For loop with dynamic table name in Postgresql 9.1?

Question

I have a plpgslq function which does some data processing and would like to write a for loop, however my table name is not known at design time. Is there any possible way to achieve this? Here is sample code snippet of what I want to achieve:

-- Function: check_data()

-- DROP FUNCTION check_data();

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION check_data()
  RETURNS character varying AS
$BODY$declare
 dyn_rec record;
 tbl_name record;
begin
  -- sample dynamic tables
  tbl_name := 'cars';
  tbl_name := 'trucks';
  tbl_name := 'bicycles';

  for dyn_rec in select * from format($$s%$$,tbl_name) loop
    raise notice 'item is %',dyn_rec.item_no;
  end loop;

  return 'Processing Ok';

end;$BODY$
  LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE
  COST 100;
ALTER FUNCTION check_data()
  OWNER TO postgres;

Dunaville

Answer 1

You cannot use a variable as table or column identifier in plpgsql embedded SQL ever. A solution is dynamic SQL - EXECUTE or FOR IN EXECUTE statements:

DO $$
DECLARE
  tables text[] = ARRAY['table1','table2'];
  table_name text;
  rec record;
BEGIN
  FOREACH table_name IN ARRAY tables
  LOOP
    FOR r IN EXECUTE format('SELECT * FROM %I', table_name)
    LOOP
      RAISE NOTICE '%', rec;
    END LOOP; 
  END LOOP;
END; $$

Papilloma

Thanks Pavel Stehule, 'execute' is exactly what I need, works ok now. – Dunaville

arcull, perhaps you should mark this as the answer if it worked. :) – Sum