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authorTom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>2021-04-30 15:10:06 -0400
committerTom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>2021-04-30 15:10:06 -0400
commit7c810bd028a7be3ce32beb438db072bd02592869 (patch)
tree9d49bfa938c801422253f76fd5c8166ae95d4c92
parent4d225ba0e6da73ddcbf207d2d91fc26537cfc5e1 (diff)
Doc: update libpq's documentation for PQfn().
Mention specifically that you can't call aggregates, window functions, or procedures this way (the inability to call SRFs was already mentioned). Also, the claim that PQfn doesn't support NULL arguments or results has been a lie since we invented protocol 3.0. Not sure why this text was never updated for that, but do it now. Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/2039442.1615317309@sss.pgh.pa.us
-rw-r--r--doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml26
1 files changed, 23 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml
index 64acd23a941..028bfcbf349 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/libpq.sgml
@@ -5155,15 +5155,35 @@ typedef struct
<para>
<function>PQfn</function> always returns a valid
- <structname>PGresult</structname> pointer. The result status should be
+ <structname>PGresult</structname> pointer, with
+ status <literal>PGRES_COMMAND_OK</literal> for success
+ or <literal>PGRES_FATAL_ERROR</literal> if some problem was encountered.
+ The result status should be
checked before the result is used. The caller is responsible for
freeing the <structname>PGresult</structname> with
<xref linkend="libpq-PQclear"/> when it is no longer needed.
</para>
<para>
- Note that it is not possible to handle null arguments, null results,
- nor set-valued results when using this interface.
+ To pass a NULL argument to the function, set
+ the <parameter>len</parameter> field of that parameter structure
+ to <literal>-1</literal>; the <parameter>isint</parameter>
+ and <parameter>u</parameter> fields are then irrelevant.
+ (But this works only in protocol 3.0 and later connections.)
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If the function returns NULL, <parameter>*result_len</parameter> is set
+ to <literal>-1</literal>, and <parameter>*result_buf</parameter> is not
+ modified. (This works only in protocol 3.0 and later connections; in
+ protocol 2.0, neither <parameter>*result_len</parameter>
+ nor <parameter>*result_buf</parameter> are modified.)
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Note that it is not possible to handle set-valued results when using
+ this interface. Also, the function must be a plain function, not an
+ aggregate, window function, or procedure.
</para>
</sect1>