Fwd: Calling functions inside a function: behavior

Edipo,

> FUNCTION (...) AS '(...)BEGIN
> PERFORM FUNCTION1();
> PERFORM FUNCTION2();
> (...)
> END;' LANGUAGE 'PLPGSQL';

I'm not sure about that syntax (PERFORM). I ususally set my functions
equal to a value ('remote_result := Function1(paramater)'). This has
the added advantage of letting me use an exit value from my sensted
function to communicate with the parent function ('IF remote_result =
'ERROR' THEN ... '). I'm just not sure what bugaboos you may be running
into with PERFORM.

One possibility (Tom, Jan, verify me on this): All calls in a function
are automatically nested in a transaction. Thus, if FunctionM calls
Function1, 2, and 3, then the system should reverse Functions 1, 2, and
3 if M errors out at any point. This means that all of the changes made
by the nested calls need to be cached somehow; on a slow or low-memory
system, this could lead to bogging down as your machine utilizes its
swap space if Functions 1, 2, and 3 involve heavy data interactions.

One way to test this, is to modify your test script as follows:

BEGIN WORK;
PERFORM Function1;
SELECT current_timestamp;
PERFORM Function2;
SELECT current_timestamp;
etc ...
COMMIT WORK;

If the test script bogs down as well, you have your answer although the
workaround may be tricky to implement.

-Josh Berkus

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