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+<!-- doc/src/sgml/ltree.sgml -->
+
+<sect1 id="ltree" xreflabel="ltree">
+ <title>ltree</title>
+
+ <indexterm zone="ltree">
+ <primary>ltree</primary>
+ </indexterm>
+
+ <para>
+ This module implements a data type <type>ltree</type> for representing
+ labels of data stored in a hierarchical tree-like structure.
+ Extensive facilities for searching through label trees are provided.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ This module is considered <quote>trusted</quote>, that is, it can be
+ installed by non-superusers who have <literal>CREATE</literal> privilege
+ on the current database.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Definitions</title>
+
+ <para>
+ A <firstterm>label</firstterm> is a sequence of alphanumeric characters
+ and underscores (for example, in C locale the characters
+ <literal>A-Za-z0-9_</literal> are allowed).
+ Labels must be less than 256 characters long.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Examples: <literal>42</literal>, <literal>Personal_Services</literal>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ A <firstterm>label path</firstterm> is a sequence of zero or more
+ labels separated by dots, for example <literal>L1.L2.L3</literal>, representing
+ a path from the root of a hierarchical tree to a particular node. The
+ length of a label path cannot exceed 65535 labels.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Example: <literal>Top.Countries.Europe.Russia</literal>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The <filename>ltree</filename> module provides several data types:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <type>ltree</type> stores a label path.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <type>lquery</type> represents a regular-expression-like pattern
+ for matching <type>ltree</type> values. A simple word matches that
+ label within a path. A star symbol (<literal>*</literal>) matches zero
+ or more labels. These can be joined with dots to form a pattern that
+ must match the whole label path. For example:
+<synopsis>
+foo <lineannotation>Match the exact label path <literal>foo</literal></lineannotation>
+*.foo.* <lineannotation>Match any label path containing the label <literal>foo</literal></lineannotation>
+*.foo <lineannotation>Match any label path whose last label is <literal>foo</literal></lineannotation>
+</synopsis>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Both star symbols and simple words can be quantified to restrict how many
+ labels they can match:
+<synopsis>
+*{<replaceable>n</replaceable>} <lineannotation>Match exactly <replaceable>n</replaceable> labels</lineannotation>
+*{<replaceable>n</replaceable>,} <lineannotation>Match at least <replaceable>n</replaceable> labels</lineannotation>
+*{<replaceable>n</replaceable>,<replaceable>m</replaceable>} <lineannotation>Match at least <replaceable>n</replaceable> but not more than <replaceable>m</replaceable> labels</lineannotation>
+*{,<replaceable>m</replaceable>} <lineannotation>Match at most <replaceable>m</replaceable> labels &mdash; same as </lineannotation>*{0,<replaceable>m</replaceable>}
+foo{<replaceable>n</replaceable>,<replaceable>m</replaceable>} <lineannotation>Match at least <replaceable>n</replaceable> but not more than <replaceable>m</replaceable> occurrences of <literal>foo</literal></lineannotation>
+foo{,} <lineannotation>Match any number of occurrences of <literal>foo</literal>, including zero</lineannotation>
+</synopsis>
+ In the absence of any explicit quantifier, the default for a star symbol
+ is to match any number of labels (that is, <literal>{,}</literal>) while
+ the default for a non-star item is to match exactly once (that
+ is, <literal>{1}</literal>).
