Re: ON DELETE triggers don't work as documented

Mike Glover wrote:
> Please enter a FULL description of your problem:
> ------------------------------------------------ The docs state (section
> 23.9):
>
> If a non-NULL value is returned then the operation proceeds with that row
> value. Note that returning a row value different from the original value of
> NEW alters the row that will be inserted or updated.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>
> the above suggests that returning NEW for a delete should cause the delete
> to proceed. In fact, I've found it necessary to return a record with the
> row format of the table and all empty fields.

No, actually it suggests that returning NEW should cause an *update* or
*insert* to proceed. In the case of a delete, NEW is not set. See a few lines
above:

NEW
Data type RECORD; variable holding the new database row for INSERT/UPDATE
operations in ROW level triggers.

OLD
Data type RECORD; variable holding the old database row for UPDATE/DELETE
operations in ROW level triggers.

It is perhaps confusing, but probably necessary so that a single function can
handle inserts, updates, and deletes (see TG_OP).

Joe