Re: Persistent data across SETOF calls

Ed Behn <ed@behn.us> writes:
>     I maintain the PL/Haskell language handler. Typically, the handler
> compiles function code and stores the compiled data in the fn_extra field
> of FmgrInfo. The fn_extra field persists from one call to the next within a
> query meaning the expensive compilation only needs to happen once per
> query.

>     However, when calling a set-returning function multiple times in a
> query, there appears to be no way to carry data from one set to another.
> This is because the fn_extra field stores the FuncCallContext structure.
> While the user_fctx field of the FuncCallContext structure persists from
> one call to the next, it is NULLed out at the end of a set.

>     For example, if there is a table, t, with a column, i, and a
> set-returning function, func, the following query is very inefficient:

>     SELECT *
>     FROM t, func(i)

> This is because the function is recompiled for each row of t.

Hmm, I don't believe any of the built-in PLs have that issue,
but they mostly don't use the funcapi.h SRF infrastructure.
Maybe you should look at the way that the SQL-language function
executor (executor/functions.c) deals with SRFs.  I wouldn't have
recommended it as a model before v18, but the new implementation
is reasonably good I think, and it does manage to cache compiled
functions for the life of the session.

            regards, tom lane