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ There are several modifiers that can be put at the end of a non-star
+ <type>lquery</type> item to make it match more than just the exact match:
+<synopsis>
+@ <lineannotation>Match case-insensitively, for example <literal>a@</literal> matches <literal>A</literal></lineannotation>
+* <lineannotation>Match any label with this prefix, for example <literal>foo*</literal> matches <literal>foobar</literal></lineannotation>
+% <lineannotation>Match initial underscore-separated words</lineannotation>
+</synopsis>
+ The behavior of <literal>%</literal> is a bit complicated. It tries to match
+ words rather than the entire label. For example
+ <literal>foo_bar%</literal> matches <literal>foo_bar_baz</literal> but not
+ <literal>foo_barbaz</literal>. If combined with <literal>*</literal>, prefix
+ matching applies to each word separately, for example
+ <literal>foo_bar%*</literal> matches <literal>foo1_bar2_baz</literal> but
+ not <literal>foo1_br2_baz</literal>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Also, you can write several possibly-modified non-star items separated with
+ <literal>|</literal> (OR) to match any of those items, and you can put
+ <literal>!</literal> (NOT) at the start of a non-star group to match any
+ label that doesn't match any of the alternatives. A quantifier, if any,
+ goes at the end of the group; it means some number of matches for the
+ group as a whole (that is, some number of labels matching or not matching
+ any of the alternatives).
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Here's an annotated example of <type>lquery</type>:
+<programlisting>
+Top.*{0,2}.sport*@.!football|tennis{1,}.Russ*|Spain
+a. b. c. d. e.
+</programlisting>
+ This query will match any label path that:
+ </para>
+ <orderedlist numeration="loweralpha">
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ begins with the label <literal>Top</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ and next has zero to two labels before
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ a label beginning with the case-insensitive prefix <literal>sport</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ then has one or more labels, none of which
+ match <literal>football</literal> nor <literal>tennis</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ and then ends with a label beginning with <literal>Russ</literal> or
+ exactly matching <literal>Spain</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><type>ltxtquery</type> represents a full-text-search-like
+ pattern for matching <type>ltree</type> values. An
+ <type>ltxtquery</type> value contains words, possibly with the
+ modifiers <literal>@</literal>, <literal>*</literal>, <literal>%</literal> at the end;
+ the modifiers have the same meanings as in <type>lquery</type>.
+ Words can be combined with <literal>&amp;</literal> (AND),
+ <literal>|</literal> (OR), <literal>!</literal> (NOT), and parentheses.
+ The key difference from
+ <type>lquery</type> is that <type>ltxtquery</type> matches words without
+ regard to their position in the label path.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Here's an example <type>ltxtquery</type>:
+<programlisting>
+Europe &amp; Russia*@ &amp; !Transportation
+</programlisting>
+ This will match paths that contain the label <literal>Europe</literal> and
+ any label beginning with <literal>Russia</literal> (case-insensitive),
+ but not paths containing the label <literal>Transportation</literal>.
+ The location of these words within the path is not important.
+ Also, when <literal>%</literal> is used, the word can be matched to any
+ underscore-separated word within a label, regardless of position.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ Note: <type>ltxtquery</type> allows whitespace between symbols, but
+ <type>ltree</type> and <type>lquery</type> do not.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Operators and Functions</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Type <type>ltree</type> has the usual comparison operators
+ <literal>=</literal>, <literal>&lt;&gt;</literal>,
+ <literal>&lt;</literal>, <literal>&gt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>&gt;=</literal>.
+ Comparison sorts in the order of a tree traversal, with the children
+ of a node sorted by label text. In addition, the specialized
+ operators shown in <xref linkend="ltree-op-table"/> are available.
+ </para>
+
+ <table id="ltree-op-table">
+ <title><type>ltree</type> Operators</title>
+ <tgroup cols="1">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ Operator
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Description
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>@&gt;</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Is left argument an ancestor of right (or equal)?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>&lt;@</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Is left argument a descendant of right (or equal)?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>~</literal> <type>lquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>lquery</type> <literal>~</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does <type>ltree</type> match <type>lquery</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>?</literal> <type>lquery[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>lquery[]</type> <literal>?</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does <type>ltree</type> match any <type>lquery</type> in array?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>@</literal> <type>ltxtquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltxtquery</type> <literal>@</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does <type>ltree</type> match <type>ltxtquery</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>||</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Concatenates <type>ltree</type> paths.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>||</literal> <type>text</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>text</type> <literal>||</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Converts text to <type>ltree</type> and concatenates.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>@&gt;</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>&lt;@</literal> <type>ltree[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does array contain an ancestor of <type>ltree</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>&lt;@</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree</type> <literal>@&gt;</literal> <type>ltree[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does array contain a descendant of <type>ltree</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>~</literal> <type>lquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>lquery</type> <literal>~</literal> <type>ltree[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does array contain any path matching <type>lquery</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>?</literal> <type>lquery[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>lquery[]</type> <literal>?</literal> <type>ltree[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does <type>ltree</type> array contain any path matching
+ any <type>lquery</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>@</literal> <type>ltxtquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltxtquery</type> <literal>@</literal> <type>ltree[]</type>
+ <returnvalue>boolean</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Does array contain any path matching <type>ltxtquery</type>?
