| PostgreSQL 9.1.14 Documentation | ||||
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Table 9-47 shows several functions that extract session and system information.
In addition to the functions listed in this section, there are a number of functions related to the statistics system that also provide system information. See Section 27.2.2 for more information.
Table 9-47. Session Information Functions
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| current_catalog | name | name of current database (called "catalog" in the SQL standard) | 
| current_database() | name | name of current database | 
| current_query() | text | text of the currently executing query, as submitted by the client (might contain more than one statement) | 
| current_schema[()] | name | name of current schema | 
| current_schemas(boolean) | name[] | names of schemas in search path, optionally including implicit schemas | 
| current_user | name | user name of current execution context | 
| inet_client_addr() | inet | address of the remote connection | 
| inet_client_port() | int | port of the remote connection | 
| inet_server_addr() | inet | address of the local connection | 
| inet_server_port() | int | port of the local connection | 
| pg_backend_pid() | int | Process ID of the server process attached to the current session | 
| pg_conf_load_time() | timestamp with time zone | configuration load time | 
| pg_is_other_temp_schema(oid) | boolean | is schema another session's temporary schema? | 
| pg_listening_channels() | setof text | channel names that the session is currently listening on | 
| pg_my_temp_schema() | oid | OID of session's temporary schema, or 0 if none | 
| pg_postmaster_start_time() | timestamp with time zone | server start time | 
| session_user | name | session user name | 
| user | name | equivalent to current_user | 
| version() | text | PostgreSQL version information | 
Note:
current_catalog,current_schema,current_user,session_user, anduserhave special syntactic status in SQL: they must be called without trailing parentheses. (In PostgreSQL, parentheses can optionally be used withcurrent_schema, but not with the others.)
    The session_user is normally the user who initiated
    the current database connection; but superusers can change this setting
    with SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION.
    The current_user is the user identifier
    that is applicable for permission checking. Normally it is equal
    to the session user, but it can be changed with
    SET ROLE.
    It also changes during the execution of
    functions with the attribute SECURITY DEFINER.
    In Unix parlance, the session user is the "real user" and
    the current user is the "effective user".
   
    current_schema returns the name of the schema that is
    first in the search path (or a null value if the search path is
    empty).  This is the schema that will be used for any tables or
    other named objects that are created without specifying a target schema.
    current_schemas(boolean) returns an array of the names of all
    schemas presently in the search path.  The Boolean option determines whether or not
    implicitly included system schemas such as pg_catalog are included in the
    returned search path.
   
Note: The search path can be altered at run time. The command is:
SET search_path TO schema [, schema, ...]
    pg_listening_channels returns a set of names of
    channels that the current session is listening to.  See LISTEN for more information.
   
     inet_client_addr returns the IP address of the
     current client, and inet_client_port returns the
     port number.
     inet_server_addr returns the IP address on which
     the server accepted the current connection, and
     inet_server_port returns the port number.
     All these functions return NULL if the current connection is via a
     Unix-domain socket.
   
    pg_my_temp_schema returns the OID of the current
    session's temporary schema, or zero if it has none (because it has not
    created any temporary tables).
    pg_is_other_temp_schema returns true if the
    given OID is the OID of another session's temporary schema.
    (This can be useful, for example, to exclude other sessions' temporary
    tables from a catalog display.)
   
    pg_postmaster_start_time returns the
    timestamp with time zone when the
    server started.
   
    pg_conf_load_time returns the
    timestamp with time zone when the
    server configuration files were last loaded.
    (If the current session was alive at the time, this will be the time
    when the session itself re-read the configuration files, so the
    reading will vary a little in different sessions.  Otherwise it is
    the time when the postmaster process re-read the configuration files.)
   
    version returns a string describing the
    PostgreSQL server's version.
   
