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$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/xindex.sgml,v 1.29 2002/09/21 18:32:54 petere Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<chapter id="xindex">
 <title>Interfacing Extensions To Indexes</title>

 <sect1 id="xindex-intro">
  <title>Introduction</title>

  <para>
   The procedures described thus far let you define new types, new
   functions, and new operators. However, we cannot yet define a
   secondary index (such as a B-tree, R-tree, or hash access method)
   over a new type, nor associate operators of a new type with secondary
   indexes.
   To do these things, we must define an <firstterm>operator class</>
   for the new data type.  We will describe operator classes in the
   context of a running example:  a  new  operator
   class for the B-tree access method that stores and
   sorts complex numbers in ascending absolute value order.
  </para>

  <note>
   <para>
    Prior to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> release 7.3, it was
    necessary to make manual additions to
    <classname>pg_amop</>, <classname>pg_amproc</>, and
    <classname>pg_opclass</> in order to create a user-defined
    operator class.  That approach is now deprecated in favor of
    using <command>CREATE OPERATOR CLASS</>, which is a much simpler
    and less error-prone way of creating the necessary catalog entries.
   </para>
  </note>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-am">
  <title>Access Methods and Operator Classes</title>

  <para>
   The <classname>pg_am</classname> table contains one row for every
   index access method.  Support for access to regular tables is
   built into <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, but all index access
   methods are described in <classname>pg_am</classname>.  It is possible
   to add a new index access method by defining the required interface
   routines and then creating a row in <classname>pg_am</classname> ---
   but that is far beyond the scope of this chapter.
  </para>

  <para>
   The routines for an index access method do not directly know anything
   about the data types the access method will operate on.  Instead, an
   <firstterm>operator class</> identifies the set of operations that the
   access method needs to be able to use to work with a particular data type.
   Operator classes are so called because one thing they specify is the set
   of WHERE-clause operators that can be used with an index (ie, can be
   converted into an index scan qualification).  An operator class may also
   specify some <firstterm>support procedures</> that are needed by the
   internal operations of the index access method, but do not directly
   correspond to any WHERE-clause operator that can be used with the index.
  </para>

  <para>
   It is possible to define multiple operator classes for the same
   input data type and index access method.  By doing this, multiple
   sets of indexing semantics can be defined for a single data type.
   For example, a B-tree index requires a sort ordering to be defined
   for each data type it works on.
   It might be useful for a complex-number data type
   to have one B-tree operator class that sorts the data by complex
   absolute value, another that sorts by real part, and so on.
   Typically one of the operator classes will be deemed most commonly
   useful and will be marked as the default operator class for that
   data type and index access method.
  </para>

  <para>
   The same operator class name
   can be used for several different access methods (for example, both B-tree
   and hash access methods have operator classes named
   <literal>oid_ops</literal>), but each such class is an independent
   entity and must be defined separately.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-strategies">
  <title>Access Method Strategies</title>

  <para>
   The operators associated with an operator class are identified by
   <quote>strategy numbers</>, which serve to identify the semantics of
   each operator within the context of its operator class.
   For example, B-trees impose a strict ordering on keys, lesser to greater,
   and so operators like <quote>less than</> and <quote>greater than or equal
   to</> are interesting with respect to a B-tree.
   Because
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allows the user to define operators,
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> cannot look at the name of an operator
   (e.g., <literal>&lt;</> or <literal>&gt;=</>) and tell what kind of
   comparison it is.  Instead, the index access method defines a set of
   <quote>strategies</>, which can be thought of as generalized operators.
   Each operator class shows which actual operator corresponds to each
   strategy for a particular data type and interpretation of the index
   semantics.
  </para>

