inserting data into multiple tables

Hello,

I have a table "refers_to"

individual_id int4
book_id int4

and another "individual"

individual_id int4 nextval('individual_serial')
name varchar
forename varchar

If the individual exists then get his id. If he doesn't allready exist
write his names to the table and get the newly created individual_id.

Then I though of using a function to write the book_id and the
individual_id to refers_to.

QUESTIONS

I am using JSP so the ideal seems to be stored functions in pl/pgsql?

What is the best order to do this in order to prevent a performance hit?

TIA

Tony Grant

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