Postgres trigger-based insert redirection without breaking RETURNING - sql

Question

I'm using table inheritance in postgres, but the trigger I'm using to partition data into the child tables isn't quite behaving right. For example, this query returns nil, but I would like it to return the id of the new record.
INSERT INTO flags (flaggable_id, flaggable_type)
VALUES (233, 'Thank')
RETURNING id;
If I change the return value of the trigger function from NULL to NEW, I get the desired RETURNING behavior, but then two identical rows are inserted in the database. This makes sense, since a non-null return value from the trigger function causes the original INSERT statement execute, whereas returning NULL causes the statement to halt execution. A unique index might halt the second insertion, but would probably raise an error.
Any ideas how to make the INSERT with RETURNING work properly with a trigger like this?
CREATE TABLE flags (
id integer NOT NULL,
flaggable_type character varying(255) NOT NULL,
flaggable_id integer NOT NULL,
body text
);
ALTER TABLE ONLY flags
ADD CONSTRAINT flags_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
CREATE TABLE "comment_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Comment'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id"),
FOREIGN KEY ("flaggable_id") REFERENCES "comments"("id")
) INHERITS ("flags");
CREATE TABLE "profile_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Profile'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id"),
FOREIGN KEY ("flaggable_id") REFERENCES "profiles"("id")
) INHERITS ("flags");
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION flag_insert_trigger_fun() RETURNS TRIGGER AS $BODY$
BEGIN
IF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Comment') THEN
INSERT INTO comment_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSIF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Profile') THEN
INSERT INTO profile_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSE
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Wrong "flaggable_type"="%", fix flag_insert_trigger_fun() function', NEW."flaggable_type";
END IF;
RETURN NULL;
END; $BODY$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER flag_insert_trigger
BEFORE INSERT ON flags
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE flag_insert_trigger_fun();

Answer 1

The only workaround I found, is to create a view for the base table & use INSTEAD OF triggers on that view:
CREATE TABLE flags_base (
id integer NOT NULL,
flaggable_type character varying(255) NOT NULL,
flaggable_id integer NOT NULL,
body text
);
ALTER TABLE ONLY flags_base
ADD CONSTRAINT flags_base_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
CREATE TABLE "comment_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Comment'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id")
) INHERITS ("flags_base");
CREATE TABLE "profile_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Profile'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id")
) INHERITS ("flags_base");
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW flags AS SELECT * FROM flags_base;
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION flag_insert_trigger_fun() RETURNS TRIGGER AS $BODY$
BEGIN
IF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Comment') THEN
INSERT INTO comment_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSIF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Profile') THEN
INSERT INTO profile_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSE
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Wrong "flaggable_type"="%", fix flag_insert_trigger_fun() function', NEW."flaggable_type";
END IF;
RETURN NEW;
END; $BODY$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER flag_insert_trigger
INSTEAD OF INSERT ON flags
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE flag_insert_trigger_fun();
But this way you must supply the id field on each insertion (even if flags_base's primary key has a default value / is a serial), so you must prepare your insert trigger to fix NEW.id if it is a NULL.
UPDATE: It seems views' columns can have a default values too, set with
ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET DEFAULT expression
which is only used in views have an insert/update rule/trigger.
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/sql-alterview.html

Answer 2

#pozs provided a correct answer but didn't quite provide the code for a full working implementation. I tried to include the code in an edit on his question, but it was not accepted. He instead suggested yet another approach, which looks cleaner, but may have some drawbacks (in the case where you re-use your trigger function elsewhere).
Including my solution here for reference:
CREATE TABLE base_flags (
id integer NOT NULL,
flaggable_type character varying(255) NOT NULL,
flaggable_id integer NOT NULL,
body text
);
ALTER TABLE ONLY base_flags
ADD CONSTRAINT base_flags_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
CREATE SEQUENCE base_flags_id_seq
START WITH 1
INCREMENT BY 1
NO MINVALUE
NO MAXVALUE
CACHE 1;
ALTER SEQUENCE base_flags_id_seq OWNED BY base_flags.id;
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW flags AS SELECT * FROM base_flags;
CREATE TABLE "comment_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Comment'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id"),
FOREIGN KEY ("flaggable_id") REFERENCES "comments"("id")
) INHERITS ("flags");
CREATE TABLE "profile_flags" (
CHECK ("flaggable_type" = 'Profile'),
PRIMARY KEY ("id"),
FOREIGN KEY ("flaggable_id") REFERENCES "profiles"("id")
) INHERITS ("flags");
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION flag_insert_trigger_fun() RETURNS TRIGGER AS $BODY$
BEGIN
IF NEW.id IS NULL THEN
NEW.id := nextval('base_flags_id_seq');
END IF;
IF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Comment') THEN
INSERT INTO comment_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSIF (NEW."flaggable_type" = 'Profile') THEN
INSERT INTO profile_flags VALUES (NEW.*);
ELSE
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Wrong "flaggable_type"="%", fix flag_insert_trigger_fun() function', NEW."flaggable_type";
END IF;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$BODY$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER flag_insert_trigger
INSTEAD OF INSERT ON base_flags
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE flag_insert_trigger_fun();