pg_dump and circular dependency

[andrew]

Table A has a CHECK constraint testing boolean function F.
Function F has a SELECT from Table A.

In my manual build script, I create the table, then the function, and then at the very end of the script to I do an ALTER TABLE ADD CHECK.

pg_dump appears to put the CHECK constraint as a clause in the CREATE TABLE statement. Now I'm in trouble, because whichever of the table or the function is read in first by pg_restore refers to an object that hasn't been created yet. The restore fails.

I suppose I can replace the CHECK with an explicit trigger (that uses an exception) and then pg_dump will get the creation sequence correct. Is there another way?

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[Tom Lane]

an****@pillette.com writes:

Table A has a CHECK constraint testing boolean function F.
Function F has a SELECT from Table A. In my manual build script, I create the table, then the function, and then at the very end of the script to I do an ALTER TABLE ADD CHECK. I suppose I can replace the CHECK with an explicit trigger (that uses an exception) and then pg_dump will get the creation sequence correct. Is there another way?

In 7.4 you could create the function first using SET
check_function_bodies = false. 7.5 will have a proper solution...
pg_dump can now actually detect reference circularities and fix them
by using ALTER ...

regards, tom lane

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