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LXXVIII. PostgreSQL functions

Warning

Use of PostgreSQL module with PHP 4.0.6 is not recommended due to a bug in notice message handling.

Warning

PostgreSQL function names will be changed in 4.2.0 release to confirm current coding standard. Most of new names will have additional under score(s), e.g. pg_lo_open(). Some functions are renamed to different name for consistency. e.g. pg_exec() to pg_query(). Older names may be used in 4.2.0 and a few releases from 4.2.0, but they may be deleted in the future. CVS version has new function names.

Obsolete pg_connect()/pg_pconnect() may be depreciated to support async connect feature in the future.

Postgres, developed originally in the UC Berkeley Computer Science Department, pioneered many of the object-relational concepts now becoming available in some commercial databases. It provides SQL92/SQL3 language support, transaction integrity and type extensibility. PostgreSQL is an open source descendant of this original Berkeley code.

PostgreSQL database is Open Source product and available without cost. To use PostgreSQL support, you need PostgreSQL 6.5 or later. PostgreSQL 7.0 or later to enable all PostgreSQL module feature. PostgreSQL supports many charactor encoding including multibyte character encoding. The current version and more information about PostgreSQL is available at www.postgresql.org.

In order to enable PostgreSQL support, "--enable-pgsql[=DIR]" is required when you compile PHP. If shared object module is available, PostgreSQL module may be loaded using extension directive in php.ini or dl() function. Supported ini directives are described in php.ini-dist file which comes with source distribution.

Not all functions are supported by all builds. It depends on your libpq (The PostgreSQL C Client interface) versoin and how libpq is compiled. If there is missing function, libpq does not support the feature required for the function.

It is also important that you use newer libpq than PostgreSQL Server to be connected. If you use libpq older than PostgreSQL Server expects, you may have problems.

Since version 6.3 (03/02/1998) PostgreSQL uses unix domain sockets by default. TCP port will not be openned by default. A table is shown below describing these new connection possibilities. This socket will be found in /tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432. This option can be enabled with the '-i' flag to postmaster and it's meaning is: "listen on TCP/IP sockets as well as Unix domain sockets".

Table 1. Postmaster and PHP

PostmasterPHPStatus
postmaster &pg_connect("dbname=MyDbName");OK
postmaster -i &pg_connect("dbname=MyDbName");OK
postmaster &pg_connect("host=localhost dbname=MyDbName"); Unable to connect to PostgreSQL server: connectDB() failed: Is the postmaster running and accepting TCP/IP (with -i) connection at 'localhost' on port '5432'? in /path/to/file.php on line 20.
postmaster -i &pg_connect("host=localhost dbname=MyDbName");OK

A connection to PostgreSQL server can be established with the following value pairs set in the command string: $conn = pg_connect("host=myHost port=myPort tty=myTTY options=myOptions dbname=myDB user=myUser password=myPassword ");

The previous syntax of: $conn = pg_connect ("host", "port", "options", "tty", "dbname") has been deprecated.

Environmental variable affects PostgreSQL server/client behavior. For example, PostgreSQL module will lookup PGHOST environment variable when hostname is omitted in connection string. Supported environment variables are different from version to version. Refer to PostgreSQL Programmer's Manual (libpq - Environment Variables) for details.

From PostgreSQL 7.1.0, text data type has 1GB as its max size. Older PostgreSQL's text data type is limitted by block size. (Default 8KB. Max 32KB defined at compile time)

To use the large object (lo) interface, it is required to enclose large object functions within a transaction block. A transaction block starts with a SQL statement begin and if the transaction was valid ends with commit or end. If the transaction fails the transaction should be closed with rollback or abort.

Example 1. Using Large Objects

<?php
    $database = pg_connect ("dbname=jacarta");
    pg_exec ($database, "begin");
    $oid = pg_locreate ($database);
    echo ("$oid\n");
    $handle = pg_loopen ($database, $oid, "w");
    echo ("$handle\n");
    pg_lowrite ($handle, "large object data");
    pg_loclose ($handle);
    pg_exec ($database, "commit");
?>
Do not close connection resource before closing large object resource.

Table of Contents
pg_close -- Close a PostgreSQL connection
pg_cmdtuples -- Returns number of affected records(tuples)
pg_connect -- Open a PostgreSQL connection
pg_dbname -- Get the database name
pg_end_copy -- Sync with PostgreSQL backend
pg_errormessage -- Get the last error message string of a connection
pg_exec -- Execute a query
pg_fetch_array -- Fetch a row as an array
pg_fetch_object -- Fetch a row as an object
pg_fetch_row -- Get a row as an enumerated array
pg_fieldisnull -- Test if a field is NULL
pg_fieldname -- Returns the name of a field
pg_fieldnum -- Returns the field number of the named field
pg_fieldprtlen -- Returns the printed length
pg_fieldsize --  Returns the internal storage size of the named field
pg_fieldtype --  Returns the type name for the corresponding field number
pg_freeresult -- Free result memory
pg_getlastoid -- Returns the last object's oid
pg_host --  Returns the host name associated with the connection
pg_last_notice --  Returns the last notice message from PostgreSQL server
pg_loclose -- Close a large object
pg_locreate -- Create a large object
pg_loexport -- Export a large object to file
pg_loimport -- Import a large object from file
pg_loopen -- Open a large object
pg_loread -- Read a large object
pg_loreadall --  Read a entire large object and send straight to browser
pg_lounlink -- Delete a large object
pg_lowrite -- Write a large object
pg_numfields -- Returns the number of fields
pg_numrows -- Returns the number of rows
pg_options -- Get the options associated with the connection
pg_pconnect -- Open a persistent PostgreSQL connection
pg_port --  Return the port number associated with the connection
pg_put_line -- Send a NULL-terminated string to PostgreSQL backend
pg_result -- Returns values from a result resource
pg_set_client_encoding --  Set the client encoding
pg_client_encoding --  Get the client encoding
pg_trace -- Enable tracing a PostgreSQL connection
pg_tty --  Return the tty name associated with the connection
pg_untrace -- Disable tracing of a PostgreSQL connection
pg_get_result --  Get asynchronous query result
pg_request_cancel --  Cancel request
pg_is_busy --  Get connection is busy or not
pg_send_query --  Send asynchronous query
pg_cancel_query --  Cancel request
pg_connection_busy --  Get connection is busy or not
pg_connection_reset --  Reset connection (reconnect)
pg_connection_status --  Get connection status
pg_copy_from --  No description given yet
pg_copy_to --  Send null-terminated string to backend server
pg_escape_bytea --  Escape binary for bytea type
pg_escape_string --  Escape string for text/char type
pg_lo_close --  Close a large object
pg_lo_seek --  Seeks position of large object
pg_lo_tell --  Returns current position of large object
pg_result_error --  Get error message associated with result
pg_result_status --  Get status of query result
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