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>?@&gt;</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns first array entry that is an ancestor of <type>ltree</type>,
+ or <literal>NULL</literal> if none.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>?&lt;@</literal> <type>ltree</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns first array entry that is a descendant of <type>ltree</type>,
+ or <literal>NULL</literal> if none.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>?~</literal> <type>lquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns first array entry that matches <type>lquery</type>,
+ or <literal>NULL</literal> if none.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <type>ltree[]</type> <literal>?@</literal> <type>ltxtquery</type>
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns first array entry that matches <type>ltxtquery</type>,
+ or <literal>NULL</literal> if none.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+
+ <para>
+ The operators <literal>&lt;@</literal>, <literal>@&gt;</literal>,
+ <literal>@</literal> and <literal>~</literal> have analogues
+ <literal>^&lt;@</literal>, <literal>^@&gt;</literal>, <literal>^@</literal>,
+ <literal>^~</literal>, which are the same except they do not use
+ indexes. These are useful only for testing purposes.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The available functions are shown in <xref linkend="ltree-func-table"/>.
+ </para>
+
+ <table id="ltree-func-table">
+ <title><type>ltree</type> Functions</title>
+ <tgroup cols="1">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ Function
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Description
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example(s)
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>subltree</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>subltree</function> ( <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>start</parameter> <type>integer</type>, <parameter>end</parameter> <type>integer</type> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns subpath of <type>ltree</type> from
+ position <parameter>start</parameter> to
+ position <parameter>end</parameter>-1 (counting from 0).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>subltree('Top.Child1.Child2', 1, 2)</literal>
+ <returnvalue>Child1</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>subpath</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>subpath</function> ( <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>offset</parameter> <type>integer</type>, <parameter>len</parameter> <type>integer</type> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns subpath of <type>ltree</type> starting at
+ position <parameter>offset</parameter>, with
+ length <parameter>len</parameter>. If <parameter>offset</parameter>
+ is negative, subpath starts that far from the end of the path.
+ If <parameter>len</parameter> is negative, leaves that many labels off
+ the end of the path.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>subpath('Top.Child1.Child2', 0, 2)</literal>
+ <returnvalue>Top.Child1</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <function>subpath</function> ( <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>offset</parameter> <type>integer</type> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns subpath of <type>ltree</type> starting at
+ position <parameter>offset</parameter>, extending to end of path.
+ If <parameter>offset</parameter> is negative, subpath starts that far
+ from the end of the path.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>subpath('Top.Child1.Child2', 1)</literal>
+ <returnvalue>Child1.Child2</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>nlevel</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>nlevel</function> ( <type>ltree</type> )
+ <returnvalue>integer</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns number of labels in path.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>nlevel('Top.Child1.Child2')</literal>
+ <returnvalue>3</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>index</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>index</function> ( <parameter>a</parameter> <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>b</parameter> <type>ltree</type> )
+ <returnvalue>integer</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns position of first occurrence of <parameter>b</parameter> in
+ <parameter>a</parameter>, or -1 if not found.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>index('0.1.2.3.5.4.5.6.8.5.6.8', '5.6')</literal>
+ <returnvalue>6</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <function>index</function> ( <parameter>a</parameter> <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>b</parameter> <type>ltree</type>, <parameter>offset</parameter> <type>integer</type> )
+ <returnvalue>integer</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Returns position of first occurrence of <parameter>b</parameter>
+ in <parameter>a</parameter>, or -1 if not found. The search starts at
+ position <parameter>offset</parameter>;
+ negative <parameter>offset</parameter> means
+ start <parameter>-offset</parameter> labels from the end of the path.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>index('0.1.2.3.5.4.5.6.8.5.6.8', '5.6', -4)</literal>
+ <returnvalue>9</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>text2ltree</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>text2ltree</function> ( <type>text</type> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Casts <type>text</type> to <type>ltree</type>.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>ltree2text</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>ltree2text</function> ( <type>ltree</type> )
+ <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Casts <type>ltree</type> to <type>text</type>.
