Ovid <curtis_ovid_poe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Assuming I have the following table: > > CREATE TABLE refers ( > id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, > name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, > parent_id INTEGER NOT NULL, > FOREIGN KEY (parent_id) REFERENCES refers(id) > ); > I need to insert two records so that "select * from refers" looks like this: > > =# select * from refers; > id | name | parent_id > ----+------+----------- > 1 | xxxx | 1 > 2 | yyy | 2 I think you mean id=1, parent_id=2 and id=2, parent_id=1, or? > > The first record can't be inserted because I don't yet know the parent_id. The second record can be inserted after the first, but I since this is merely a large .sql file that I intend to shove into the PG, I'd much rather declare a variable in the script to get this done. I'm thinking something like the following pseudo-code: > > INSERT INTO refers (name, parent_id) VALUES ('xxxx', :id); > SELECT id INTO :parent_id FROM refers WHERE name='xxxx'; > INSERT INTO refers (name, parent_id) VALUES ('yyy', :parent_id); > > Obviously the above is gibberish, but hopefully it makes clear what I'm trying to do :) > > Oh, and "parent_id" is NOT NULL because I hate the logical inconsistencies associated with NULL values. To handle that you can set the constzraint deferrable, initially deferred: test=# CREATE TABLE refers ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, parent_id INTEGER NOT NULL, FOREIGN KEY (parent_id) REFERENCES refers(id) deferrable initially deferred); NOTICE: CREATE TABLE will create implicit sequence "refers_id_seq" for serial column "refers.id" NOTICE: CREATE TABLE / PRIMARY KEY will create implicit index "refers_pkey" for table "refers" CREATE TABLE Zeit: 25,599 ms test=*# insert into refers (name, parent_id) values ('xxx',0); INSERT 0 1 Zeit: 0,662 ms test=*# insert into refers (name, parent_id) select 'yyy', id from refers where name = 'xxx'; INSERT 0 1 Zeit: 0,436 ms test=*# update refers set parent_id = (select id from refers where name = 'yyy') where name = 'xxx'; UPDATE 1 Zeit: 0,431 ms test=*# select * from refers; id | name | parent_id ----+------+----------- 2 | yyy | 1 1 | xxx | 2 (2 Zeilen) The next release 9.0 contains (i hope) writes CTE, with this featue you can do: test=# CREATE TABLE refers ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, parent_id INTEGER NOT NULL, FOREIGN KEY (parent_id) REFERENCES refers(id) deferrable initially deferred); NOTICE: CREATE TABLE will create implicit sequence "refers_id_seq" for serial column "refers.id" NOTICE: CREATE TABLE / PRIMARY KEY will create implicit index "refers_pkey" for table "refers" CREATE TABLE Time: 3,753 ms test=*# with t1 as (select nextval('refers_id_seq') as id), t2 as (insert into refers (id, name, parent_id) select nextval('refers_id_seq'), 'yyy', t1.id from t1 returning *), t3 as (insert into refers (id, name, parent_id) select t1.id, 'xxx', t2.id from t1, t2) select true; bool ------ t (1 row) Time: 0,853 ms test=*# select * from refers; id | name | parent_id ----+------+----------- 2 | yyy | 1 1 | xxx | 2 (2 rows) That's (the two insert's) are now one single statement ;-) Andreas -- Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect. (Linus Torvalds) "If I was god, I would recompile penguin with --enable-fly." (unknown) Kaufbach, Saxony, Germany, Europe. N 51.05082°, E 13.56889° -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general