BUG #19734: NOT IN type resolution differs for outer Vars, producing different query results

From: PG Bug reporting form <noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org>
To: pgsql-bugs(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Cc: anncalla(at)163(dot)com
Subject: BUG #19734: NOT IN type resolution differs for outer Vars, producing different query results
Date: 2026-09-30 12:03:21
Message-ID: 19734-049ac05dfb08ac4b@postgresql.org
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The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference: 19734
Logged by: Ann Calla
Email address: anncalla(at)163(dot)com
PostgreSQL version: 18.6
Operating system: Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64
Description:

I found a case where moving the same NOT IN predicate into a correlated
EXISTS subquery changes the query result.

Minimal reproducer:

SELECT 'INNER_JOIN' AS q, COUNT(*) AS n
FROM (VALUES (-969514295)) a(x)
JOIN (VALUES (1)) b(y)
ON x::real NOT IN (x, 0.7);

SELECT 'EXISTS' AS q, COUNT(*) AS n
FROM (VALUES (-969514295)) a(x)
WHERE EXISTS (
SELECT 1
FROM (VALUES (1)) b(y)
WHERE x::real NOT IN (x, 0.7)
);

Actual result:

q | n
------------+---
INNER_JOIN | 1

q | n
--------+---
EXISTS | 0

I expected both queries to return the same count.

b contains exactly one row, and its column y is not referenced by the
predicate. The condition applied to the row from a is the same in both
cases:

x::real NOT IN (x, 0.7)

The difference appears to happen during parsing/type resolution rather than
because of the data itself.

In the first query, x is a Var of the current query level. In the correlated
subquery, it is an outer Var. This appears to cause NOT IN to be
represented/resolved differently, with the correlated form potentially using
a ScalarArrayOpExpr.

This may be related to how transformAExprIn() distinguishes current-level
Vars from outer Vars.

The value -969514295 makes the difference observable because conversion to
real loses precision.

No tables, indexes, extensions, custom types, or non-default configuration
are required to reproduce the issue.

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