Changing pg_type records

["Rob Richardson" <Rob.Richardson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings!

 

I just discovered the existence of a couple of functions I don't understand in one customer's PostgreSQL database:

 

-- Function: c_mode()

 

-- DROP FUNCTION c_mode();

 

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION c_mode()
  RETURNS text AS
$BODY$  UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_textout'    WHERE typname='SET';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_varcharout' WHERE typname='bpchar';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_textout'    WHERE typname='bytea';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_charout'    WHERE typname='char';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_textout'    WHERE typname='text';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_textout'    WHERE typname='unknown';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='c_varcharout' WHERE typname='varchar';

 

      select 'c_mode'::text;$BODY$
  LANGUAGE 'sql' VOLATILE;
ALTER FUNCTION c_mode() OWNER TO postgres;

-- Function: pg_mode()

 

-- DROP FUNCTION pg_mode();

 

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION pg_mode()
  RETURNS text AS
$BODY$  UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='textout'    WHERE typname='SET';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='varcharout' WHERE typname='bpchar';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='textout'    WHERE typname='bytea';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='charout'    WHERE typname='char';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='textout'    WHERE typname='text';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='textout'    WHERE typname='unknown';

 

      UPDATE pg_type SET typoutput='varcharout' WHERE typname='varchar';

 

      select 'pg_mode'::text;$BODY$
  LANGUAGE 'sql' VOLATILE;
ALTER FUNCTION pg_mode() OWNER TO postgres;

This customer has demanded extensive modifications to their database and our application.  I think these functions are used in encryption, since there are several other non-standard functions in this database that are related to encryption.

 

Our lead developer is in another state, and is naturally very uncommunicative.  When I asked him about the c_mode() function and expressed concern that changing pg_type records might not be a good idea, his reply was:

 

"Ignore it,  it is a database contrib routine for string I/O.   It doesn't change the database properties."

 

Are these functions really as innocuous as he claims?  It seems to me that between the time c_mode() is called and the time that pg_mode() is called, any other database access is likely to be confused. 

 

Thank you very much.

 

RobR