Table 9-48 lists functions that allow the user to query object access privileges programmatically. See Section 5.6 for more information about privileges.
Table 9-48. Access Privilege Inquiry Functions
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| has_any_column_privilege(user,
                                  table,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for any column of table | 
| has_any_column_privilege(table,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for any column of table | 
| has_column_privilege(user,
                                  table,
                                  column,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for column | 
| has_column_privilege(table,
                                  column,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for column | 
| has_database_privilege(user,
                                  database,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for database | 
| has_database_privilege(database,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for database | 
| has_foreign_data_wrapper_privilege(user,
                                  fdw,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for foreign-data wrapper | 
| has_foreign_data_wrapper_privilege(fdw,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for foreign-data wrapper | 
| has_function_privilege(user,
                                  function,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for function | 
| has_function_privilege(function,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for function | 
| has_language_privilege(user,
                                  language,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for language | 
| has_language_privilege(language,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for language | 
| has_schema_privilege(user,
                                  schema,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for schema | 
| has_schema_privilege(schema,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for schema | 
| has_sequence_privilege(user,
                                  sequence,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for sequence | 
| has_sequence_privilege(sequence,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for sequence | 
| has_server_privilege(user,
                                  server,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for foreign server | 
| has_server_privilege(server,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for foreign server | 
| has_table_privilege(user,
                                  table,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for table | 
| has_table_privilege(table,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for table | 
| has_tablespace_privilege(user,
                                  tablespace,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for tablespace | 
| has_tablespace_privilege(tablespace,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for tablespace | 
| pg_has_role(user,
                                  role,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does user have privilege for role | 
| pg_has_role(role,
                                  privilege) | boolean | does current user have privilege for role | 
    has_table_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a table in a particular way.  The user can be
    specified by name, by OID (pg_authid.oid),
    public to indicate the PUBLIC pseudo-role, or if the argument is
    omitted
    current_user is assumed.  The table can be specified
    by name or by OID.  (Thus, there are actually six variants of
    has_table_privilege, which can be distinguished by
    the number and types of their arguments.)  When specifying by name,
    the name can be schema-qualified if necessary.
    The desired access privilege type
    is specified by a text string, which must evaluate to one of the
    values SELECT, INSERT,
    UPDATE, DELETE, TRUNCATE,
    REFERENCES, or TRIGGER.  Optionally,
    WITH GRANT OPTION can be added to a privilege type to test
    whether the privilege is held with grant option.  Also, multiple privilege
    types can be listed separated by commas, in which case the result will
    be true if any of the listed privileges is held.
    (Case of the privilege string is not significant, and extra whitespace
    is allowed between but not within privilege names.)
    Some examples:
SELECT has_table_privilege('myschema.mytable', 'select');
SELECT has_table_privilege('joe', 'mytable', 'INSERT, SELECT WITH GRANT OPTION');
    has_sequence_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a sequence in a particular way.  The possibilities for its
    arguments are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to one of
    USAGE,
    SELECT, or
    UPDATE.
   
    has_any_column_privilege checks whether a user can
    access any column of a table in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege,
    except that the desired access privilege type must evaluate to some
    combination of
    SELECT,
    INSERT,
    UPDATE, or
    REFERENCES.  Note that having any of these privileges
    at the table level implicitly grants it for each column of the table,
    so has_any_column_privilege will always return
    true if has_table_privilege does for the same
    arguments.  But has_any_column_privilege also succeeds if
    there is a column-level grant of the privilege for at least one column.
   
    has_column_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a column in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege,
    with the addition that the column can be specified either by name
    or attribute number.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to some combination of
    SELECT,
    INSERT,
    UPDATE, or
    REFERENCES.  Note that having any of these privileges
    at the table level implicitly grants it for each column of the table.
   
    has_database_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a database in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to some combination of
    CREATE,
    CONNECT,
    TEMPORARY, or
    TEMP (which is equivalent to
    TEMPORARY).
   
    has_function_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a function in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    When specifying a function by a text string rather than by OID,
    the allowed input is the same as for the regprocedure data type
    (see Section 8.16).
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to
    EXECUTE.
    An example is:
SELECT has_function_privilege('joeuser', 'myfunc(int, text)', 'execute');
    has_foreign_data_wrapper_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a foreign-data wrapper in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to
    USAGE.
   
    has_language_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a procedural language in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to
    USAGE.
   
    has_schema_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a schema in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to some combination of
    CREATE or
    USAGE.
   
    has_server_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a foreign server in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to
    USAGE.
   
    has_tablespace_privilege checks whether a user
    can access a tablespace in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to
    CREATE.
   
    pg_has_role checks whether a user
    can access a role in a particular way.
    Its argument possibilities
    are analogous to has_table_privilege,
    except that public is not allowed as a user name.
    The desired access privilege type must evaluate to some combination of
    MEMBER or
    USAGE.
    MEMBER denotes direct or indirect membership in
    the role (that is, the right to do SET ROLE), while
    USAGE denotes whether the privileges of the role
    are immediately available without doing SET ROLE.
   
