pgsql: Add range_minus_multi and multirange_minus_multi functions

From: Peter Eisentraut <peter(at)eisentraut(dot)org>
To: pgsql-committers(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: pgsql: Add range_minus_multi and multirange_minus_multi functions
Date: 2025-11-22 08:48:00
Message-ID: E1vMjHj-000mYP-1s@gemulon.postgresql.org
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Add range_minus_multi and multirange_minus_multi functions

The existing range_minus function raises an exception when the range is
"split", because then the result can't be represented by a single range.
For example '[0,10)'::int4range - '[4,5)' would be '[0,4)' and '[5,10)'.

This commit adds new set-returning functions so that callers can get
results even in the case of splits. There is no risk of an exception for
multiranges, but a set-returning function lets us handle them the same
way we handle ranges.

Both functions return zero results if the subtraction would give an
empty range/multirange.

The main use-case for these functions is to implement UPDATE/DELETE FOR
PORTION OF, which must compute the application-time of "temporal
leftovers": the part of history in an updated/deleted row that was not
changed. To preserve the untouched history, we will implicitly insert
one record for each result returned by range/multirange_minus_multi.
Using a set-returning function will also let us support user-defined
types for application-time update/delete in the future.

Author: Paul A. Jungwirth <pj(at)illuminatedcomputing(dot)com>
Reviewed-by: Peter Eisentraut <peter(at)eisentraut(dot)org>
Reviewed-by: Chao Li <li(dot)evan(dot)chao(at)gmail(dot)com>
Discussion: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/ec498c3d-5f2b-48ec-b989-5561c8aa2024%40illuminatedcomputing.com

Branch
------
master

Details
-------
https://git.postgresql.org/pg/commitdiff/5eed8ce50ce9df1067b95593dde9f4fc526dfc72

Modified Files
--------------
doc/src/sgml/func/func-range.sgml | 42 +++++++
src/backend/utils/adt/multirangetypes.c | 71 +++++++++++
src/backend/utils/adt/rangetypes.c | 167 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
src/include/catalog/catversion.h | 2 +-
src/include/catalog/pg_proc.dat | 8 ++
src/include/utils/rangetypes.h | 2 +
src/test/regress/expected/multirangetypes.out | 116 ++++++++++++++++++
src/test/regress/expected/rangetypes.out | 54 +++++++++
src/test/regress/sql/multirangetypes.sql | 22 ++++
src/test/regress/sql/rangetypes.sql | 10 ++
10 files changed, 493 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

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