Calling Stored Functions and Procedures

PostgreSQL supports two types of stored objects, functions that can return a result value and - starting from v11 - procedures that can perform transaction control. Both types of stored objects are invoked using CallableStatement and the standard JDBC escape call syntax {call storedobject(?)} . The escapeSyntaxCallMode connection property controls how the driver transforms the call syntax to invoke functions or procedures.

The default mode, select , supports backwards compatibility for existing applications and supports function invocation only. This is required to invoke a function returning void.

For new applications, use escapeSyntaxCallMode=callIfNoReturn to map CallableStatements with return values to stored functions and CallableStatements without return values to stored procedures.

Example 6.1. Calling a built-in stored function

This example shows how to call the PostgreSQL built-in function, upper, which simply converts the supplied string argument to uppercase.

CallableStatement upperFunc = conn.prepareCall("{? = call upper( ? ) }");
upperFunc.registerOutParameter(1, Types.VARCHAR);
upperFunc.setString(2, "lowercase to uppercase");
upperFunc.execute();
String upperCased = upperFunc.getString(1);
upperFunc.close();

PostgreSQL’s™ stored functions can return results in two different ways. The function may return either a refcursor value or a SETOF some datatype. Depending on which of these return methods are used determines how the function should be called.

Functions that return data as a set should not be called via the CallableStatement interface, but instead should use the normal Statement or PreparedStatement interfaces.

Example 6.2. Getting SETOF type values from a function

Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
stmt.execute("CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION setoffunc() RETURNS SETOF int AS " +
    "' SELECT 1 UNION SELECT 2;' LANGUAGE sql");
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM setoffunc()");
while (rs.next()) {
    // do something
}
rs.close();
stmt.close();

When calling a function that returns a refcursor you must cast the return type of getObject to a ResultSet.

One notable limitation of the current support for a ResultSet created from a refcursor is that even though it is a cursor backed ResultSet , all data will be retrieved and cached on the client. The Statement fetch size parameter described in the section called Getting results based on a cursor is ignored. This limitation is a deficiency of the JDBC driver, not the server, and it is technically possible to remove it, we just haven’t found the time.

Example 6.3. Getting refcursor Value From a Function

// Setup function to call.
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
stmt.execute("CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION refcursorfunc() RETURNS refcursor AS '" +
    " DECLARE " +
    "    mycurs refcursor; " +
    " BEGIN " +
    "    OPEN mycurs FOR SELECT 1 UNION SELECT 2; " +
    "    RETURN mycurs; " +
    " END;' language plpgsql");
stmt.close();

// We must be inside a transaction for cursors to work.
conn.setAutoCommit(false);

// Function call.
CallableStatement func = conn.prepareCall("{? = call refcursorfunc() }");
func.registerOutParameter(1, Types.OTHER);
func.execute();
ResultSet results = (ResultSet) func.getObject(1);
while (results.next()) {
    // do something with the results.
}
results.close();
func.close();

It is also possible to treat the refcursor return value as a cursor name directly. To do this, use the getString of ResultSet . With the underlying cursor name, you are free to directly use cursor commands on it, such as FETCH and MOVE .

Example 6.4. Treating refcursor as a cursor name

conn.setAutoCommit(false);
CallableStatement func = conn.prepareCall("{? = call refcursorfunc() }");
func.registerOutParameter(1, Types.OTHER);
func.execute();
String cursorName = func.getString(1);
func.close();

Example 6.5. Calling a stored procedure

This example shows how to call a PostgreSQL procedure that uses transaction control.

// set up a connection
String url = "jdbc:postgresql://localhost/test";
Properties props = new Properties();
...other properties...
    // Ensure EscapeSyntaxCallmode property set to support procedures if no return value
    props.setProperty("escapeSyntaxCallMode", "callIfNoReturn");
Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, props);

// Setup procedure to call.
Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
stmt.execute("CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_val ( some_val bigint )");
stmt.execute("CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE commitproc(a INOUT bigint) AS '" +
    " BEGIN " +
    "    INSERT INTO temp_val values(a); " +
    "    COMMIT; " +
    " END;' LANGUAGE plpgsql");
stmt.close();

// As of v11, we must be outside a transaction for procedures with transactions to work.
con.setAutoCommit(true);

// Procedure call with transaction
CallableStatement proc = con.prepareCall("{call commitproc( ? )}");
proc.setInt(1, 100);
proc.execute();
proc.close();