DO(7)

💅 DO(7) — the anonymous code block era ✨

okay so real talk, bestie: this is the DO page from the PostgreSQL 14.24 Documentation, and it's genuinely one of the most underrated little commands out there. no cap. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

DO — execute an anonymous code block. that's it. that's the whole vibe. she runs code and she does NOT leave a function behind. main character energy but with a quick exit 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

DO [ LANGUAGE lang_name ] code

look at her. so simple. so iconic. 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

DO executes an anonymous code block — or, to say it another way, a transient anonymous function written in a procedural language. she's here for a good time, not a long time, yk? 😭

The code block gets treated like it were the body of a function with no parameters, returning void. It is parsed and executed a single time. one and done. no lingering attachment. we love a clean break ✨

The optional LANGUAGE clause can be written either before or after the code block. your call, bestie, both are valid 💖

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🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• code — the procedural language code to be executed, and listen, this must be specified as a string literal, just as in CREATE FUNCTION. Use of a dollar-quoted literal is recommended — trust, dollar quoting is the move here, iykyk 💜
• lang_name — the name of the procedural language the code is written in. If you omit it, the default is plpgsql. she's the default for a reason, she's everywhere 👑

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🔥 NOTES 🔥

okay important stuff, don't skip this part:

The procedural language you wanna use must already have been installed into the current database by means of CREATE EXTENSION. plpgsql is installed by default, but other languages are not — so like, don't come for me when it doesn't work, go install your extension first 🙈

The user must have USAGE privilege for the procedural language, or must be a superuser if the language is untrusted. This is the exact same privilege requirement as for creating a function in the language. same energy, same rules ✨

⚠️ okay this one matters: if DO is executed in a transaction block, then the procedure code cannot execute transaction control statements. Transaction control statements are only allowed if DO is executed in its own transaction. periodt. don't fight it 💀

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⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

ok so imagine you wanna grant all privileges on all views in schema public to role webuser. here's the moment, here's the slay:

DO $$DECLARE r record;
BEGIN
    FOR r IN SELECT table_schema, table_name FROM information_schema.tables
             WHERE table_type = 'VIEW' AND table_schema = 'public'
    LOOP
        EXECUTE 'GRANT ALL ON ' || quote_ident(r.table_schema) || '.' || quote_ident(r.table_name) || ' TO webuser';
    END LOOP;
END$$;

she ate. she literally ate. dynamic SQL with quote_ident() and everything 🍓

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🌈 COMPATIBILITY 🌈

There is no DO statement in the SQL standard. she's built different. a PostgreSQL original. no notes 💅✨

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

• CREATE LANGUAGE (CREATE_LANGUAGE(7)) — go read it, it's the whole backstory bestie 🦋

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and that's the page!! 💖 written up for the PostgreSQL 14.24 Documentation, in the year 2026, and this absolutely iconic little DO(7) page is officially closed out. go run some anonymous code, you've earned it 👑🌸