DELETE OR UPDATE</literal> trigger using this
function on a table referenced by other table(s). Specify as the trigger
arguments: the number of referencing tables for which the function has to
perform checking, the action if a referencing key is found
(<literal>cascade</literal> — to delete the referencing row,
<literal>restrict</literal> — to abort transaction if referencing keys
exist, <literal>setnull</literal> — to set referencing key fields to null),
the triggered table's column names which form the primary/unique key, then
the referencing table name and column names (repeated for as many
referencing tables as were specified by first argument). Note that the
primary/unique key columns should be marked NOT NULL and should have a
unique index.
</para>
<para>
Note that if these triggers are executed from
another <literal>BEFORE</literal> trigger, they can fail unexpectedly. For
example, if a user inserts row1 and then the <literal>BEFORE</literal>
trigger inserts row2 and calls a trigger with the
<function>check_foreign_key()</function>,
the <function>check_foreign_key()</function>
function will not see row1 and will fail.
</para>
<para>
There are examples in <filename>refint.example</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="contrib-spi-autoinc">
<title>autoinc — Functions for Autoincrementing Fields</title>
<para>
<function>autoinc()</function> is a trigger that stores the next value of
a sequence into an integer field. This has some overlap with the
built-in <quote>serial column</quote> feature, but it is not the same.
The trigger will replace the field's value only if that value is
initially zero or null (after the action of the SQL statement that
inserted or updated the row). Also, if the sequence's next value is
zero, <function>nextval()</function> will be called a second time in
order to obtain a non-zero value.
</para>
<para>
To use, create a <literal>BEFORE INSERT</literal> (or optionally <literal>BEFORE
INSERT OR UPDATE</literal>) trigger using this function. Specify two
trigger arguments: the name of the integer column to be modified,
and the name of the sequence object that will supply values.
(Actually, you can specify any number of pairs of such names, if
you'd like to update more than one autoincrementing column.)
</para>
<para>
There is an example in <filename>autoinc.example</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="contrib-spi-insert-username">
<title>insert_username — Functions for Tracking Who Changed a Table</title>
<para>
<function>insert_username()</function> is a trigger that stores the current
user's name into a text field. This can be useful for tracking
who last modified a particular row within a table.
</para>
<para>
To use, create a <literal>BEFORE INSERT</literal> and/or <literal>UPDATE</literal>
trigger using this function. Specify a single trigger
argument: the name of the text column to be modified.
</para>
<para>
There is an example in <filename>insert_username.example</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="contrib-spi-moddatetime">
<title>moddatetime — Functions for Tracking Last Modification Time</title>
<para>
<function>moddatetime()</function> is a trigger that stores the current
time into a <type>timestamp</type> field. This can be useful for tracking
the last modification time of a particular row within a table.
</para>
<para>
To use, create a <literal>BEFORE UPDATE</literal>
trigger using this function. Specify a single trigger
argument: the name of the column to be modified.
The column must be of type <type>timestamp</type> or <type>timestamp with
time zone</type>.
</para>
<para>
There is an example in <filename>moddatetime.example</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>