> create trigger date_update before update on mytable
> for each statement execut procedure [procedure that inserts a date
> for me in the update_date column]
>
> So what would I be doing for the portion in brackets?
at that point you need a function.
check out the CREATE FUNCTION syntax in the docs
(http://www.postgresql.org/idocs/index.php?sql-createfunction.html).
for what you were talking about, it seems like something as simple as
create function trigger_before_update_mytable() returns opaque as '
begin
new.update_date = now();
return new;
end;
' as language 'plpgsql';
would work.
then your last line of the trigger statement would be:
for each statement execut procedure trigger_before_update_mytable();
good luck.
-tfo