   will be deallocated by <function>SPI_finish</function>, and your
   procedure will not work reliably.  To solve this problem, use
   <function>SPI_palloc</function> to allocate memory for your return
   object.  <function>SPI_palloc</function> allocates memory in the
   <quote>upper executor context</quote>, that is, the memory context
   that was current when <function>SPI_connect</function> was called,
   which is precisely the right context for a value returned from your
   procedure.
  </para>

  <para>
   If <function>SPI_palloc</function> is called while the procedure is
   not connected to SPI, then it acts the same as a normal
   <function>palloc</function>.  Before a procedure connects to the
   SPI manager, the current memory context is the upper executor
   context, so all allocations made by the procedure via
   <function>palloc</function> or by SPI utility functions are made in
   this context.
  </para>

  <para>
   When <function>SPI_connect</function> is called, the private
   context of the procedure, which is created by
   <function>SPI_connect</function>, is made the current context.  All
   allocations made by <function>palloc</function>,
   <function>repalloc</function>, or SPI utility functions (except for
   <function>SPI_copytuple</function>,
   <function>SPI_returntuple</function>,
   <function>SPI_modifytuple</function>, and
   <function>SPI_palloc</function>) are made in this context.  When a
   procedure disconnects from the SPI manager (via
   <function>SPI_finish</function>) the current context is restored to
   the upper executor context, and all allocations made in the
   procedure memory context are freed and cannot be used any more.
  </para>

  <para>
   All functions described in this section can be used by both
   connected and unconnected procedures.  In an unconnected procedure,
   they act the same as the underlying ordinary server functions
   (<function>palloc</>, etc.).
  </para>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-palloc">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_palloc</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_palloc</refname>
  <refpurpose>allocate memory in the upper executor context</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_palloc</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void * SPI_palloc(Size <parameter>size</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_palloc</function> allocates memory in the upper
   executor context.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Size <parameter>size</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      size in bytes of storage to allocate
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   pointer to new storage space of the specified size
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-realloc">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_repalloc</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_repalloc</refname>
  <refpurpose>reallocate memory in the upper executor context</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_repalloc</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void * SPI_repalloc(void * <parameter>pointer</parameter>, Size <parameter>size</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_repalloc</function> changes the size of a memory
   segment previously allocated using <function>SPI_palloc</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   This function is no longer different from plain
   <function>repalloc</function>.  It's kept just for backward
   compatibility of existing code.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>void * <parameter>pointer</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to existing storage to change
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Size <parameter>size</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      size in bytes of storage to allocate
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   pointer to new storage space of specified size with the contents
   copied from the existing area
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-pfree">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_pfree</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_pfree</refname>
  <refpurpose>free memory in the upper executor context</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_pfree</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_pfree(void * <parameter>pointer</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_pfree</function> frees memory previously allocated
   using <function>SPI_palloc</function> or
   <function>SPI_repalloc</function>.
  </para>

  <para>
   This function is no longer different from plain
   <function>pfree</function>.  It's kept just for backward
   compatibility of existing code.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>void * <parameter>pointer</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to existing storage to free
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-copytuple">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_copytuple</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_copytuple</refname>
  <refpurpose>make a copy of a row in the upper executor context</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_copytuple</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
HeapTuple SPI_copytuple(HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_copytuple</function> makes a copy of a row in the
   upper executor context.  This is normally used to return a modified
   row from a trigger.  In a function declared to return a composite
   type, use <function>SPI_returntuple</function> instead.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      row to be copied
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   the copied row; <symbol>NULL</symbol> only if
   <parameter>tuple</parameter> is <symbol>NULL</symbol>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-returntuple">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_returntuple</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_returntuple</refname>
  <refpurpose>prepare to return a tuple as a Datum</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_returntuple</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
HeapTupleHeader SPI_returntuple(HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>, TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_returntuple</function> makes a copy of a row in
   the upper executor context, returning it in the form of a row type <type>Datum</type>.
   The returned pointer need only be converted to <type>Datum</type> via <function>PointerGetDatum</function>
   before returning.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that this should be used for functions that are declared to return
   composite types.  It is not used for triggers; use
   <function>SPI_copytuple</> for returning a modified row in a trigger.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      row to be copied
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TupleDesc <parameter>rowdesc</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      descriptor for row (pass the same descriptor each time for most
      effective caching)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <type>HeapTupleHeader</type> pointing to copied row;
   <symbol>NULL</symbol> only if
   <parameter>row</parameter> or <parameter>rowdesc</parameter> is
   <symbol>NULL</symbol>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-modifytuple">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_modifytuple</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_modifytuple</refname>
  <refpurpose>create a row by replacing selected fields of a given row</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_modifytuple</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
HeapTuple SPI_modifytuple(Relation <parameter>rel</parameter>, HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>, int <parameter>ncols</parameter>,
                          int * <parameter>colnum</parameter>, Datum * <parameter>values</parameter>, const char * <parameter>nulls</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_modifytuple</function> creates a new row by
   substituting new values for selected columns, copying the original
   row's columns at other positions.  The input row is not modified.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Relation <parameter>rel</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Used only as the source of the row descriptor for the row.
      (Passing a relation rather than a row descriptor is a
      misfeature.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      row to be modified
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int <parameter>ncols</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      number of column numbers in the array
      <parameter>colnum</parameter>
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>int * <parameter>colnum</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      array of the numbers of the columns that are to be changed
      (column numbers start at 1)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>Datum * <parameter>values</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      new values for the specified columns
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>const char * <parameter>Nulls</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      which new values are null, if any (see
      <function>SPI_execute_plan</function> for the format)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   new row with modifications, allocated in the upper executor
   context; <symbol>NULL</symbol> only if <parameter>row</parameter>
   is <symbol>NULL</symbol>
  </para>