Table 9-49 shows functions that determine whether a certain object is visible in the current schema search path. For example, a table is said to be visible if its containing schema is in the search path and no table of the same name appears earlier in the search path. This is equivalent to the statement that the table can be referenced by name without explicit schema qualification. To list the names of all visible tables:
SELECT relname FROM pg_class WHERE pg_table_is_visible(oid);
Table 9-49. Schema Visibility Inquiry Functions
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| pg_collation_is_visible(collation_oid) | boolean | is collation visible in search path | 
| pg_conversion_is_visible(conversion_oid) | boolean | is conversion visible in search path | 
| pg_function_is_visible(function_oid) | boolean | is function visible in search path | 
| pg_opclass_is_visible(opclass_oid) | boolean | is operator class visible in search path | 
| pg_operator_is_visible(operator_oid) | boolean | is operator visible in search path | 
| pg_table_is_visible(table_oid) | boolean | is table visible in search path | 
| pg_ts_config_is_visible(config_oid) | boolean | is text search configuration visible in search path | 
| pg_ts_dict_is_visible(dict_oid) | boolean | is text search dictionary visible in search path | 
| pg_ts_parser_is_visible(parser_oid) | boolean | is text search parser visible in search path | 
| pg_ts_template_is_visible(template_oid) | boolean | is text search template visible in search path | 
| pg_type_is_visible(type_oid) | boolean | is type (or domain) visible in search path | 
    Each function performs the visibility check for one type of database
    object.  Note that pg_table_is_visible can also be used
    with views, indexes and sequences; pg_type_is_visible
    can also be used with domains. For functions and operators, an object in
    the search path is visible if there is no object of the same name
    and argument data type(s) earlier in the path.  For operator
    classes, both name and associated index access method are considered.
   
All these functions require object OIDs to identify the object to be checked. If you want to test an object by name, it is convenient to use the OID alias types (regclass, regtype, regprocedure, regoperator, regconfig, or regdictionary), for example:
SELECT pg_type_is_visible('myschema.widget'::regtype);Note that it would not make much sense to test a non-schema-qualified type name in this way — if the name can be recognized at all, it must be visible.
Table 9-50 lists functions that extract information from the system catalogs.
Table 9-50. System Catalog Information Functions
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| format_type(type_oid, typemod) | text | get SQL name of a data type | 
| pg_describe_object(catalog_id, object_id, object_sub_id) | text | get description of a database object | 
| pg_get_constraintdef(constraint_oid) | text | get definition of a constraint | 
| pg_get_constraintdef(constraint_oid, pretty_bool) | text | get definition of a constraint | 
| pg_get_expr(pg_node_tree, relation_oid) | text | decompile internal form of an expression, assuming that any Vars in it refer to the relation indicated by the second parameter | 
| pg_get_expr(pg_node_tree, relation_oid, pretty_bool) | text | decompile internal form of an expression, assuming that any Vars in it refer to the relation indicated by the second parameter | 
| pg_get_functiondef(func_oid) | text | get definition of a function | 
| pg_get_function_arguments(func_oid) | text | get argument list of function's definition (with default values) | 
| pg_get_function_identity_arguments(func_oid) | text | get argument list to identify a function (without default values) | 
| pg_get_function_result(func_oid) | text | get RETURNS clause for function | 
| pg_get_indexdef(index_oid) | text | get CREATE INDEX command for index | 
| pg_get_indexdef(index_oid, column_no, pretty_bool) | text | get CREATE INDEX command for index, or definition of just one index column when column_no is not zero | 
| pg_get_keywords() | setof record | get list of SQL keywords and their categories | 
| pg_get_ruledef(rule_oid) | text | get CREATE RULE command for rule | 
| pg_get_ruledef(rule_oid, pretty_bool) | text | get CREATE RULE command for rule | 
| pg_get_serial_sequence(table_name, column_name) | text | get name of the sequence that a serial or bigserial column uses | 
| pg_get_triggerdef(trigger_oid) | text | get CREATE [ CONSTRAINT ] TRIGGER command for trigger | 
| pg_get_triggerdef(trigger_oid, pretty_bool) | text | get CREATE [ CONSTRAINT ] TRIGGER command for trigger | 
| pg_get_userbyid(role_oid) | name | get role name with given OID | 
| pg_get_viewdef(view_name) | text | get underlying SELECT command for view (deprecated) | 
| pg_get_viewdef(view_name, pretty_bool) | text | get underlying SELECT command for view (deprecated) | 
| pg_get_viewdef(view_oid) | text | get underlying SELECT command for view | 
| pg_get_viewdef(view_oid, pretty_bool) | text | get underlying SELECT command for view | 
| pg_options_to_table(reloptions) | setof record | get the set of storage option name/value pairs | 
| pg_tablespace_databases(tablespace_oid) | setof oid | get the set of database OIDs that have objects in the tablespace | 
| pg_typeof(any) | regtype | get the data type of any value | 
   format_type returns the SQL name of a data type that
   is identified by its type OID and possibly a type modifier.  Pass NULL
   for the type modifier if no specific modifier is known.
  
