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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_function.sgml,v 1.7 2005/05/26 20:05:03 tgl Exp $
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<refentry id="SQL-ALTERFUNCTION">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="SQL-ALTERFUNCTION-TITLE">ALTER FUNCTION</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>ALTER FUNCTION</refname>
  <refpurpose>change the definition of a function</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>  
  
 <indexterm zone="sql-alterfunction">
  <primary>ALTER FUNCTION</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
ALTER FUNCTION <replaceable>name</replaceable> ( [ [ <replaceable class="parameter">argmode</replaceable> ] [ <replaceable class="parameter">argname</replaceable> ] <replaceable class="parameter">argtype</replaceable> [, ...] ] )
    <replaceable class="PARAMETER">action</replaceable> [, ... ] [ RESTRICT ]
ALTER FUNCTION <replaceable>name</replaceable> ( [ [ <replaceable class="parameter">argmode</replaceable> ] [ <replaceable class="parameter">argname</replaceable> ] <replaceable class="parameter">argtype</replaceable> [, ...] ] )
    RENAME TO <replaceable>newname</replaceable>
ALTER FUNCTION <replaceable>name</replaceable> ( [ [ <replaceable class="parameter">argmode</replaceable> ] [ <replaceable class="parameter">argname</replaceable> ] <replaceable class="parameter">argtype</replaceable> [, ...] ] )
    OWNER TO <replaceable>newowner</replaceable>

where <replaceable class="PARAMETER">action</replaceable> is one of:

    CALLED ON NULL INPUT | RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT | STRICT
    IMMUTABLE | STABLE | VOLATILE
    [ EXTERNAL ] SECURITY INVOKER | [ EXTERNAL ] SECURITY DEFINER
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>
  
 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>ALTER FUNCTION</command> changes the definition of a
   function.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
  
 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing function.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">argmode</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The mode of an argument: either <literal>IN</>, <literal>OUT</>,
      or <literal>INOUT</>.  If omitted, the default is <literal>IN</>.
      Note that <command>ALTER FUNCTION</command> does not actually pay
      any attention to <literal>OUT</> arguments, since only the input
      arguments are needed to determine the function's identity.
      So it is sufficient to list the <literal>IN</> and <literal>INOUT</>
      arguments.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">argname</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name of an argument.
      Note that <command>ALTER FUNCTION</command> does not actually pay
      any attention to argument names, since only the argument data
      types are needed to determine the function's identity.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">argtype</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The data type(s) of the function's arguments (optionally 
      schema-qualified), if any.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">newname</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The new name of the function.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">newowner</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The new owner of the function.  To change the owner of a
      function, you must be a superuser.  Note that if the function is
      marked <literal>SECURITY DEFINER</literal>, it will subsequently
      execute as the new owner.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>CALLED ON NULL INPUT</literal></term>
     <term><literal>RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT</literal></term>
     <term><literal>STRICT</literal></term>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <literal>CALLED ON NULL INPUT</literal> changes the function so
       that it will be invoked when some or all of its arguments are
       null. <literal>RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT</literal> or
       <literal>STRICT</literal> changes the function so that it
       always returns null if any of its arguments are null. See <xref
       linkend="sql-createfunction"> for more information.
      </para>
     </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><literal>IMMUTABLE</literal></term>
     <term><literal>STABLE</literal></term>
     <term><literal>VOLATILE</literal></term>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       Change the volatility of the function to the specified
       type. See <xref linkend="sql-createfunction"> for more
       information about function volatility.
      </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal><optional> EXTERNAL </optional> SECURITY INVOKER</literal></term>
    <term><literal><optional> EXTERNAL </optional> SECURITY DEFINER</literal></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Change whether the function is a security definer or not. The
      key word <literal>EXTERNAL</literal> is ignored for SQL
      conformance. See <xref linkend="sql-createfunction"> for more
      information about this capability.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>RESTRICT</literal></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Ignored for conformance with the SQL standard.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   To rename the function <literal>sqrt</literal> for type
   <type>integer</type> to <literal>square_root</literal>:
<programlisting>
ALTER FUNCTION sqrt(integer) RENAME TO square_root;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To change the owner of the function <literal>sqrt</literal> for type
   <type>integer</type> to <literal>joe</literal>:
<programlisting>
ALTER FUNCTION sqrt(integer) OWNER TO joe;
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Compatibility</title>

  <para>
   This statement is partially compatible with the <command>ALTER
   FUNCTION</> statement in the SQL standard. The standard allows more
   properties of a function to be modified, but does not provide the
   ability to rename a function, make a function a security definer,
   or change the owner or volatility of a function. The standard also
   requires the <literal>RESTRICT</> key word; it is optional in
   <productname>PostgreSQL</>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-createfunction" endterm="sql-createfunction-title"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-dropfunction" endterm="sql-dropfunction-title"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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