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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_domain.sgml,v 1.27 2005/12/25 01:41:15 neilc Exp $
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<refentry id="SQL-CREATEDOMAIN">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="sql-createdomain-title">CREATE DOMAIN</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>CREATE DOMAIN</refname>
  <refpurpose>define a new domain</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm zone="sql-createdomain">
  <primary>CREATE DOMAIN</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
CREATE DOMAIN <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable> [ AS ] <replaceable class="parameter">data_type</replaceable>
    [ DEFAULT <replaceable>expression</> ]
    [ <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint</replaceable> [ ... ] ]

where <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint</replaceable> is:

[ CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable> ]
{ NOT NULL | NULL | CHECK (<replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable>) }
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE DOMAIN</command> creates a new data domain.  The
   user who defines a domain becomes its owner.
  </para>

  <para>
   If a schema name is given (for example, <literal>CREATE DOMAIN
   myschema.mydomain ...</>) then the domain is created in the
   specified schema.  Otherwise it is created in the current schema.
   The domain name must be unique among the types and domains existing
   in its schema.
  </para>

  <para>
   Domains are useful for abstracting common fields between tables
   into a single location for maintenance.  For example, an email address
   column may be used in several tables, all with the same properties.
   Define a domain and use that rather than setting up each table's
   constraints individually. 
  </para>

  <caution>
  <para>
   At present, declaring a function result value as a domain 
   is pretty dangerous, because none of the procedural languages enforce domain constraints 
   on their results.  You'll need to make sure that the function code itself
   respects the constraints.  In <application>PL/pgSQL</>, one possible
   workaround is to explicitly cast the result value to the domain type
   when you return it.  <application>PL/pgSQL</> does not enforce domain
   constraints for local variables within functions, either.
  </para>
  </caution>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The name (optionally schema-qualified) of a domain to be created.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">data_type</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The underlying data type of the domain. This may include array
        specifiers.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>DEFAULT <replaceable>expression</replaceable></literal></term>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        The <literal>DEFAULT</> clause specifies a default value for
        columns of the domain data type.  The value is any
        variable-free expression (but subqueries are not allowed).
        The data type of the default expression must match the data
        type of the domain.  If no default value is specified, then
        the default value is the null value.
       </para>

       <para>
        The default expression will be used in any insert operation
        that does not specify a value for the column.  If a default
        value is defined for a particular column, it overrides any
        default associated with the domain.  In turn, the domain
        default overrides any default value associated with the
        underlying data type.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable></literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        An optional name for a constraint.  If not specified,
        the system generates a name.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>NOT NULL</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Values of this domain are not allowed to be null.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>NULL</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Values of this domain are allowed to be null.  This is the default.
       </para>

       <para>
        This clause is only intended for compatibility with
        nonstandard SQL databases.  Its use is discouraged in new
        applications.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>CHECK (<replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable>)</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>CHECK</> clauses specify integrity constraints or tests
      which values of the domain must satisfy.
      Each constraint must be an expression
      producing a Boolean result.  It should use the name <literal>VALUE</>
      to refer to the value being tested.
     </para>

     <para>
      Currently, <literal>CHECK</literal> expressions cannot contain
      subqueries nor refer to variables other than <literal>VALUE</>.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   This example creates the <type>us_postal_code</type> data type and
   then uses the type in a table definition.  A regular expression test
   is used to verify that the value looks like a valid US postal code.

<programlisting>
CREATE DOMAIN us_postal_code AS TEXT
CHECK(
   VALUE ~ '^\\d{5}$'
OR VALUE ~ '^\\d{5}-\\d{4}$'
);

CREATE TABLE us_snail_addy (
  address_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
, street1 TEXT NOT NULL
, street2 TEXT
, street3 TEXT
, city TEXT NOT NULL
, postal us_postal_code NOT NULL
);
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATEDOMAIN-compatibility">
  <title>Compatibility</title>

  <para>
   The command <command>CREATE DOMAIN</command> conforms to the SQL
   standard.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATEDOMAIN-see-also">
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-alterdomain" endterm="sql-alterdomain-title"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-dropdomain" endterm="sql-dropdomain-title"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>

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