SPI_GETBINVAL(3)

✨ SPI_GETBINVAL ✨

okay bestie, this is SPI_getbinval — the function that hands you back the binary value of a column you point at 💅 and it lives in the PostgreSQL 18.6 Documentation, so you know it's legit.

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🎀 NAME 🎀

SPI_getbinval</purage> — return the binary value of the specified column. no cap, that's literally the whole job 🫶

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

Datum SPI_getbinval(HeapTuple row, TupleDesc rowdesc, int colnumber,
                    bool * isnull)

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like. SPI_getbinval gives you the value of the column you asked for, in the internal form — as type Datum 👑

and here's the tea, bestie, listen up: this function does not allocate new space for the datum 🚨 if the data type is pass-by-reference, then what you get back is a pointer into the passed row. it's giving "borrowed, not owned" energy. so don't go freeing it or expecting it to survive the row going away, iykyk 💀

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🧚 ARGUMENTS 🧚

• HeapTuple row — the input row we're examining 🔍 the main character of this whole operation.
• TupleDesc rowdesc — the input row description, aka the blueprint that tells us what's in that row.
• int colnumber — the column number. and heads up bestie: the count starts at 1 ⭐ not 0, okay? 1. we're not doing zero-indexing today 🙈
• bool * isnull — a flag for a null value in the column 🌈 it's a pointer, so this function can reach out and set it for you.

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💖 RETURN VALUE 💖

the binary value of the column comes back to you, slay ✨ and the variable that isnull points to gets set to true if the column is null, else false. so you always know what you're working with 🎀

SPI_result gets set to SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE on error 😭 — so if something goes sideways, that's your girl telling you what's up.

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lowkey important: that pointer situation from the DESCRIPTION section? yeah. don't lose it, don't free it, just vibe with it and use it while the row's still around 💜

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🦋 this was the PostgreSQL 18.6 manual, dated 2026, for the SPI_GETBINVAL(3) page — k bye, go write some slayful C 💅👑💖