Re: Using CTID system column as a "temporary" primary key

On Tue, 2023-03-28 at 14:24 -0400, Kirk Wolak wrote:
>
> I cringe at the thought of using CTID.  And while it's probably "safe enough"
> inside a single transaction.  I doubt that there is much "testing" of this concept. 

It is safe to assume that the CTID is stable within a single transaction
only if you use REPEATABLE READ or better transaction isolation level.

With READ COMMITTED, you see updated rows (and consequently changed CTID)
within a single transaction.  And if you use SELECT ... FOR UPDATE, you
could even see a changed CTID within a single statement.

So don't use CTID to identify rows unless you use REPEATABLE READ or better.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe