Re: Exponantial Function (exp) with bigger argument ?

Thanks for the answer Tom. As you suggested, I converted the integer to a numeric type and found out, that the corresponding exp function can handle numbers up to 6999.0. But this is still not enough. Currently, I'm trying to extend Postgres with a custom C-Function. But, I am running into troubles there, too.
This could also be due to my nescience concerning C and Linux. My code looks as follows:
/*
** Filename: exp_c.c
*/
#include "postgres.h"
#include "fmgr.h"
// Magic block
#ifdef PG_MODULE_MAGIC
PG_MODULE_MAGIC;
#endif
#include "mpfr.h"
// We're using the version-1 calling method
PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(exp_c);

Datum exp_c(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS){
if (PG_ARGISNULL(0) || PG_ARGISNULL(1)){
PG_RETURN_NULL();
}
float8 exponent = PG_GETARG_FLOAT8(0);
int32 precision = PG_GETARG_INT32(0);
// The result
mpfr_t x;
// Initialize variable with given precision
mpfr_init2(x, precision);
// Set to given exponent
mpfr_set_ld(x, exponent, MPFR_RNDN);
// Calculate
mpfr_exp(x,x, MPFR_RNDN);
// Get return value
long double rs = mpfr_get_ld(x,MPFR_RNDN);
// Clear x
mpfr_clear(x);
// Return
PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(rs);
}

I compiled the program with "gcc -c -fpic exp_c.c -lmpfr -lgmp" and created a shared library with this one "gcc -shared -o exp_c.so exp_c.o".
This worked fine. Btw. we are using Ubuntu 10.10 Server and postgres 8.4 (version() function output: "PostgreSQL 8.4.8 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC gcc-4.4.real (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5) 4.4.5, 64-bit").

I copied the exp_c.so tot he $libdir directory. In postgres the following commands were executed:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION exp(exponent double precision, prec integer) RETURNS double precision AS '$libdir/exp_c','exp_c' LANGUAGE c;

SELECT exp(1::double precision, 2);

Unfortunately this does not work. The output is (Translated into english):

FAILURE: Library »/usr/lib/postgresql/8.4/lib/exp_c.so« could not be loaded: /usr/lib/postgresql/8.4/lib/exp_c.so: undefined symbol: mpfr_get_ld

********** FAILURE **********

FAILURE: Library »/usr/lib/postgresql/8.4/lib/exp_c.so« could not be loaded: /usr/lib/postgresql/8.4/lib/exp_c.so: undefined symbol: mpfr_get_ld
SQL Status:58P01

I think this has something to do with the binder/linker and the mpfr header file, which is not available during linking. Am I correct ? How can I overcome this ?

Kind regards,
Gregor

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Tom Lane [mailto:tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us]
Gesendet: Dienstag, 3. Mai 2011 20:01
An: Gregor GT. Trefs
Cc: pgsql-novice(at)postgresql(dot)org
Betreff: Re: [NOVICE] Exponantial Function (exp) with bigger argument ?

"Gregor GT. Trefs" <gregor(dot)trefs(at)delphit(dot)com> writes:
> Is there any possibility to overcome the restriction to not use a
> higher number than appr. 100 as an argument for the exponential
> function in postgres ?

What restriction?

regression=# select exp(1000.0);
exp
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
197007112172228764285408431116443651047300981094802008755853985828350443654498948052236544085754035611119684706809582853182955874910502440327439392806215139501177952207939837125875818468684009900351395991300432715505235653014871192637790968152087501139107799418773107714238073871162818125586289629983090134192022542188366296411429692950563401460360277794420292466575635467954804734395417151344955106563797211636884598324669752528955502.2
(1 row)

Mind you, it would be unwise to assume that that answer is *exact* ... exactly what is the "business logic" that requires such large exponentials, and are you sure you're getting non-garbage results on any other platform?

regards, tom lane