DBLINK_B...QL_DELETE(3)

💖 dblink_build_sql_delete — the manual page, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, so this is dblink_build_sql_delete from the DBLINK_B...QL_DELETE(3) manual, shipped with PostgreSQL 18.6 Documentation. it's giving "utility function that does exactly one thing and does it well." periodt.

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✨ NAME ✨

dblink_build_sql_delete — builds a DELETE statement using supplied values for primary key field values

like. that's the whole job. it takes ur primary key values and hands u back a ready-to-go DELETE. no cap.

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

dblink_build_sql_delete(text relname,
                        int2vector primary_key_attnums,
                        integer num_primary_key_atts,
                        text[] tgt_pk_att_vals_array) returns text

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so dblink_build_sql_delete can be useful in doing selective replication of a local table to a remote database. it builds an SQL DELETE command that will delete the row with the given primary key values. that's it, that's the vibe. u give it the goods, it gives u back the statement. 💅

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🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• relname — name of a local relation, for example foo or myschema.mytab. include double quotes if the name is mixed-case or contains special characters, for example "FooBar"; without quotes, the string will be folded to lower case. (yes, lowercase folding is real and yes it will humble u. 🫠)
• primary_key_attnums — attribute numbers (1-based) of the primary key fields, for example 1 2.
• num_primary_key_atts — the number of primary key fields.
• tgt_pk_att_vals_array — values of the primary key fields to be used in the resulting DELETE command. each field is represented in text form.

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💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

returns the requested SQL statement as text. iconic behaviour, honestly. no mystery, no surprises, just a string. ⭐

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👑 NOTES 👑

as of PostgreSQL 9.0, the attribute numbers in primary_key_attnums are interpreted as logical column numbers, corresponding to the column's position in SELECT * FROM relname. previous versions interpreted the numbers as physical column positions. there is a difference if any column(s) to the left of the indicated column have been dropped during the lifetime of the table. 💀

so like... if ur table has been through some things (dropped columns 😭), the number u pass means something different than it used to. log that in ur brain, bestie. this is the iykyk part of the page.

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

SELECT dblink_build_sql_delete('"MyFoo"', '1 2', 2, '{"1", "b"}');
           dblink_build_sql_delete
---------------------------------------------
 DELETE FROM "MyFoo" WHERE f1='1' AND f2='b'
(1 row)

look at her go. one call, one clean DELETE, one row back. ate. 🔥

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🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

(no SEE ALSO section on this page — so instead: go read the rest of the dblink family, they're all serving their own little purposes 🧚)

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and that's the page!! written by the PostgreSQL 18.6 Documentation crew, dated 2026, manual section DBLINK_B...QL_DELETE(3). mwah 💖 go build some DELETE statements responsibly, bestie. 🎀