  <para>
   B-tree indexes define 5 strategies, as shown in <xref
   linkend="xindex-btree-strat-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-btree-strat-table">
    <title>B-tree Strategies</title>
    <titleabbrev>B-tree</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Operation</entry>
       <entry>Strategy Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>less than</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>less than or equal</entry>
       <entry>2</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>equal</entry>
       <entry>3</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>greater than or equal</entry>
       <entry>4</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>greater than</entry>
       <entry>5</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   Hash indexes express only bitwise similarity, and so they define only 1
   strategy, as shown in <xref linkend="xindex-hash-strat-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-hash-strat-table">
    <title>Hash Strategies</title>
    <titleabbrev>Hash</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Operation</entry>
       <entry>Strategy Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>equal</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   R-tree indexes express rectangle-containment relationships.
   They define 8 strategies, as shown in <xref linkend="xindex-rtree-strat-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-rtree-strat-table">
    <title>R-tree Strategies</title>
    <titleabbrev>R-tree</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Operation</entry>
       <entry>Strategy Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>left of</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>left of or overlapping</entry>
       <entry>2</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>overlapping</entry>
       <entry>3</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>right of or overlapping</entry>
       <entry>4</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>right of</entry>
       <entry>5</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>same</entry>
       <entry>6</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>contains</entry>
       <entry>7</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>contained by</entry>
       <entry>8</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   GiST indexes are even more flexible: they do not have a fixed set of
   strategies at all.  Instead, the <quote>consistency</> support routine
   of a particular GiST operator class interprets the strategy numbers
   however it likes.
  </para>

  <para>
   By the way, the <structfield>amorderstrategy</structfield> column
   in <classname>pg_am</> tells whether
   the access method supports ordered scan.  Zero means it doesn't; if it
   does, <structfield>amorderstrategy</structfield> is the strategy
   number that corresponds to the ordering operator.  For example, B-tree
   has <structfield>amorderstrategy</structfield> = 1, which is its
   <quote>less than</quote> strategy number.
  </para>

  <para>
   In short, an operator class must specify a set of operators that express
   each of these semantic ideas for the operator class's data type.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-support">
  <title>Access Method Support Routines</title>

  <para>
   Strategies aren't usually enough information for the system to figure
   out how to use an index.  In practice, the access methods require
   additional support routines in order to work. For example, the B-tree
   access method must be able to compare two keys and determine whether one
   is greater than, equal to, or less than the other.  Similarly, the
   R-tree access method must be able to compute
   intersections,  unions, and sizes of rectangles.  These
   operations do not correspond to operators used in qualifications in
   SQL queries;  they are administrative routines used by
   the access methods, internally.
  </para>

  <para>
   Just as with operators, the operator class identifies which specific
   functions should play each of these roles for a given data type and
   semantic interpretation.  The index access method specifies the set
   of functions it needs, and the operator class identifies the correct
   functions to use by assigning <quote>support function numbers</> to them.
  </para>

  <para>
   B-trees require a single support function, as shown in <xref
   linkend="xindex-btree-support-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-btree-support-table">
    <title>B-tree Support Functions</title>
    <titleabbrev>B-tree</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Function</entry>
       <entry>Support Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>
   Compare two keys and return an integer less than zero, zero, or
   greater than zero, indicating whether the first key is less than, equal to,
   or greater than the second.
       </entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   Hash indexes likewise require one support function, as shown in <xref
   linkend="xindex-hash-support-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-hash-support-table">
    <title>Hash Support Functions</title>
    <titleabbrev>Hash</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Function</entry>
       <entry>Support Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>Compute the hash value for a key</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   R-tree indexes require three support functions,
   as shown in <xref linkend="xindex-rtree-support-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-rtree-support-table">
    <title>R-tree Support Functions</title>
    <titleabbrev>R-tree</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Function</entry>
       <entry>Support Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>union</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>intersection</entry>
       <entry>2</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>size</entry>
       <entry>3</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

  <para>
   GiST indexes require seven support functions,
   as shown in <xref linkend="xindex-gist-support-table">.
  </para>

   <table tocentry="1" id="xindex-gist-support-table">
    <title>GiST Support Functions</title>
    <titleabbrev>GiST</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>Function</entry>
       <entry>Support Number</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>consistent</entry>
       <entry>1</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>union</entry>
       <entry>2</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>compress</entry>
       <entry>3</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>decompress</entry>
       <entry>4</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>penalty</entry>
       <entry>5</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>picksplit</entry>
       <entry>6</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>equal</entry>
       <entry>7</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>

