Re: BUG #1956: Plpgsql top-level DECLARE does not share scope

From: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: "Jim C(dot) Nasby" <jnasby(at)pervasive(dot)com>
Cc: Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us>, "Karl O(dot) Pinc" <kop(at)meme(dot)com>, pgsql-bugs(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: BUG #1956: Plpgsql top-level DECLARE does not share scope
Date: 2005-10-13 20:24:23
Message-ID: 2397.1129235063@sss.pgh.pa.us
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"Jim C. Nasby" <jnasby(at)pervasive(dot)com> writes:
> On Thu, Oct 13, 2005 at 01:30:56PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
>> Basically, DECLARE introduces a new name scope that wouldn't be there
>> if you didn't say DECLARE. Without some bizarre reinterpretation of the
>> meaning of a DECLARE at the start of a function, variables automatically
>> created by plpgsql are going to be in an outer scope surrounding that of
>> the first DECLARE.

> Another possibility is tracking what level sub-block something is in,
> and using that to determine if the top-most declare in a function is
> over-writing something.

BTW, another issue here is that if we did merge the first DECLARE with
the scope of auto-declared variables, it would be a non backwards
compatible change. Right now you can do, say,

declare found int;

and it'll override the standard FOUND variable. If we change this then
you'd get an error. (Of course, it could be argued that that would be
a Good Thing. But it would inhibit us from adding new auto-declared
variables that are less central to the language than FOUND, because of
the risk of breaking existing code.)

regards, tom lane

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