<returnvalue>json</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts an <type>hstore</type> to a <type>json</type> value, but
        attempts to distinguish numerical and Boolean values so they are
        unquoted in the JSON.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>hstore_to_json_loose('"a key"=&gt;1, b=&gt;t, c=&gt;null, d=&gt;12345, e=&gt;012345, f=&gt;1.234, g=&gt;2.345e+4')</literal>
        <returnvalue>{"a key": 1, "b": true, "c": null, "d": 12345, "e": "012345", "f": 1.234, "g": 2.345e+4}</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>hstore_to_jsonb_loose</primary></indexterm>
        <function>hstore_to_jsonb_loose</function> ( <type>hstore</type> )
        <returnvalue>jsonb</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Converts an <type>hstore</type> to a <type>jsonb</type> value, but
        attempts to distinguish numerical and Boolean values so they are
        unquoted in the JSON.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>hstore_to_jsonb_loose('"a key"=&gt;1, b=&gt;t, c=&gt;null, d=&gt;12345, e=&gt;012345, f=&gt;1.234, g=&gt;2.345e+4')</literal>
        <returnvalue>{"a key": 1, "b": true, "c": null, "d": 12345, "e": "012345", "f": 1.234, "g": 2.345e+4}</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>slice</primary></indexterm>
        <function>slice</function> ( <type>hstore</type>, <type>text[]</type> )
        <returnvalue>hstore</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Extracts a subset of an <type>hstore</type> containing only the
        specified keys.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>slice('a=&gt;1,b=&gt;2,c=&gt;3'::hstore, ARRAY['b','c','x'])</literal>
        <returnvalue>"b"=&gt;"2", "c"=&gt;"3"</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>each</primary></indexterm>
        <function>each</function> ( <type>hstore</type> )
        <returnvalue>setof record</returnvalue>
        ( <parameter>key</parameter> <type>text</type>,
        <parameter>value</parameter> <type>text</type> )
       </para>
       <para>
        Extracts an <type>hstore</type>'s keys and values as a set of records.
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>select * from each('a=&gt;1,b=&gt;2')</literal>
        <returnvalue></returnvalue>
<programlisting>
 key | value
-----+-------
 a   | 1
 b   | 2
</programlisting>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>exist</primary></indexterm>
        <function>exist</function> ( <type>hstore</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Does <type>hstore</type> contain key?
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>exist('a=&gt;1', 'a')</literal>
        <returnvalue>t</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>defined</primary></indexterm>
        <function>defined</function> ( <type>hstore</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Does <type>hstore</type> contain a non-<literal>NULL</literal> value
        for key?
       </para>
       <para>
        <literal>defined('a=&gt;NULL', 'a')</literal>
        <returnvalue>f</returnvalue>
       </para></entry>
      </row>

      <row>
       <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
        <indexterm><primary>delete</primary></indexterm>
        <function>delete</function> ( <type>hstore</type>, <type>text</type> )
        <returnvalue>hstore</returnvalue>
       </para>
       <para>
        Deletes