<Chapter Id="operators">
<Title>Operators</Title>

<Abstract>
<Para>
Describes the built-in operators available in <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName>.
</Para>
</Abstract>

<Para>
<ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> provides a large number of built-in operators on system types.
These operators are declared in the system catalog
pg_operator.  Every entry in pg_operator includes
the name of the procedure that implements the operator and the
class <Acronym>OIDs</Acronym> of the input and output types.

<Para>
To view all variations of the <Quote>||</Quote> string concatenation operator, try
<ProgramListing>
    SELECT oprleft, oprright, oprresult, oprcode
    FROM pg_operator WHERE oprname = '||';

oprleft|oprright|oprresult|oprcode
-------+--------+---------+-------
     25|      25|       25|textcat
   1042|    1042|     1042|textcat
   1043|    1043|     1043|textcat
(3 rows)
</ProgramListing>
</Para>

<sect1>
<title>Lexical Precedence</title>

<para>
Operators have a precedence which is currently hardcoded into the parser.
Most operators have the same precedence and are non-associative. This may lead
to non-intuitive behavior; for example the boolean operators "&lt;" and "&gt;"
have a different precedence that the boolean operators "&lt;=" and "&gt;=".

<table tocentry="1">
<title>
Operator Ordering (decreasing precedence)
</title>

<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>
Element
<entry>
Precedence
<entry>
Description
</thead>

<tbody>
<row>
<entry>
UNION
<entry>
left
<entry>
SQL select construct
<row>
<entry>
::
<entry>
<entry>
<productname>Postgres</productname> typecasting

<row>
<entry>
[ ]
<entry>
left
<entry>
array delimiters

<row>
<entry>
.
<entry>
left
<entry>
table/column delimiter

<row>
<entry>
-
<entry>
right
<entry>
unary minus

<row>
<entry>
;
<entry>
left
<entry>
statement termination, logarithm

<row>
<entry>
:
<entry>
right
<entry>
exponentiation

<row>
<entry>
|
<entry>
left
<entry>
start of interval

<row>
<entry>
* /
<entry>
left
<entry>
multiplication, division

<row>
<entry>
+ -
<entry>
left
<entry>
addition, subtraction

<row>
<entry>
IS
<entry>
<entry>
test for TRUE, FALSE, NULL
<row>
<entry>
ISNULL
<entry>
<entry>
test for NULL

<row>
<entry>
NOTNULL
<entry>
<entry>
test for NOT NULL

<row>
<entry>
(all other operators)
<entry>
<entry>
native and user-defined

<row>
<entry>
IN
<entry>
<entry>
set membership

<row>
<entry>
BETWEEN
<entry>
<entry>
containment

<row>
<entry>
LIKE
<entry>
<entry>
string pattern matching

<row>
<entry>
&lt; &gt;
<entry>
<entry>
boolean inequality

<row>
<entry>
=
<entry>
right
<entry>
equality

<row>
<entry>
NOT
<entry>
right
<entry>
negation

<row>
<entry>
AND
<entry>
left
<entry>
logical intersection

<row>
<entry>
OR
<entry>
left
<entry>
logical union

</tbody>
</table>

<sect1>
<title>General Operators</title>

<para>
The operators listed here are defined for a number of native data types, ranging
from numeric types to data/time types.

<Para>
<TABLE TOCENTRY="1">
<TITLE><ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> Operators</TITLE>
<TITLEABBREV>Operators</TITLEABBREV>
<TGROUP COLS="3">
<THEAD>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY>Operator</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Description</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Usage</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</THEAD>
<TBODY>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Less than?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>1 &lt; 2</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Less than or equal to?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>1 &lt;= 2</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Not equal?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>1 &lt;&gt; 2</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> = </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Equal?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>1 = 1</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Greater than?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2 &gt; 1</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &gt;= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Greater than or equal to?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2 &gt;= 1</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> || </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Concatenate strings</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'Postgre' || 'SQL'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !!= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>NOT IN</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>3 !!= i</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ~~ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>LIKE</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'scrappy,marc,hermit' ~~ '%scrappy%'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !~~ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>NOT LIKE</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'bruce' !~~ '%al%'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ~ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Match (regex), case sensitive</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'thomas' ~ '.*thomas.*'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ~* </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Match (regex), case insensitive</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'thomas' ~* '.*Thomas.*'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !~ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Does not match (regex), case sensitive</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'thomas' !~ '.*Thomas.*'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !~* </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Does not match (regex), case insensitive</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'thomas' !~ '.*vadim.*'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</TBODY>
</TGROUP>
</TABLE>
</Para>

