Re: invalid regular expression: invalid backreference number

Jeff Ross <jross@wykids.org> writes:
> To debug this I've extracted the code into its own function:

> CREATE FUNCTION gen_password() RETURNS text AS $$
> DECLARE
>   password text;
>   chars := 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789';
> BEGIN

You forgot to give a type for the "chars" variable.

> psql:create_password.sql:12: ERROR:  invalid type name ""
> CONTEXT:  compile of PL/pgSQL function "gen_password" near line 3

I agree that this is a pretty awful error message :-( ... will take a
look at whether it can be improved.

            regards, tom lane