SPI_execute executes the specified SQL command
   for count rows.  If read_only
   is true, the command must be read-only, and execution overhead
   is somewhat reduced.
  
This function can only be called from a connected procedure.
If count is zero then the command is executed for all rows that it applies to. If count is greater than zero, then no more than count rows will be retrieved; execution stops when the count is reached, much like adding a LIMIT clause to the query. For example,
SPI_execute("SELECT * FROM foo", true, 5);will retrieve at most 5 rows from the table. Note that such a limit is only effective when the command actually returns rows. For example,
SPI_execute("INSERT INTO foo SELECT * FROM bar", false, 5);inserts all rows from bar, ignoring the count parameter. However, with
SPI_execute("INSERT INTO foo SELECT * FROM bar RETURNING *", false, 5);at most 5 rows would be inserted, since execution would stop after the fifth RETURNING result row is retrieved.
   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.
   SPI_execute returns the
   result for the command executed last.  The count
   limit applies to each command separately (even though only the last
   result will actually be returned).  The limit is not applied to any
   hidden commands generated by rules.
  
   When read_only is false,
   SPI_execute increments the command
   counter and computes a new snapshot before executing each
   command in the string.  The snapshot does not actually change if the
   current transaction isolation level is SERIALIZABLE or REPEATABLE READ, but in
   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.
  
   When read_only is true,
   SPI_execute does not update either the snapshot
   or the command counter, and it allows only plain 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
   stable functions to be built: since successive executions
   will all use the same snapshot, there will be no change in the results.
  
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.
The actual number of rows for which the (last) command was executed is returned in the global variable SPI_processed. If the return value of the function is SPI_OK_SELECT, SPI_OK_INSERT_RETURNING, SPI_OK_DELETE_RETURNING, or SPI_OK_UPDATE_RETURNING, then you can use the global pointer SPITupleTable *SPI_tuptable to access the result rows. Some utility commands (such as EXPLAIN) also return row sets, and SPI_tuptable will contain the result in these cases too.
The structure SPITupleTable is defined thus:
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;vals is an array of pointers to rows. (The number of valid entries is given by SPI_processed.) tupdesc is a row descriptor which you can pass to SPI functions dealing with rows. tuptabcxt, alloced, and free are internal fields not intended for use by SPI callers.
   SPI_finish frees all
   SPITupleTables allocated during the current
   procedure.  You can free a particular result table earlier, if you
   are done with it, by calling SPI_freetuptable.
  
string containing command to execute
true for read-only execution
maximum number of rows to return, or 0 for no limit
If the execution of the command was successful then one of the following (nonnegative) values will be returned:
if a SELECT (but not SELECT INTO) was executed
if a SELECT INTO was executed
if an INSERT was executed
if a DELETE was executed
if an UPDATE was executed
if an INSERT RETURNING was executed
if a DELETE RETURNING was executed
if an UPDATE RETURNING was executed
if a utility command (e.g., CREATE TABLE) was executed
if the command was rewritten into another kind of command (e.g., UPDATE became an INSERT) by a rule.
On error, one of the following negative values is returned:
if command is NULL or count is less than 0
if COPY TO stdout or COPY FROM stdin was attempted
if a transaction manipulation command was attempted (BEGIN, COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SAVEPOINT, PREPARE TRANSACTION, COMMIT PREPARED, ROLLBACK PREPARED, or any variant thereof)
if the command type is unknown (shouldn't happen)
if called from an unconnected procedure
   All SPI query-execution functions set both
   SPI_processed and
   SPI_tuptable (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
   SPI_execute or another query-execution function
   across later calls.