  <para>
   On error, <varname>SPI_result</varname> is set as follows:
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>rel</> is <symbol>NULL</>, or if
       <parameter>row</> is <symbol>NULL</>, or if <parameter>ncols</>
       is less than or equal to 0, or if <parameter>colnum</> is
       <symbol>NULL</>, or if <parameter>values</> is <symbol>NULL</>.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><symbol>SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE</symbol></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       if <parameter>colnum</> contains an invalid column number (less
       than or equal to 0 or greater than the number of column in
       <parameter>row</>)
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-freetuple">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_freetuple</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_freetuple</refname>
  <refpurpose>free a row allocated in the upper executor context</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_freetuple</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_freetuple(HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_freetuple</function> frees a row previously allocated
   in the upper executor context.
  </para>

  <para>
   This function is no longer different from plain
   <function>heap_freetuple</function>.  It's kept just for backward
   compatibility of existing code.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>HeapTuple <parameter>row</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      row to free
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-freetupletable">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_freetuptable</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_freetuptable</refname>
  <refpurpose>free a row set created by <function>SPI_execute</> or a similar
  function</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_freetuptable</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void SPI_freetuptable(SPITupleTable * <parameter>tuptable</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_freetuptable</function> frees a row set created by a
   prior SPI command execution function, such as
   <function>SPI_execute</>.  Therefore, this function is usually called
   with the global variable <varname>SPI_tupletable</varname> as
   argument.
  </para>

  <para>
   This function is useful if a SPI procedure needs to execute
   multiple commands and does not want to keep the results of earlier
   commands around until it ends.  Note that any unfreed row sets will
   be freed anyway at <function>SPI_finish</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPITupleTable * <parameter>tuptable</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to row set to free
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- *********************************************** -->

<refentry id="spi-spi-freeplan">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>SPI_freeplan</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SPI_freeplan</refname>
  <refpurpose>free a previously saved plan</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm><primary>SPI_freeplan</primary></indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
int SPI_freeplan(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>)
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <function>SPI_freeplan</function> releases a command execution plan
   previously returned by <function>SPI_prepare</function> or saved by
   <function>SPI_saveplan</function>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Arguments</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      pointer to plan to free
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Return Value</title>

  <para>
   <symbol>SPI_ERROR_ARGUMENT</symbol> if <parameter>plan</parameter>
   is <symbol>NULL</symbol> or invalid
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="spi-visibility">
  <title>Visibility of Data Changes</title>

  <para>
   The following rules govern the visibility of data changes in
   functions that use SPI (or any other C function):

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      During the execution of an SQL command, any data changes made by
      the command are invisible to the command itself.  For
      example, in:
<programlisting>
INSERT INTO a SELECT * FROM a;
</programlisting>
      the inserted rows are invisible to the <command>SELECT</command>
      part.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Changes made by a command C are visible to all commands that are
      started after C, no matter whether they are started inside C
      (during the execution of C) or after C is done.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Commands executed via SPI inside a function called by an SQL command
      (either an ordinary function or a trigger) follow one or the
      other of the above rules depending on the read/write flag passed
      to SPI.  Commands executed in read-only mode follow the first
      rule: they cannot see changes of the calling command.  Commands executed
      in read-write mode follow the second rule: they can see all changes made
      so far.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      All standard procedural languages set the SPI read-write mode
      depending on the volatility attribute of the function.  Commands of
      <literal>STABLE</> and <literal>IMMUTABLE</> functions are done in
      read-only mode, while commands of <literal>VOLATILE</> functions are
      done in read-write mode.  While authors of C functions are able to
      violate this convention, it's unlikely to be a good idea to do so.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>
  </para>

