---
title: "PL/pgSQL — SQL Procedural Language"
id: plpgsql
pg_version: "20devel"
---

<a id="plpgsql"></a>

# PL/pgSQL — SQL Procedural Language

## Table of Contents

- [41.1. Overview](plpgsql-overview.md)
  - [41.1.1. Advantages of Using PL/pgSQL](plpgsql-overview.md#plpgsql-advantages)
  - [41.1.2. Supported Argument and Result Data Types](plpgsql-overview.md#plpgsql-args-results)
- [41.2. Structure of PL/pgSQL](plpgsql-structure.md)
- [41.3. Declarations](plpgsql-declarations.md)
  - [41.3.1. Declaring Function Parameters](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-parameters)
  - [41.3.2. `ALIAS`](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-alias)
  - [41.3.3. Copying Types](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-type)
  - [41.3.4. Row Types](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-rowtypes)
  - [41.3.5. Record Types](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-records)
  - [41.3.6. Collation of PL/pgSQL Variables](plpgsql-declarations.md#plpgsql-declaration-collation)
- [41.4. Expressions](plpgsql-expressions.md)
- [41.5. Basic Statements](plpgsql-statements.md)
  - [41.5.1. Assignment](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-assignment)
  - [41.5.2. Executing SQL Commands](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-general-sql)
  - [41.5.3. Executing a Command with a Single-Row Result](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-sql-onerow)
  - [41.5.4. Executing Dynamic Commands](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-executing-dyn)
  - [41.5.5. Obtaining the Result Status](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-diagnostics)
  - [41.5.6. Doing Nothing At All](plpgsql-statements.md#plpgsql-statements-null)
- [41.6. Control Structures](plpgsql-control-structures.md)
  - [41.6.1. Returning from a Function](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-statements-returning)
  - [41.6.2. Returning from a Procedure](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-statements-returning-procedure)
  - [41.6.3. Calling a Procedure](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-statements-calling-procedure)
  - [41.6.4. Conditionals](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-conditionals)
  - [41.6.5. Simple Loops](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-control-structures-loops)
  - [41.6.6. Looping through Query Results](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-records-iterating)
  - [41.6.7. Looping through Arrays](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-foreach-array)
  - [41.6.8. Trapping Errors](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-error-trapping)
  - [41.6.9. Obtaining Execution Location Information](plpgsql-control-structures.md#plpgsql-call-stack)
- [41.7. Cursors](plpgsql-cursors.md)
  - [41.7.1. Declaring Cursor Variables](plpgsql-cursors.md#plpgsql-cursor-declarations)
  - [41.7.2. Opening Cursors](plpgsql-cursors.md#plpgsql-cursor-opening)
  - [41.7.3. Using Cursors](plpgsql-cursors.md#plpgsql-cursor-using)
  - [41.7.4. Looping through a Cursor's Result](plpgsql-cursors.md#plpgsql-cursor-for-loop)
- [41.8. Transaction Management](plpgsql-transactions.md)
- [41.9. Errors and Messages](plpgsql-errors-and-messages.md)
  - [41.9.1. Reporting Errors and Messages](plpgsql-errors-and-messages.md#plpgsql-statements-raise)
  - [41.9.2. Checking Assertions](plpgsql-errors-and-messages.md#plpgsql-statements-assert)
- [41.10. Trigger Functions](plpgsql-trigger.md)
  - [41.10.1. Triggers on Data Changes](plpgsql-trigger.md#plpgsql-dml-trigger)
  - [41.10.2. Triggers on Events](plpgsql-trigger.md#plpgsql-event-trigger)
- [41.11. PL/pgSQL under the Hood](plpgsql-implementation.md)
  - [41.11.1. Variable Substitution](plpgsql-implementation.md#plpgsql-var-subst)
  - [41.11.2. Plan Caching](plpgsql-implementation.md#plpgsql-plan-caching)
- [41.12. Tips for Developing in PL/pgSQL](plpgsql-development-tips.md)
  - [41.12.1. Handling of Quotation Marks](plpgsql-development-tips.md#plpgsql-quote-tips)
  - [41.12.2. Additional Compile-Time and Run-Time Checks](plpgsql-development-tips.md#plpgsql-extra-checks)
- [41.13. Porting from Oracle PL/SQL](plpgsql-porting.md)
  - [41.13.1. Porting Examples](plpgsql-porting.md#plpgsql-porting-examples)
  - [41.13.2. Other Things to Watch For](plpgsql-porting.md#plpgsql-porting-other)
  - [41.13.3. Appendix](plpgsql-porting.md#plpgsql-porting-appendix)