   pg_get_keywords returns a set of records describing
   the SQL keywords recognized by the server. The word column
   contains the keyword.  The catcode column contains a
   category code: U for unreserved, C for column name,
   T for type or function name, or R for reserved.
   The catdesc column contains a possibly-localized string
   describing the category.
  
   pg_get_constraintdef,
   pg_get_indexdef, pg_get_ruledef,
   and pg_get_triggerdef, respectively reconstruct the
   creating command for a constraint, index, rule, or trigger. (Note that this
   is a decompiled reconstruction, not the original text of the command.)
   pg_get_expr decompiles the internal form of an
   individual expression, such as the default value for a column.  It can be
   useful when examining the contents of system catalogs.  If the expression
   might contain Vars, specify the OID of the relation they refer to as the
   second parameter; if no Vars are expected, zero is sufficient.
   pg_get_viewdef reconstructs the SELECT
   query that defines a view. Most of these functions come in two variants,
   one of which can optionally "pretty-print" the result.  The
   pretty-printed format is more readable, but the default format is more
   likely to be interpreted the same way by future versions of
   PostgreSQL; avoid using pretty-printed output for dump
   purposes.  Passing false for the pretty-print parameter yields
   the same result as the variant that does not have the parameter at all.
  
   pg_get_functiondef returns a complete
   CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION statement for a function.
   pg_get_function_arguments returns the argument list
   of a function, in the form it would need to appear in within
   CREATE FUNCTION.
   pg_get_function_result similarly returns the
   appropriate RETURNS clause for the function.
   pg_get_function_identity_arguments returns the
   argument list necessary to identify a function, in the form it
   would need to appear in within ALTER FUNCTION, for
   instance.  This form omits default values.
  
   pg_get_serial_sequence returns the name of the
   sequence associated with a column, or NULL if no sequence is associated
   with the column.  The first input parameter is a table name with
   optional schema, and the second parameter is a column name.  Because
   the first parameter is potentially a schema and table, it is not treated
   as a double-quoted identifier, meaning it is lower cased by default,
   while the second parameter, being just a column name, is treated as
   double-quoted and has its case preserved.  The function returns a value
   suitably formatted for passing to sequence functions (see Section 9.15).  This association can be modified or
   removed with ALTER SEQUENCE OWNED BY.  (The function
   probably should have been called
   pg_get_owned_sequence; its current name reflects the fact
   that it's typically used with serial or bigserial
   columns.)
  
   pg_get_userbyid extracts a role's name given
   its OID.
  
   pg_options_to_table returns the set of storage
   option name/value pairs
   (option_name/option_value) when passed
   pg_class.reloptions or
   pg_attribute.attoptions.
  
