From 2034bcc845f228c675c218e1928cf5337e74381d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bruce Momjian Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2019 14:49:08 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: add examples of creative use of unique expression indexes Unique expression indexes can constrain data in creative ways, so show two examples. Reported-by: Tuomas Leikola Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/156760275564.1127.12321702656456074572@wrigleys.postgresql.org Backpatch-through: 9.4 --- doc/src/sgml/indices.sgml | 19 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/indices.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/indices.sgml index 95c0a1926c5..c54bf0dbbdb 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/indices.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/indices.sgml @@ -705,6 +705,15 @@ CREATE INDEX test1_lower_col1_idx ON test1 (lower(col1)); + + Expression indexes also allow control over the scope of unique indexes. + For example, this unique index prevents duplicate integer values from + being stored in a double precision-typed column: + +CREATE UNIQUE INDEX test1_uniq_int ON tests ((floor(double_col))) + + + If we were to declare this index UNIQUE, it would prevent creation of rows whose col1 values differ only in case, @@ -946,6 +955,16 @@ CREATE UNIQUE INDEX tests_success_constraint ON tests (subject, target) This is a particularly efficient approach when there are few successful tests and many unsuccessful ones. + + + This index allows only one null in the indexed column by using a + partial index clause to process only null column values, and using + an expression index clause to index true instead + of null: + +CREATE UNIQUE INDEX tests_target_one_null ON tests ((target IS NULL)) WHERE target IS NULL; + +