<sect1>
<title>Numerical Operators</title>

<Para>
<TABLE TOCENTRY="1">
<TITLE><ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> Numerical Operators</TITLE>
<TITLEABBREV>Operators</TITLEABBREV>
<TGROUP COLS="3">
<THEAD>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY>Operator</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Description</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Usage</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</THEAD>
<TBODY>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !  </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Factorial</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>3 !</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> !!  </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Factorial (left operator)</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>!! 3</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> % </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Modulo</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>5 % 4</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> % </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Truncate</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>% 4.5</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> * </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Multiplication</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2 * 3</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> + </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Addition</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2 + 3</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> - </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Subtraction</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2 - 3</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> / </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Division</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>4 / 2</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> : </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Natural Exponentiation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>: 3.0</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Natural Logarithm</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>(; 5.0)</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> @ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Absolute value</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>@ -5.0</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ^ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Exponentiation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>2.0 ^ 3.0</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> |/ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Square root</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>|/ 25.0</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ||/ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Cube root</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>||/ 27.0</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</TBODY>
</TGROUP>
</TABLE>
</Para>

<sect1>
<title>Geometric Operators</title>

<Para>
<TABLE TOCENTRY="1">
<TITLE><ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> Geometric Operators</TITLE>
<TITLEABBREV>Operators</TITLEABBREV>
<TGROUP COLS="3">
<THEAD>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY>Operator</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Description</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Usage</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</THEAD>
<TBODY>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> + </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Translation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::box + '(2.0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> - </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Translation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::box - '(2.0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> * </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Scaling/rotation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::box * '(2.0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> / </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Scaling/rotation</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(2,2))'::box / '(2.0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> # </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Intersection</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((1,-1),(-1,1))' # '((1,1),(-1,-1))'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> # </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Number of points in polygon</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY># '((1,0),(0,1),(-1,0))'</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ## </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Point of closest proximity</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'(0,0)'::point ## '((2,0),(0,2))'::lseg</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &amp;&amp; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Overlaps?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::box &amp;&amp; '((0,0),(2,2))'::box</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &amp;&lt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Overlaps to left?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::box &amp;&lt; '((0,0),(2,2))'::box</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &amp;&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Overlaps to right?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(3,3))'::box &amp;&gt; '((0,0),(2,2))'::box</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;-&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Distance between</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),1)'::circle &lt;-&gt; '((5,0),1)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;&lt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Left of?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),1)'::circle &lt;&lt; '((5,0),1)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;^ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is below?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),1)'::circle &lt;^ '((0,5),1)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &gt;&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is right of?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((5,0),1)'::circle &gt;&gt; '((0,0),1)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &gt;^ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is above?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,5),1)'::circle >^ '((0,0),1)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ?# </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Intersects or overlaps</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((-1,0),(1,0))'::lseg ?# '((-2,-2),(2,2))'::box;</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ?- </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is horizontal?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'(1,0)'::point ?- '(0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ?-| </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is perpendicular?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(0,1))'::lseg ?-| '((0,0),(1,0))'::lseg</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> @-@  </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Length or circumference</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>@-@ '((0,0),(1,0))'::path</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ?| </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is vertical?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'(0,1)'::point ?| '(0,0)'::point</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ?|| </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Is parallel?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((-1,0),(1,0))'::lseg ?|| '((-1,2),(1,2))'::lseg</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> @ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Contained or on</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'(1,1)'::point @ '((0,0),2)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> @@ </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Center of</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>@@ '((0,0),10)'::circle</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ~= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Same as</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>'((0,0),(1,1))'::polygon ~= '((1,1),(0,0))'::polygon</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</TBODY>
</TGROUP>
</TABLE>
</Para>

<sect1>
<title>Time Interval Operators</title>

<Para>
The time interval data type <Type>tinterval</Type> is a legacy from the original
date/time types and is not as well supported as the more modern types. There
are several operators for this type.

<TABLE TOCENTRY="1">
<TITLE><ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> Time Interval Operators</TITLE>
<TITLEABBREV>Operators</TITLEABBREV>
<TGROUP COLS="3">
<THEAD>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY>Operator</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Description</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Usage</ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</THEAD>
<TBODY>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #&lt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval less than?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #&lt;= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval less than or equal to?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #&lt;&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval not equal?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval equal?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval greater than?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> #&gt;= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval greater than or equal to?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;#&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Convert to time interval</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;&lt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Interval less than?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> | </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Start of interval</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> ~= </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Same as</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
    <ENTRY> &lt;?&gt; </ENTRY>
    <ENTRY>Time inside interval?</ENTRY>
    <ENTRY></ENTRY>
  </ROW>
</TBODY>
</TGROUP>
</TABLE>
</Para>


<Para>
Users may invoke operators using the operator name, as in:

<ProgramListing>
select * from emp where salary < 40000;
</ProgramListing>

Alternatively, users may call the functions that implement the
operators directly.  In this case, the query above would be expressed
as:
<ProgramListing>
select * from emp where int4lt(salary, 40000);
</ProgramListing>

<Para>
<Application>psql</Application>
has a command (<Command>\dd</Command>) to show these operators.
</Chapter>