  <para>
   The next section contains an example that illustrates the
   application of these rules.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="spi-examples">
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   This section contains a very simple example of SPI usage. The
   procedure <function>execq</function> takes an SQL command as its
   first argument and a row count as its second, executes the command
   using <function>SPI_exec</function> and returns the number of rows
   that were processed by the command.  You can find more complex
   examples for SPI in the source tree in
   <filename>src/test/regress/regress.c</filename> and in
   <filename>contrib/spi</filename>.
  </para>

<programlisting>
#include "postgres.h"

#include "executor/spi.h"
#include "utils/builtins.h"

#ifdef PG_MODULE_MAGIC
PG_MODULE_MAGIC;
#endif

int execq(text *sql, int cnt);

int
execq(text *sql, int cnt)
{
    char *command;
    int ret;
    int proc;

    /* Convert given text object to a C string */
    command = text_to_cstring(sql);

    SPI_connect();

    ret = SPI_exec(command, cnt);

    proc = SPI_processed;
    /*
     * If some rows were fetched, print them via elog(INFO).
     */
    if (ret &gt; 0 &amp;&amp; SPI_tuptable != NULL)
    {
        TupleDesc tupdesc = SPI_tuptable-&gt;tupdesc;
        SPITupleTable *tuptable = SPI_tuptable;
        char buf[8192];
        int i, j;

        for (j = 0; j &lt; proc; j++)
        {
            HeapTuple tuple = tuptable-&gt;vals[j];

            for (i = 1, buf[0] = 0; i &lt;= tupdesc-&gt;natts; i++)
                snprintf(buf + strlen (buf), sizeof(buf) - strlen(buf), " %s%s",
                        SPI_getvalue(tuple, tupdesc, i),
                        (i == tupdesc-&gt;natts) ? " " : " |");
            elog(INFO, "EXECQ: %s", buf);
        }
    }

    SPI_finish();
    pfree(command);

    return (proc);
}
</programlisting>

  <para>
   (This function uses call convention version 0, to make the example
   easier to understand.  In real applications you should use the new
   version 1 interface.)
  </para>

  <para>
   This is how you declare the function after having compiled it into
   a shared library (details are in <xref linkend="dfunc">.):

<programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION execq(text, integer) RETURNS integer
    AS '<replaceable>filename</replaceable>'
    LANGUAGE C;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Here is a sample session:

<programlisting>
=&gt; SELECT execq('CREATE TABLE a (x integer)', 0);
 execq
-------
     0
(1 row)

=&gt; INSERT INTO a VALUES (execq('INSERT INTO a VALUES (0)', 0));
INSERT 0 1
=&gt; SELECT execq('SELECT * FROM a', 0);
INFO:  EXECQ:  0    -- inserted by execq
INFO:  EXECQ:  1    -- returned by execq and inserted by upper INSERT

 execq
-------
     2
(1 row)

=&gt; SELECT execq('INSERT INTO a SELECT x + 2 FROM a', 1);
 execq
-------
     1
(1 row)

=&gt; SELECT execq('SELECT * FROM a', 10);
INFO:  EXECQ:  0
INFO:  EXECQ:  1
INFO:  EXECQ:  2    -- 0 + 2, only one row inserted - as specified

 execq
-------
     3              -- 10 is the max value only, 3 is the real number of rows
(1 row)

=&gt; DELETE FROM a;
DELETE 3
=&gt; INSERT INTO a VALUES (execq('SELECT * FROM a', 0) + 1);
INSERT 0 1
=&gt; SELECT * FROM a;
 x
---
 1                  -- no rows in a (0) + 1
(1 row)

=&gt; INSERT INTO a VALUES (execq('SELECT * FROM a', 0) + 1);
INFO:  EXECQ:  1
INSERT 0 1
=&gt; SELECT * FROM a;
 x
---
 1
 2                  -- there was one row in a + 1
(2 rows)

-- This demonstrates the data changes visibility rule:

=&gt; INSERT INTO a SELECT execq('SELECT * FROM a', 0) * x FROM a;
INFO:  EXECQ:  1
INFO:  EXECQ:  2
INFO:  EXECQ:  1
INFO:  EXECQ:  2
INFO:  EXECQ:  2
INSERT 0 2
=&gt; SELECT * FROM a;
 x
---
 1
 2
 2                  -- 2 rows * 1 (x in first row)
 6                  -- 3 rows (2 + 1 just inserted) * 2 (x in second row)
(4 rows)               ^^^^^^
                       rows visible to execq() in different invocations
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </sect1>
</chapter>