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <indexterm><primary>lca</primary></indexterm>
+ <function>lca</function> ( <type>ltree</type> <optional>, <type>ltree</type> <optional>, ... </optional></optional> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Computes longest common ancestor of paths
+ (up to 8 arguments are supported).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>lca('1.2.3', '1.2.3.4.5.6')</literal>
+ <returnvalue>1.2</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
+ <function>lca</function> ( <type>ltree[]</type> )
+ <returnvalue>ltree</returnvalue>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Computes longest common ancestor of paths in array.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>lca(array['1.2.3'::ltree,'1.2.3.4'])</literal>
+ <returnvalue>1.2</returnvalue>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Indexes</title>
+ <para>
+ <filename>ltree</filename> supports several types of indexes that can speed
+ up the indicated operators:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ B-tree index over <type>ltree</type>:
+ <literal>&lt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>=</literal>,
+ <literal>&gt;=</literal>, <literal>&gt;</literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ GiST index over <type>ltree</type> (<literal>gist_ltree_ops</literal>
+ opclass):
+ <literal>&lt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>=</literal>,
+ <literal>&gt;=</literal>, <literal>&gt;</literal>,
+ <literal>@&gt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;@</literal>,
+ <literal>@</literal>, <literal>~</literal>, <literal>?</literal>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>gist_ltree_ops</literal> GiST opclass approximates a set of
+ path labels as a bitmap signature. Its optional integer parameter
+ <literal>siglen</literal> determines the
+ signature length in bytes. The default signature length is 8 bytes.
+ The length must be a positive multiple of <type>int</type> alignment
+ (4 bytes on most machines)) up to 2024. Longer
+ signatures lead to a more precise search (scanning a smaller fraction of the index and
+ fewer heap pages), at the cost of a larger index.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example of creating such an index with the default signature length of 8 bytes:
+ </para>
+<programlisting>
+CREATE INDEX path_gist_idx ON test USING GIST (path);
+</programlisting>
+ <para>
+ Example of creating such an index with a signature length of 100 bytes:
+ </para>
+<programlisting>
+CREATE INDEX path_gist_idx ON test USING GIST (path gist_ltree_ops(siglen=100));
+</programlisting>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ GiST index over <type>ltree[]</type> (<literal>gist__ltree_ops</literal>
+ opclass):
+ <literal>ltree[] &lt;@ ltree</literal>, <literal>ltree @&gt; ltree[]</literal>,
+ <literal>@</literal>, <literal>~</literal>, <literal>?</literal>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>gist__ltree_ops</literal> GiST opclass works similarly to
+ <literal>gist_ltree_ops</literal> and also takes signature length as
+ a parameter. The default value of <literal>siglen</literal> in
+ <literal>gist__ltree_ops</literal> is 28 bytes.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example of creating such an index with the default signature length of 28 bytes:
+ </para>
+<programlisting>
+CREATE INDEX path_gist_idx ON test USING GIST (array_path);
+</programlisting>
+ <para>
+ Example of creating such an index with a signature length of 100 bytes:
+ </para>
+<programlisting>
+CREATE INDEX path_gist_idx ON test USING GIST (array_path gist__ltree_ops(siglen=100));
+</programlisting>
+ <para>
+ Note: This index type is lossy.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Example</title>
+
+ <para>
+ This example uses the following data (also available in file
+ <filename>contrib/ltree/ltreetest.sql</filename> in the source distribution):
+ </para>
+
+<programlisting>
+CREATE TABLE test (path ltree);
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Science');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Science.Astronomy');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Hobbies');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Hobbies.Amateurs_Astronomy');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections.Pictures');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Stars');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Galaxies');
