Re: Proposal: associative arrays for plpgsql (concept)

On Wed, Jun 29, 2005 at 05:59:26PM +0200, Pavel Stehule wrote:
> Hello
>
> The concept is from Oracle 9i, but with some changes.
>
> http://www.oracle-10g.de/oracle_10g_documentation/appdev.101/b10807/05_colls.htm#i35672
>
> Associative arrays are any arrays with index. Will be created
>
> DECLARE
> x varchar[] INDEX BY VARCHAR = '{}'; -- some format, haven't idea
>
> then I can use anywhere x[key];
>
> two enhancing FOR cycle:
>
> -- iteration over all values
> FOR i IN VALUES OF x LOOP -- x array or associative array
> END LOOP;
>
> -- iteration over all keys
> FOR i IN INDICIES OF x LOOP -- x associatice array
> x[i]
> END LOOP;
>
> new functions:
>
> exists(x, key);
> delete(x, key);
>
> index is accessable only from PL/pgSQL. Associative arrays can be spec
> PostgreSQL type or clasic arrays with hash index.
>
> Comments, notes?
>
> Regards
> Pavel Stehule

I'm all in favor of having associative arrays as a 1st-class data type
in PostgreSQL. How much harder would it be to make these generally
available vs. tied to one particular language?

Cheers,
D
--
David Fetter david(at)fetter(dot)org http://fetter.org/
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