   pg_tablespace_databases allows a tablespace to be
   examined. It returns the set of OIDs of databases that have objects stored
   in the tablespace. If this function returns any rows, the tablespace is not
   empty and cannot be dropped. To display the specific objects populating the
   tablespace, you will need to connect to the databases identified by
   pg_tablespace_databases and query their
   pg_class catalogs.
  
   pg_describe_object returns a description of a database
   object specified by catalog OID, object OID and a (possibly zero) sub-object ID.
   This is useful to determine the identity of an object as stored in the
   pg_depend catalog.
  
   pg_typeof returns the OID of the data type of the
   value that is passed to it.  This can be helpful for troubleshooting or
   dynamically constructing SQL queries.  The function is declared as
   returning regtype, which is an OID alias type (see
   Section 8.16); this means that it is the same as an
   OID for comparison purposes but displays as a type name.  For example:
SELECT pg_typeof(33);
 pg_typeof 
-----------
 integer
(1 row)
SELECT typlen FROM pg_type WHERE oid = pg_typeof(33);
 typlen 
--------
      4
(1 row)
The functions shown in Table 9-51 extract comments previously stored with the COMMENT command. A null value is returned if no comment could be found for the specified parameters.
Table 9-51. Comment Information Functions
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| col_description(table_oid, column_number) | text | get comment for a table column | 
| obj_description(object_oid, catalog_name) | text | get comment for a database object | 
| obj_description(object_oid) | text | get comment for a database object (deprecated) | 
| shobj_description(object_oid, catalog_name) | text | get comment for a shared database object | 
    col_description returns the comment for a table
    column, which is specified by the OID of its table and its column number.
    (obj_description cannot be used for table columns
    since columns do not have OIDs of their own.)
   
    The two-parameter form of obj_description returns the
    comment for a database object specified by its OID and the name of the
    containing system catalog.  For example,
    obj_description(123456,'pg_class')
    would retrieve the comment for the table with OID 123456.
    The one-parameter form of obj_description requires only
    the object OID.  It is deprecated since there is no guarantee that
    OIDs are unique across different system catalogs; therefore, the wrong
    comment might be returned.
   
    shobj_description is used just like
    obj_description except it is used for retrieving
    comments on shared objects.  Some system catalogs are global to all
    databases within each cluster, and the descriptions for objects in them
    are stored globally as well.
   
The functions shown in Table 9-52 provide server transaction information in an exportable form. The main use of these functions is to determine which transactions were committed between two snapshots.
Table 9-52. Transaction IDs and Snapshots
| Name | Return Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| txid_current() | bigint | get current transaction ID | 
| txid_current_snapshot() | txid_snapshot | get current snapshot | 
| txid_snapshot_xip(txid_snapshot) | setof bigint | get in-progress transaction IDs in snapshot | 
| txid_snapshot_xmax(txid_snapshot) | bigint | get xmax of snapshot | 
| txid_snapshot_xmin(txid_snapshot) | bigint | get xmin of snapshot | 
| txid_visible_in_snapshot(bigint, txid_snapshot) | boolean | is transaction ID visible in snapshot? (do not use with subtransaction ids) | 
The internal transaction ID type (xid) is 32 bits wide and wraps around every 4 billion transactions. However, these functions export a 64-bit format that is extended with an "epoch" counter so it will not wrap around during the life of an installation. The data type used by these functions, txid_snapshot, stores information about transaction ID visibility at a particular moment in time. Its components are described in Table 9-53.
Table 9-53. Snapshot Components
| Name | Description | 
|---|---|
| xmin | Earliest transaction ID (txid) that is still active. All earlier transactions will either be committed and visible, or rolled back and dead. | 
| xmax | First as-yet-unassigned txid. All txids greater than or equal to this are not yet started as of the time of the snapshot, and thus invisible. | 
| xip_list | Active txids at the time of the snapshot. The list includes only those active txids between xmin and xmax; there might be active txids higher than xmax. A txid that is xmin <= txid < xmax and not in this list was already completed at the time of the snapshot, and thus either visible or dead according to its commit status. The list does not include txids of subtransactions. | 
txid_snapshot's textual representation is xmin:xmax:xip_list. For example 10:20:10,14,15 means xmin=10, xmax=20, xip_list=10, 14, 15.