PL/pgSQL function to return the output of various SELECT queries from different database - sql

Question

I have found this very interesting article: Refactor a PL/pgSQL function to return the output of various SELECT queries
from Erwin Brandstetter which describes how to return all columns of various tables with only one function:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION data_of(_table_name anyelement, _where_part text)
RETURNS SETOF anyelement AS
$func$
BEGIN
RETURN QUERY EXECUTE
'SELECT * FROM ' || pg_typeof(_table_name)::text || ' WHERE ' || _where_part;
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Call:
SELECT * FROM data_of(NULL::tablename,'1=1 LIMIT 1');
This works pretty well. I need a very similar solution but for getting data from a table on a different database via dblink. That means the call NULL::tablename will fail since the table does not exists on the database where the call is made. I wonder how to make this work. Any try to connect inside of the function via dblink to a different database failed to get the result of NULL::tablename. It seems the polymorph function needs a polymorph parameter which creates the return type of the function implicit.
I would appreciate very much if anybody could help me.
Thanks a lot
Kind regards
Brian

Answer 1

it seems this request is more difficult to explain than I thought it is. Here is a second try with a test setup:
Database 1
First we create a test table with some data on database 1:
CREATE TABLE db1_test
(
id integer NOT NULL,
txt text
)
WITH (
OIDS=TRUE
);
INSERT INTO db1_test (id, txt) VALUES(1,'one');
INSERT INTO db1_test (id, txt) VALUES(2,'two');
INSERT INTO db1_test (id, txt) VALUES(3,'three');
Now we create the polymorph function on database 1:
-- create a polymorph function with a polymorph parameter "_table_name" on database 1
-- the return type is set implicit by calling the function "data_of" with the parameter "NULL::[tablename]" and a where part
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION data_of(_table_name anyelement, _where_part text)
RETURNS SETOF anyelement AS
$func$
BEGIN
RETURN QUERY EXECUTE
'SELECT * FROM ' || pg_typeof(_table_name)::text || ' WHERE ' || _where_part;
END
$func$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
Now we make test call if everything works as aspected on database 1
SELECT * FROM data_of(NULL::db1_test, 'id=2');
It works. Please notice I do NOT specify any columns of the table db1_test. Now we switch over to database 2.
Database 2
Here I need to make exactly the same call to data_of from database 1 as before and although WITHOUT knowing the columns of the selected table at call time. Unfortunatly this is not gonna work, the only call which works is something like that:
SELECT
*
FROM dblink('dbname=[database1] port=[port] user=[user] password=[password]'::text, 'SELECT * FROM data_of(NULL::db1_test, \'id=2\')'::text)
t1(id integer, txt text);
Conclusion
This call works, but as you can see, I need to specify at least once how all the columns look like from the table I want to select. I am looking for any way to bypass this and make it possible to make a call WITHOUT knowing all of the columns from the table on database 1.
Final goal
My final goal is to create a function in database 2 which looks like
SELECT * from data_of_dblink('table_name','where_part')
and which calls internaly data_of() on database1 to make it possible to select a table on a different database with a where part as parameter. It should work like a static view but with the possiblity to pass a where part as parameter.
I am extremly open for suggestions.
Thanks a lot
Brian