DBLINK_OPEN(3)

💅 DBLINK_OPEN(3) — remote cursor glow-up 💅

okay so this is the DBLINK_OPEN(3) page from the PostgreSQL 15.19 Documentation, and it’s literally about opening a cursor in a remote database. bestie. cursor. remote. iconic. 🦋

🌸 NAME 🌸

dblink_open — opens a cursor in a remote database.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

dblink_open(text cursorname, text sql [, bool fail_on_error]) returns text
dblink_open(text connname, text cursorname, text sql [, bool fail_on_error]) returns text

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

dblink_open() opens a cursor in a remote database. The cursor can subsequently be manipulated with dblink_fetch() and dblink_close(). That’s the whole vibe: open it, fetch from it, close it. 🫶

💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

🌟 connname 🌟

Name of the connection to use; omit this parameter to use the unnamed connection.

🌟 cursorname 🌟

The name to assign to this cursor.

🌟 sql 🌟

The SELECT statement that you wish to execute in the remote database, for example select * from pg_class.

🌟 fail_on_error 🌟

If true (the default when omitted) then an error thrown on the remote side of the connection causes an error to also be thrown locally. If false, the remote error is locally reported as a NOTICE, and the function’s return value is set to ERROR.

🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

Returns status, either OK or ERROR.

👑 NOTES 👑

Since a cursor can only persist within a transaction, dblink_open starts an explicit transaction block (BEGIN) on the remote side, if the remote side was not already within a transaction. This transaction will be closed again when the matching dblink_close is executed.

😭 warning, bestie: note that if you use dblink_exec to change data between dblink_open and dblink_close, and then an error occurs or you use dblink_disconnect before dblink_close, your change will be lost because the transaction will be aborted. no cap, that’s a whole “your data said bye” moment. 💀

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

           SELECT dblink_connect('dbname=postgres options=-csearch_path=');
            dblink_connect
           ----------------
            OK
           (1 row)

           SELECT dblink_open('foo', 'select proname, prosrc from pg_proc');
            dblink_open
            -------------
            OK
           (1 row)

✨ and that’s the tea, bestie — this DBLINK_OPEN(3) page comes from PostgreSQL 15.19, dated 2026. slay. 💖