Computed / calculated / virtual / derived columns in PostgreSQL

Up to Postgres 11 generated columns are not supported - as defined in the SQL standard and implemented by some RDBMS including DB2, MySQL and Oracle. Nor the similar "computed columns" of SQL Server.

STORED generated columns are introduced with Postgres 12. Trivial example:

CREATE TABLE tbl (
  int1    int
, int2    int
, product bigint GENERATED ALWAYS AS (int1 * int2) STORED
);

db<>fiddle here

VIRTUAL generated columns may come with one of the next iterations. (Not in Postgres 14, yet).

Related:

  • Attribute notation for function call gives error

Until then, you can emulate VIRTUAL generated columns with a function using attribute notation (tbl.col) that looks and works much like a virtual generated column. That's a bit of a syntax oddity which exists in Postgres for historic reasons and happens to fit the case. This related answer has code examples:

  • Store common query as column?

The expression (looking like a column) is not included in a SELECT * FROM tbl, though. You always have to list it explicitly.

Can also be supported with a matching expression index - provided the function is IMMUTABLE. Like:

CREATE FUNCTION col(tbl) ... AS ...  -- your computed expression here
CREATE INDEX ON tbl(col(tbl));

Alternatives

Alternatively, you can implement similar functionality with a VIEW, optionally coupled with expression indexes. Then SELECT * can include the generated column.

"Persisted" (STORED) computed columns can be implemented with triggers in a functionally identical way.

Materialized views are a closely related concept, implemented since Postgres 9.3.
In earlier versions one can manage MVs manually.


PostgreSQL 12 supports generated columns:

PostgreSQL 12 Beta 1 Released!

Generated Columns

PostgreSQL 12 allows the creation of generated columns that compute their values with an expression using the contents of other columns. This feature provides stored generated columns, which are computed on inserts and updates and are saved on disk. Virtual generated columns, which are computed only when a column is read as part of a query, are not implemented yet.

Generated Columns

A generated column is a special column that is always computed from other columns. Thus, it is for columns what a view is for tables. 

CREATE TABLE people (
    ...,
    height_cm numeric,
    height_in numeric GENERATED ALWAYS AS (height_cm * 2.54) STORED
);

db<>fiddle demo


YES you can!! The solution should be easy, safe, and performant...

I'm new to postgresql, but it seems you can create computed columns by using an expression index, paired with a view (the view is optional, but makes makes life a bit easier).

Suppose my computation is md5(some_string_field), then I create the index as: 

CREATE INDEX some_string_field_md5_index ON some_table(MD5(some_string_field));

Now, any queries that act on MD5(some_string_field) will use the index rather than computing it from scratch. For example:

SELECT MAX(some_field) FROM some_table GROUP BY MD5(some_string_field);

You can check this with explain.

However at this point you are relying on users of the table knowing exactly how to construct the column. To make life easier, you can create a VIEW onto an augmented version of the original table, adding in the computed value as a new column:

CREATE VIEW some_table_augmented AS 
   SELECT *, MD5(some_string_field) as some_string_field_md5 from some_table;

Now any queries using some_table_augmented will be able to use some_string_field_md5 without worrying about how it works..they just get good performance. The view doesn't copy any data from the original table, so it is good memory-wise as well as performance-wise. Note however that you can't update/insert into a view, only into the source table, but if you really want, I believe you can redirect inserts and updates to the source table using rules (I could be wrong on that last point as I've never tried it myself).

Edit: it seems if the query involves competing indices, the planner engine may sometimes not use the expression-index at all. The choice seems to be data dependant.


One way to do this is with a trigger!

CREATE TABLE computed(
    one SERIAL,
    two INT NOT NULL
);

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION computed_two_trg()
RETURNS trigger
LANGUAGE plpgsql
SECURITY DEFINER
AS $BODY$
BEGIN
    NEW.two = NEW.one * 2;

    RETURN NEW;
END
$BODY$;

CREATE TRIGGER computed_500
BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE
ON computed
FOR EACH ROW
EXECUTE PROCEDURE computed_two_trg();

The trigger is fired before the row is updated or inserted. It changes the field that we want to compute of NEW record and then it returns that record.

Tags:

Postgresql

Materialized Views

Sql View

Calculated Columns

Generated Columns

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