Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
Fix SPI documentation for new handling of ExecutorRun's count parameter.
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
Since 9.0, the count parameter has only limited the number of tuples
actually returned by the executor.  It doesn't affect the behavior of
INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE unless RETURNING is specified, because without
RETURNING, the ModifyTable plan node doesn't return control to execMain.c
for each tuple.  And we only check the limit at the top level.

While this behavioral change was unintentional at the time, discussion of
bug #6572 led us to the conclusion that we prefer the new behavior anyway,
and so we should just adjust the docs to match rather than change the code.
Accordingly, do that.  Back-patch as far as 9.0 so that the docs match the
code in each branch.
  • Loading branch information
tglsfdc committed Jan 24, 2013
1 parent 1068771 commit 2ddc600
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Showing 2 changed files with 29 additions and 18 deletions.
41 changes: 25 additions & 16 deletions doc/src/sgml/spi.sgml
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -316,20 +316,32 @@ int SPI_execute(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, bool <parameter>rea
<para>
If <parameter>count</parameter> is zero then the command is executed
for all rows that it applies to. If <parameter>count</parameter>
is greater than 0, then the number of rows for which the command
will be executed is restricted (much like a
<literal>LIMIT</literal> clause). For example:
is greater than zero, then no more than <parameter>count</parameter> rows
will be retrieved; execution stops when the count is reached, much like
adding a <literal>LIMIT</literal> clause to the query. For example,
<programlisting>
SPI_execute("SELECT * FROM foo", true, 5);
</programlisting>
will retrieve at most 5 rows from the table. Note that such a limit
is only effective when the command actually returns rows. For example,
<programlisting>
SPI_execute("INSERT INTO foo SELECT * FROM bar", false, 5);
</programlisting>
will allow at most 5 rows to be inserted into the table.
inserts all rows from <structname>bar</>, ignoring the
<parameter>count</parameter> parameter. However, with
<programlisting>
SPI_execute("INSERT INTO foo SELECT * FROM bar RETURNING *", false, 5);
</programlisting>
at most 5 rows would be inserted, since execution would stop after the
fifth <literal>RETURNING</> result row is retrieved.
</para>

<para>
You can pass multiple commands in one string;
<function>SPI_execute</function> returns the
result for the command executed last. The <parameter>count</parameter>
limit applies to each command separately, but it is not applied to
limit applies to each command separately (even though only the last
result will actually be returned). The limit is not applied to any
hidden commands generated by rules.
</para>

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -434,7 +446,7 @@ typedef struct
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -611,15 +623,12 @@ typedef struct
<title>Notes</title>

<para>
The functions <function>SPI_execute</function>,
<function>SPI_exec</function>,
<function>SPI_execute_plan</function>, and
<function>SPI_execp</function> change both
All SPI query-execution functions set both
<varname>SPI_processed</varname> and
<varname>SPI_tuptable</varname> (just the pointer, not the contents
of the structure). Save these two global variables into local
procedure variables if you need to access the result table of
<function>SPI_execute</function> or a related function
<function>SPI_execute</function> or another query-execution function
across later calls.
</para>
</refsect1>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -674,7 +683,7 @@ int SPI_exec(const char * <parameter>command</parameter>, long <parameter>count<
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -813,7 +822,7 @@ int SPI_execute_with_args(const char *<parameter>command</parameter>,
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1457,7 +1466,7 @@ int SPI_execute_plan(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>, Datum * <parameter>
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1575,7 +1584,7 @@ int SPI_execute_plan_with_paramlist(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>,
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1676,7 +1685,7 @@ int SPI_execp(SPIPlanPtr <parameter>plan</parameter>, Datum * <parameter>values<
<term><literal>long <parameter>count</parameter></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
maximum number of rows to process or return,
maximum number of rows to return,
or <literal>0</> for no limit
</para>
</listitem>
Expand Down
6 changes: 4 additions & 2 deletions src/backend/executor/execMain.c
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -228,7 +228,9 @@ standard_ExecutorStart(QueryDesc *queryDesc, int eflags)
* we retrieve up to 'count' tuples in the specified direction.
*
* Note: count = 0 is interpreted as no portal limit, i.e., run to
* completion.
* completion. Also note that the count limit is only applied to
* retrieved tuples, not for instance to those inserted/updated/deleted
* by a ModifyTable plan node.
*
* There is no return value, but output tuples (if any) are sent to
* the destination receiver specified in the QueryDesc; and the number
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1358,7 +1360,7 @@ ExecEndPlan(PlanState *planstate, EState *estate)
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ExecutePlan
*
* Processes the query plan until we have processed 'numberTuples' tuples,
* Processes the query plan until we have retrieved 'numberTuples' tuples,
* moving in the specified direction.
*
* Runs to completion if numberTuples is 0
Expand Down

0 comments on commit 2ddc600

Please sign in to comment.