SPI_FNUMBER(3)

💅 SPI_FNUMBER(3) — the column-number bestie 💅

okay so you're in the PostgreSQL 14.24 Documentation era and you need to figure out which column number matches a column name? say less, bestie. this page has you covered, no cap. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

SPI_fnumber — determine the column number for the specified column name.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int SPI_fnumber(TupleDesc rowdesc, const char * colname)

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

SPI_fnumber returns the column number for the column with the specified name. iconic behavior, literally.

if colname refers to a system column (e.g., ctid) then the appropriate negative column number will be returned. yes, negative — system columns stay main-character. 🫶

⚠️ okay this part matters: the caller should be careful to test the return value for exact equality to SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE to detect an error. testing the result for less than or equal to 0 is not correct unless system columns should be rejected. do not do the lazy <= 0 check unless you mean it, bestie 😭

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• TupleDesc rowdesc — input row description.
• const char * colname — column name.

✨ RETURN VALUE ✨

column number (count starts at 1 for user-defined columns), or SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE if the named column was not found. slay. 👑

mwah 💋 — signed, sealed, and served by the PostgreSQL 14.24 docs, dated 2026, page SPI_FNUMBER(3). periodt. 🌈