best way to retreive the next record in a multi column index

<div class="Section1"><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Can anybody help me with this? (<span class="GramE">sorry</span> for posting on
hackers)</span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">I need to be able determine the next row based on a non unique key (index).<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have solved this problem, but I would like to know if there is a simpler
solution.<spanstyle="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>For those of you who have ever dealt with COBOL, this is an on the fly
sqlconstruction of a 'READ NEXT' statement following a START.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Very similar to
cursors,but because of the transactional limitations of cursors they cannot be used in this context.</span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Example: </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">I have a table t with columns a, b, c.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>I have values a1, b1,
c1for those columns and would like to know the next value in the table when ordered by a, b.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have values a1, b1, and oid1 and would like to find the very next record in the
table(essentially looking for the next record in the index).</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">I have two solutions: one with 'or' logic and one with 'and' logic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 
</span>Note:if the index we are scanning has the unique constraint, the <span class="SpellE">oid</span> part of the
logic(and the index) can be left out.</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">create</span></font></span><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">index <span class="SpellE">t_idx</span> on t(a, b, <span
class="SpellE">oid</span>);</span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">*or* logic:</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">select</span></font></span><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">* from t </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font
face="Arial"size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">where</span></font></span><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span></span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">    </span>a > a1 OR</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font
face="Arial"size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">    </span>(a = a1 and b > b1) OR</span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">    </span>(a = a1 and b = b1 and <span class="SpellE">oid</span>
>oid1)</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">    </span><span class="GramE">order</span> by a, b, <span
class="SpellE">oid</span></span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">    </span></span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial">*and* logic</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">select</span></font></span><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">* from t</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font
face="Arial"size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">where</span></font></span><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count:1">            </span>a >= a1 AND</span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count:1">            </span>(a > a1 or b >= b1) AND</span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count:1">            </span>(a > a1 or b > b1 or <span
class="SpellE">oid</span>> oid1)</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count:1">            </span><span class="GramE">order</span> by a, b, <span
class="SpellE">oid</span></span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">I think, of the two, <span class="GramE">the or</span> logic is much better.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The problem with both approaches is that when we have a 4 column based key (common in
COBOL)our index is based on <span class="SpellE">a,b,c,d,o</span> and the number of comparisons (and our select
statement)becomes large, and performance is very important!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>If some logical
geniusknows how to reduce the above logic into a more direct approach, feel free to comment.</span></font><p
class="MsoNormal"><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Postgres properly optimizes both cases, and uses the key even for a table with 1 million + records
in<span class="GramE">it,</span> the answer comes back right away.</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">My question is: is there a simpler way to do this? AFIK there is no way in sql to directly find the
'next'or 'previous' record in an ordered index (in other words, I have <span class="SpellE">oid</span> n, what is the
next<span class="SpellE">oid</span> in the index?) without using the above logic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> 
</span>Inother words, I am missing the ability to deal with a multi column index value in a comparison as a single
entity.</span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">p.s.</span></font></span><fontface="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"></span></font><pclass="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">the</span></font></span><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">above queries are 'sliding window' queries similar to cursors.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If your table traversal can be defined by an (unique) index, you can use the above
templatesto slide over the tables without the use of a cursor.</span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"
size="2"><spanstyle="font-size:10.0pt; 
font-family:Arial"> </span></font><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Merlin</span></font></div>