Re: Indexing varchar[]'s

On Fri, Jun 15, 2001 at 10:46:00AM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> "Eric Ridge" <ebr@tcdi.com> writes:
> > If this has been asked and answered before, I am sorry.  I've been
> > digging through the mail archives and cannot find this particular
> > question (although some releated to int64[]'s).  Is it possible, with
> > 7.1.2, to create an index on a varchar[]?
>
> No, there's no support for indexes on varchar arrays (or any other kind
> of array).  What sorts of things do you think such an index should be
> able to do?

i'd bet that it's likely that something could be done with a
subsidiary relation -- instead of

    create table burgeoning (
        id serial,
        stuff text,
        amt float8,
        xref int8,
        xyz varchar[],  -- hmm?
        primary key (id)
    );

maybe this would be a good alternative:

    create table streamline (
        id serial,
        stuff text,
        amt float8,
        xref int8,
        primary key (id)
    );
    create table subsidiary (
        id references streamline(id),
        xyz varchar   -- aha!
    );
    create view shebang as
        select
            streamline.*,
            subsidiary.xyz
        from
            streamline,
            subsidiary
        where
            streamline.id = subsidiary.id
    ;

may not work in some cases, but it's certainly easier on the
indexing, yes?

--
I figure: if a man's gonna gamble, may as well do it
without plowing.   -- Bama Dillert, "Some Came Running"

will@serensoft.com
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