Scheduling Database Tasks

Hi there.
I am a PostgreSQL newbie recently rescued from the depths of despair (MS SQL
Server). In this state however I find my self pining for some of the
functionality I have become accustomed too. We have a number of tasks that
we like to perform using our database like sending emails to folk or billing
them or generating invoices.

MS SQL Server has a Jobs interface as part of it’s database management
‘suite’ that allows various types of scripts (SQL, Active X) to be performed
with fine granularity (1 Second and up). Does PsotsgreSQL have any similar
functionality?

Crontab does not provide the granularity we require (3 seconds or so for
some of our tasks). We are also investigating Expect. If this functionality
is not available can it be created efficiently with any of the PL/tcl etc.
scripting/functional languages?

Thanks for your time.

-Ian

Ian Marshall
ian(at)talarion(dot)com
www.talarion.com
(617) 527-1994