 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-operators">
  <title>Creating the Operators and Support Routines</title>

  <para>
   Now that we have seen the ideas, here is the promised example
   of creating a new operator class.  First, we need a set of operators.
   The procedure for
   defining operators was discussed in <xref linkend="xoper">.
   For  the  <literal>complex_abs_ops</literal>  operator  class on B-trees,
   the operators we require are:

   <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
    <listitem><simpara>absolute-value less-than (strategy 1)</></>
    <listitem><simpara>absolute-value less-than-or-equal (strategy 2)</></>
    <listitem><simpara>absolute-value equal (strategy 3)</></>
    <listitem><simpara>absolute-value greater-than-or-equal (strategy 4)</></>
    <listitem><simpara>absolute-value greater-than (strategy 5)</></>
   </itemizedlist>
  </para>

  <para>
   Suppose the code that implements these functions
   is stored in the file
   <filename><replaceable>PGROOT</replaceable>/src/tutorial/complex.c</filename>,
   which we have compiled into
   <filename><replaceable>PGROOT</replaceable>/src/tutorial/complex.so</filename>.
   Part of the C code looks like this:

<programlisting>
#define Mag(c) ((c)-&gt;x*(c)-&gt;x + (c)-&gt;y*(c)-&gt;y)

         bool
         complex_abs_eq(Complex *a, Complex *b)
         {
             double amag = Mag(a), bmag = Mag(b);
             return (amag==bmag);
         }
</programlisting>
   (Note that we will only show the equality operator in this text.
   The other four operators are very similar.  Refer to
   <filename>complex.c</filename> or
   <filename>complex.source</filename> for the details.)
  </para>

  <para>
   We make the function known to <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> like this:
<programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION complex_abs_eq(complex, complex) RETURNS boolean
    AS '<replaceable>PGROOT</replaceable>/src/tutorial/complex'
    LANGUAGE C;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   There are some important things that are happening here:

  <itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
  <para>
   First, note that operators for less-than, less-than-or-equal, equal,
   greater-than-or-equal, and greater-than for <filename>complex</filename>
   are being defined.  We can only have one operator named, say, = and
   taking type <filename>complex</filename> for both operands.  In this case
   we don't have any other operator = for <filename>complex</filename>,
   but if we were building a practical data type we'd probably want = to
   be the ordinary equality operation for complex numbers.  In that case,
   we'd need to use some other operator name for <function>complex_abs_eq</>.
  </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
  <para>
   Second, although <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> can cope with operators having
   the same name as long as they have different input data types, C can only
   cope with one global routine having a given name, period.  So we shouldn't
   name the C function something simple like <filename>abs_eq</filename>.
   Usually it's a good practice to include the data type name in the C
   function name, so as not to conflict with functions for other data types.
  </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
  <para>
   Third, we could have made the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> name of the function
   <filename>abs_eq</filename>, relying on <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> to distinguish it
   by input data types from any other <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> function of the same name.
   To keep the example simple, we make the function have the same names
   at the C level and <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> level.
  </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
  <para>
   Finally, note that these operator functions return Boolean values.
   In practice, all operators defined as index access method
   strategies must return type <type>boolean</type>, since they must
   appear at the top level of a <literal>WHERE</> clause to be used with an index.
   (On the other hand, support functions return whatever the
   particular access method expects -- in the case of the comparison
   function for B-trees, a signed integer.)
  </para>
   </listitem>
  </itemizedlist>
  </para>

  <para>
   Now we are ready to define the operators:

<programlisting>
CREATE OPERATOR = (
     leftarg = complex, rightarg = complex,
     procedure = complex_abs_eq,
     restrict = eqsel, join = eqjoinsel
         );
</programlisting>

