Newbie, Howto access Array-Slots in user defined functions?

Hi,

I am new to this list, maybe my question is already answered, but
I did not find any hint.

I have PostgreSQL 6.3 running, a table contains, among others, a
column with an array of bytes (c bytea[4]). Trying to do a

SELECT DISTINCT c FROM table;

I get

ERROR: There is no operator '<' for types '_bytea' and '_bytea'
You will either have to retype this query using an explicit cast,
or you will have to define the operator using CREATE OPERATOR

To create an operator I need a function, so let's beginn with a
compare function:

CREATE FUNCTION lessbyte (_bytea, _bytea) RETURNS bool AS
'SELECT $1[1] < $[2];' LANGUAGE 'sql';

I get

ERROR: parser: parse error at or near "["

Any hint, how to overcome this?

Martin

--
Martin Jacobs * Windsbach * 100(dot)179370(at)germanynet(dot)de und
martin(dot)jacobs(at)an-netz(dot)de
Registered Linux User #87175