On Dec 19, 4:16 pm, maili...@xxxxxxxxxxx (Bernd Helmle) wrote: > On 19 Dec 2006 07:05:10 -0800, "BigSmoke" <bigsm...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > I understand that due to a lack of nested transaction support, it is > > not possible to use START TRANSACTION within a PL/PgSQL function. What > > I, however, do not understand is why I can't use SAVEPOINT either. I'm > > writing long test functions wherein, at the start of the function, I'd > > like to define all test data followed by a "SAVEPOINT > > fresh_test_data;". Will this become possible in the (near) future? I > > mean, savepoints are of limited use to me if they imply that I can't > > stick my tests in stored procedures.Use > > BEGIN > > ... > > EXCEPTION > > ... > > END; > > Blocks instead. The pl/pgsql exception handling is implemented on top > of PostgreSQL's SAVEPOINT infrastructure. We are lacking user defined > exception support, but you can raise generic errors with RAISE EXCEPTION. I can't solve my problem with a BEGIN EXCEPTION END block because of what I do in these functions. Here's an example function. CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_something() RETURNS VOID AS $$ BEGIN -- Define some test data -- SAVEPOINT fresh_test_data; -- If only I could ... IF some_test_assertion_fails THEN RAISE EXCEPTION 'Some informative message'; END IF; -- ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT fresh_test_data; END; $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql; In these functions, I raise an exception whenever a test fails. Now, If I want to create an implicit savepoint using BEGIN/END blocks around individual tests, I don't see how I can still sanely preserve this behavior without the most horrid of hacks. The following code is what I think I would need to do to emulate savepoints without direct access to them. :-( (I hope that I'm missing something.) CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_something() RETURNS VOID AS $$ BEGIN -- Define some test data BEGIN -- This is a useful test ;-) IF TRUE THEN RAISE EXCEPTION 'Aaargh! The test failed!'; END IF; RAISE EXCEPTION '__dummy_restore_state__'; EXCEPTION WHEN raise_exception THEN IF SQLERRM != '__dummy_restore_state__' THEN RAISE EXCEPTION '%', SQLERRM; END IF; END; END; $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;