   The important
   things here are the procedure names (which are the C
   functions defined above) and the restriction and join selectivity
   functions.  You should just use the selectivity functions used in
   the example (see <filename>complex.source</filename>).
   Note that there
   are different such functions for the less-than, equal, and greater-than
   cases.  These must be supplied or the optimizer will be unable to
   make effective use of the index.
  </para>

  <para>
   The next step is the registration of the comparison <quote>support
   routine</quote> required by B-trees.  The C code that implements this
   is in the same file that contains the operator procedures:

<programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION complex_abs_cmp(complex, complex)
    RETURNS integer
    AS '<replaceable>PGROOT</replaceable>/src/tutorial/complex'
    LANGUAGE C;
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-opclass">
  <title>Creating the Operator Class</title>

  <para>
   Now that we have the required operators and support routine,
   we can finally create the operator class:

<programlisting>
CREATE OPERATOR CLASS complex_abs_ops
    DEFAULT FOR TYPE complex USING btree AS
        OPERATOR        1       &lt; ,
        OPERATOR        2       &lt;= ,
        OPERATOR        3       = ,
        OPERATOR        4       &gt;= ,
        OPERATOR        5       &gt; ,
        FUNCTION        1       complex_abs_cmp(complex, complex);
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   And we're done!  (Whew.)  It should now be possible to create
   and use B-tree indexes on <type>complex</type> columns.
  </para>

  <para>
   We could have written the operator entries more verbosely, as in
<programlisting>
        OPERATOR        1       &lt; (complex, complex) ,
</programlisting>
   but there is no need to do so when the operators take the same data type
   we are defining the operator class for.
  </para>

  <para>
   The above example assumes that you want to make this new operator class the
   default B-tree operator class for the <type>complex</type> data type.
   If you don't, just leave out the word <literal>DEFAULT</>.
  </para>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="xindex-opclass-features">
  <title>Special Features of Operator Classes</title>

  <para>
   There are two special features of operator classes that we have
   not discussed yet, mainly because they are not very useful
   with the default B-tree index access method.
  </para>

  <para>
   Normally, declaring an operator as a member of an operator class means
   that the index access method can retrieve exactly the set of rows
   that satisfy a WHERE condition using the operator.  For example,
<programlisting>
SELECT * FROM table WHERE integer_column &lt; 4;
</programlisting>
   can be satisfied exactly by a B-tree index on the integer column.
   But there are cases where an index is useful as an inexact guide to
   the matching rows.  For example, if an R-tree index stores only
   bounding boxes for objects, then it cannot exactly satisfy a WHERE
   condition that tests overlap between nonrectangular objects such as
   polygons.  Yet we could use the index to find objects whose bounding
   box overlaps the bounding box of the target object, and then do the
   exact overlap test only on the objects found by the index.  If this
   scenario applies, the index is said to be <quote>lossy</> for the
   operator, and we add <literal>RECHECK</> to the <literal>OPERATOR</> clause
   in the <command>CREATE OPERATOR CLASS</> command.
   <literal>RECHECK</> is valid if the index is guaranteed to return
   all the required tuples, plus perhaps some additional tuples, which
   can be eliminated by performing the original operator comparison.
  </para>

  <para>
   Consider again the situation where we are storing in the index only
   the bounding box of a complex object such as a polygon.  In this
   case there's not much value in storing the whole polygon in the index
   entry --- we may as well store just a simpler object of type
   <literal>box</>.  This situation is expressed by the <literal>STORAGE</>
   option in <command>CREATE OPERATOR CLASS</>: we'd write something like

<programlisting>
CREATE OPERATOR CLASS polygon_ops
    DEFAULT FOR TYPE polygon USING gist AS
        ...
        STORAGE box;
</programlisting>

   At present, only the GiST access method supports a
   <literal>STORAGE</> type that's different from the column data type.
   The GiST <literal>compress</> and <literal>decompress</> support
   routines must deal with data-type conversion when <literal>STORAGE</>
   is used.
  </para>
 </sect1>

</chapter>

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