SPI_EXECUTE_WITH_ARGS(3)

💖 SPI_EXECUTE_WITH_ARGS 💖

okay bestie, so this is a PostgreSQL 18.6 manual page, and today we're learning about SPI_execute_with_args — she runs a command with out-of-line parameters and honestly? she's iconic for it. ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

SPI_execute_with_args — execute a command with out-of-line parameters 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int SPI_execute_with_args(const char *command,
                          int nargs, Oid *argtypes,
                          Datum *values, const char *nulls,
                          bool read_only, long count)

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So what does she do? SPI_execute_with_args executes a command that might include references to externally supplied parameters. The command text refers to a parameter as $n, and the call specifies data types and values for each such symbol. read_only and count have the same interpretation as in SPI_execute. no cap. 🫶

The main advantage of this routine compared to SPI_execute is that data values can be inserted into the command without tedious quoting/escaping, and thus with much less risk of SQL-injection attacks. like, the way she just handles the escaping for you? main character energy. 🔥

Similar results can be achieved with SPI_prepare followed by SPI_execute_plan; however, when using this function the query plan is always customized to the specific parameter values provided. For one-time query execution, this function should be preferred. If the same command is to be executed with many different parameters, either method might be faster, depending on the cost of re-planning versus the benefit of custom plans. it's giving "depends on the vibes" but in a very rigorous, well-documented way. 🧚

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💜 ARGUMENTS 💜

• const char * command — the command string, bestie. literally just the command string. ✨
• int nargs — number of input parameters ($1, $2, etc.) — count 'em up! 🎀
• Oid * argtypes — an array of length nargs, containing the OIDs of the data types of the parameters. yes ma'am, one OID per param. 👑
• Datum * values — an array of length nargs, containing the actual parameter values. the real ones. 💅
• const char * nulls — an array of length nargs, describing which parameters are null. okay so this one has lore, listen up:

If nulls is NULL then SPI_execute_with_args assumes that no parameters are null. Otherwise, each entry of the nulls array should be ' ' if the corresponding parameter value is non-null, or 'n' if the corresponding parameter value is null. (In the latter case, the actual value in the corresponding values entry doesn't matter.) Note that nulls is not a text string, just an array: it does not need a '\0' terminator. ⚠️ like do NOT go adding a null terminator to this girl, she does not want it.

• bool read_only — true for read-only execution. keep it innocent. 🙈
• long count — maximum number of rows to return, or 0 for no limit. zero means all the rows, go off. 🌈

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

The return value is the same as for SPI_execute. matching energy, love that for her. 💖

SPI_processed and SPI_tuptable are set as in SPI_execute if successful. periodt. 💅

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ngl bestie, if you ever catch yourself hand-quoting values into a query string, that's the ick. use this instead. 🚫

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and that's the whole page!! 🎀 this was PostgreSQL 18.6 documentation, dated 2026, from the SPI_EXECUTE_WITH_ARGS(3) page — tysm for reading, ily, go write some parameterized queries 🫶✨💖