+INSERT INTO test VALUES ('Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Astronauts');
+CREATE INDEX path_gist_idx ON test USING GIST (path);
+CREATE INDEX path_idx ON test USING BTREE (path);
+</programlisting>
+
+ <para>
+ Now, we have a table <structname>test</structname> populated with data describing
+ the hierarchy shown below:
+ </para>
+
+<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ Top
+ / | \
+ Science Hobbies Collections
+ / | \
+ Astronomy Amateurs_Astronomy Pictures
+ / \ |
+Astrophysics Cosmology Astronomy
+ / | \
+ Galaxies Stars Astronauts
+</literallayout>
+
+ <para>
+ We can do inheritance:
+<screen>
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT path FROM test WHERE path &lt;@ 'Top.Science';
+ path
+------------------------------------
+ Top.Science
+ Top.Science.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology
+(4 rows)
+</screen>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Here are some examples of path matching:
+<screen>
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT path FROM test WHERE path ~ '*.Astronomy.*';
+ path
+-----------------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology
+ Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy
+ Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Stars
+ Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Galaxies
+ Top.Collections.Pictures.Astronomy.Astronauts
+(7 rows)
+
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT path FROM test WHERE path ~ '*.!pictures@.Astronomy.*';
+ path
+------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology
+(3 rows)
+</screen>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Here are some examples of full text search:
+<screen>
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT path FROM test WHERE path @ 'Astro*% &amp; !pictures@';
+ path
+------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology
+ Top.Hobbies.Amateurs_Astronomy
+(4 rows)
+
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT path FROM test WHERE path @ 'Astro* &amp; !pictures@';
+ path
+------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Astronomy.Cosmology
+(3 rows)
+</screen>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Path construction using functions:
+<screen>
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT subpath(path,0,2)||'Space'||subpath(path,2) FROM test WHERE path &lt;@ 'Top.Science.Astronomy';
+ ?column?
+------------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy.Cosmology
+(3 rows)
+</screen>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ We could simplify this by creating an SQL function that inserts a label
+ at a specified position in a path:
+<screen>
+CREATE FUNCTION ins_label(ltree, int, text) RETURNS ltree
+ AS 'select subpath($1,0,$2) || $3 || subpath($1,$2);'
+ LANGUAGE SQL IMMUTABLE;
+
+ltreetest=&gt; SELECT ins_label(path,2,'Space') FROM test WHERE path &lt;@ 'Top.Science.Astronomy';
+ ins_label
+------------------------------------------
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy.Astrophysics
+ Top.Science.Space.Astronomy.Cosmology
+(3 rows)
+</screen>
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Transforms</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <literal>ltree_plpython3u</literal> extension implements transforms for
+ the <type>ltree</type> type for PL/Python. If installed and specified when
+ creating a function, <type>ltree</type> values are mapped to Python lists.
+ (The reverse is currently not supported, however.)
+ </para>
+
+ <caution>
+ <para>
+ It is strongly recommended that the transform extension be installed in
+ the same schema as <filename>ltree</filename>. Otherwise there are
+ installation-time security hazards if a transform extension's schema
+ contains objects defined by a hostile user.
+ </para>
+ </caution>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Authors</title>
+
+ <para>
+ All work was done by Teodor Sigaev (<email>teodor@stack.net</email>) and
+ Oleg Bartunov (<email>oleg@sai.msu.su</email>). See
+ <ulink url="http://www.sai.msu.su/~megera/postgres/gist/"></ulink> for
+ additional information. Authors would like to thank Eugeny Rodichev for
+ helpful discussions. Comments and bug reports are welcome.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+
+</sect1>