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DBLINK(3)               PostgreSQL 14.15 Documentation               DBLINK(3)

NAME
       dblink - executes a query in a remote database

SYNOPSIS
       dblink(text connname, text sql [, bool fail_on_error]) returns setof record
       dblink(text connstr, text sql [, bool fail_on_error]) returns setof record
       dblink(text sql [, bool fail_on_error]) returns setof record

DESCRIPTION
       dblink executes a query (usually a SELECT, but it can be any SQL
       statement that returns rows) in a remote database.

       When two text arguments are given, the first one is first looked up as
       a persistent connection's name; if found, the command is executed on
       that connection. If not found, the first argument is treated as a
       connection info string as for dblink_connect, and the indicated
       connection is made just for the duration of this command.

ARGUMENTS
       connname
           Name of the connection to use; omit this parameter to use the
           unnamed connection.

       connstr
           A connection info string, as previously described for
           dblink_connect.

       sql
           The SQL query that you wish to execute in the remote database, for
           example select * from foo.

       fail_on_error
           If true (the default when omitted) then an error thrown on the
           remote side of the connection causes an error to also be thrown
           locally. If false, the remote error is locally reported as a
           NOTICE, and the function returns no rows.

RETURN VALUE
       The function returns the row(s) produced by the query. Since dblink can
       be used with any query, it is declared to return record, rather than
       specifying any particular set of columns. This means that you must
       specify the expected set of columns in the calling query — otherwise
       PostgreSQL would not know what to expect. Here is an example:

           SELECT *
               FROM dblink('dbname=mydb options=-csearch_path=',
                           'select proname, prosrc from pg_proc')
                 AS t1(proname name, prosrc text)
               WHERE proname LIKE 'bytea%';

       The “alias” part of the FROM clause must specify the column names and
       types that the function will return. (Specifying column names in an
       alias is actually standard SQL syntax, but specifying column types is a
       PostgreSQL extension.) This allows the system to understand what *
       should expand to, and what proname in the WHERE clause refers to, in
       advance of trying to execute the function. At run time, an error will
       be thrown if the actual query result from the remote database does not
       have the same number of columns shown in the FROM clause. The column
       names need not match, however, and dblink does not insist on exact type
       matches either. It will succeed so long as the returned data strings
       are valid input for the column type declared in the FROM clause.

NOTES
       A convenient way to use dblink with predetermined queries is to create
       a view. This allows the column type information to be buried in the
       view, instead of having to spell it out in every query. For example,

           CREATE VIEW myremote_pg_proc AS
             SELECT *
               FROM dblink('dbname=postgres options=-csearch_path=',
                           'select proname, prosrc from pg_proc')
               AS t1(proname name, prosrc text);

           SELECT * FROM myremote_pg_proc WHERE proname LIKE 'bytea%';

EXAMPLES
           SELECT * FROM dblink('dbname=postgres options=-csearch_path=',
                                'select proname, prosrc from pg_proc')
             AS t1(proname name, prosrc text) WHERE proname LIKE 'bytea%';
             proname   |   prosrc
           ------------+------------
            byteacat   | byteacat
            byteaeq    | byteaeq
            bytealt    | bytealt
            byteale    | byteale
            byteagt    | byteagt
            byteage    | byteage
            byteane    | byteane
            byteacmp   | byteacmp
            bytealike  | bytealike
            byteanlike | byteanlike
            byteain    | byteain
            byteaout   | byteaout
           (12 rows)

           SELECT dblink_connect('dbname=postgres options=-csearch_path=');
            dblink_connect
           ----------------
            OK
           (1 row)

           SELECT * FROM dblink('select proname, prosrc from pg_proc')
             AS t1(proname name, prosrc text) WHERE proname LIKE 'bytea%';
             proname   |   prosrc
           ------------+------------
            byteacat   | byteacat
            byteaeq    | byteaeq
            bytealt    | bytealt
            byteale    | byteale
            byteagt    | byteagt
            byteage    | byteage
            byteane    | byteane
            byteacmp   | byteacmp
            bytealike  | bytealike
            byteanlike | byteanlike
            byteain    | byteain
            byteaout   | byteaout
           (12 rows)

           SELECT dblink_connect('myconn', 'dbname=regression options=-csearch_path=');
            dblink_connect
           ----------------
            OK
           (1 row)

           SELECT * FROM dblink('myconn', 'select proname, prosrc from pg_proc')
             AS t1(proname name, prosrc text) WHERE proname LIKE 'bytea%';
             proname   |   prosrc
           ------------+------------
            bytearecv  | bytearecv
            byteasend  | byteasend
            byteale    | byteale
            byteagt    | byteagt
            byteage    | byteage
            byteane    | byteane
            byteacmp   | byteacmp
            bytealike  | bytealike
            byteanlike | byteanlike
            byteacat   | byteacat
            byteaeq    | byteaeq
            bytealt    | bytealt
            byteain    | byteain
            byteaout   | byteaout
           (14 rows)

PostgreSQL 14.15                     2024                            DBLINK(3)

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