On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 12:22 PM, jackassplus <jackassplus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > <snip> >> To ensure data integrity, >> you should probably create a fruit_type table with a unique column that >> lists the possible types, and then foreign key the fruit_type column in >> the fruits table to that to ensure nothing funky is entered. An enum >> for type is another possibility. > > In the real world, this column actiually holds Operating Systems. > I have 7 variants of Windows XP, even more of server, a dozen *nixes, > etc, etc and it is fed from an external app. > So I am looking for a magic query, or even a perl function to wrap up > insde a procedure, whatever. If your column values can be grouped by regexp, you might be able to get away with using a CASE statement. eg. select sum(case when val ~* 'windows xp' then 1 else 0 end) as winxp, sum(case when val ~* 'nix' then 1 else 0 end) as nix, sum(case when val ~* 'redhat|rhel' then 1 else 0 end) as rh .... (I don't have your original mail handy to reference the example values). -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general
