SPI_FNUMBER(3)

💅 SPI_fnumber 💅

okay so this is the SPI_fnumber page from the PostgreSQL 16.15 docs, and it's lowkey iconic for one very specific job: finding the column number for a column name 💖 bestie, let's get into it.

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✨ NAME ✨

SPI_fnumber — determine the column number for the specified column name. Like, you give it a name, it gives you the number. Slay 🔥

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int SPI_fnumber(TupleDesc rowdesc, const char * colname)

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so SPI_fnumber returns the column number for the column with the specified name. That's the whole vibe ✨

if colname refers to a system column (e.g., ctid) then the appropriate negative column number will be returned. Not a typo, bestie — negative numbers are absolutely possible here 🙈

so 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. Like, do not just do <= 0 unless you actually mean to reject system columns, okay? This is important, no cap 💀

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• TupleDesc rowdesc — input row description. The row description you're passing in, bestie 📥
• const char * colname — column name. The name you're hunting for 🔍

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👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

Column number (count starts at 1 for user-defined columns), or SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE if the named column was not found. So yes: user-defined columns start counting at 1, and if the named column is not found, you get SPI_ERROR_NOATTRIBUTE back 💖 periodt.

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xoxo, this has been the SPI_fnumber(3) page from the PostgreSQL 16.15 docs, dated 2026 — go forth and find those columns, bestie 🫶💅✨