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'\" t
.\" Title: CREATE OPERATOR CLASS
.\" Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\" Date: 2024
.\" Manual: PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation
.\" Source: PostgreSQL 16.3
.\" Language: English
.\"
.TH "CREATE OPERATOR CLASS" "7" "2024" "PostgreSQL 16.3" "PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation"
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.SH "NAME"
CREATE_OPERATOR_CLASS \- define a new operator class
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
.nf
CREATE OPERATOR CLASS \fIname\fR [ DEFAULT ] FOR TYPE \fIdata_type\fR
USING \fIindex_method\fR [ FAMILY \fIfamily_name\fR ] AS
{ OPERATOR \fIstrategy_number\fR \fIoperator_name\fR [ ( \fIop_type\fR, \fIop_type\fR ) ] [ FOR SEARCH | FOR ORDER BY \fIsort_family_name\fR ]
| FUNCTION \fIsupport_number\fR [ ( \fIop_type\fR [ , \fIop_type\fR ] ) ] \fIfunction_name\fR ( \fIargument_type\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] )
| STORAGE \fIstorage_type\fR
} [, \&.\&.\&. ]
.fi
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBCREATE OPERATOR CLASS\fR
creates a new operator class\&. An operator class defines how a particular data type can be used with an index\&. The operator class specifies that certain operators will fill particular roles or
\(lqstrategies\(rq
for this data type and this index method\&. The operator class also specifies the support functions to be used by the index method when the operator class is selected for an index column\&. All the operators and functions used by an operator class must be defined before the operator class can be created\&.
.PP
If a schema name is given then the operator class is created in the specified schema\&. Otherwise it is created in the current schema\&. Two operator classes in the same schema can have the same name only if they are for different index methods\&.
.PP
The user who defines an operator class becomes its owner\&. Presently, the creating user must be a superuser\&. (This restriction is made because an erroneous operator class definition could confuse or even crash the server\&.)
.PP
\fBCREATE OPERATOR CLASS\fR
does not presently check whether the operator class definition includes all the operators and functions required by the index method, nor whether the operators and functions form a self\-consistent set\&. It is the user\*(Aqs responsibility to define a valid operator class\&.
.PP
Related operator classes can be grouped into
operator families\&. To add a new operator class to an existing family, specify the
FAMILY
option in
\fBCREATE OPERATOR CLASS\fR\&. Without this option, the new class is placed into a family named the same as the new class (creating that family if it doesn\*(Aqt already exist)\&.
.PP
Refer to
Section\ \&38.16
for further information\&.
.SH "PARAMETERS"
.PP
\fIname\fR
.RS 4
The name of the operator class to be created\&. The name can be schema\-qualified\&.
.RE
.PP
DEFAULT
.RS 4
If present, the operator class will become the default operator class for its data type\&. At most one operator class can be the default for a specific data type and index method\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIdata_type\fR
.RS 4
The column data type that this operator class is for\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIindex_method\fR
.RS 4
The name of the index method this operator class is for\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIfamily_name\fR
.RS 4
The name of the existing operator family to add this operator class to\&. If not specified, a family named the same as the operator class is used (creating it, if it doesn\*(Aqt already exist)\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIstrategy_number\fR
.RS 4
The index method\*(Aqs strategy number for an operator associated with the operator class\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIoperator_name\fR
.RS 4
The name (optionally schema\-qualified) of an operator associated with the operator class\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIop_type\fR
.RS 4
In an
OPERATOR
clause, the operand data type(s) of the operator, or
NONE
to signify a prefix operator\&. The operand data types can be omitted in the normal case where they are the same as the operator class\*(Aqs data type\&.
.sp
In a
FUNCTION
clause, the operand data type(s) the function is intended to support, if different from the input data type(s) of the function (for B\-tree comparison functions and hash functions) or the class\*(Aqs data type (for B\-tree sort support functions, B\-tree equal image functions, and all functions in GiST, SP\-GiST, GIN and BRIN operator classes)\&. These defaults are correct, and so
\fIop_type\fR
need not be specified in
FUNCTION
clauses, except for the case of a B\-tree sort support function that is meant to support cross\-data\-type comparisons\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIsort_family_name\fR
.RS 4
The name (optionally schema\-qualified) of an existing
btree
operator family that describes the sort ordering associated with an ordering operator\&.
.sp
If neither
FOR SEARCH
nor
FOR ORDER BY
is specified,
FOR SEARCH
is the default\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIsupport_number\fR
.RS 4
The index method\*(Aqs support function number for a function associated with the operator class\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIfunction_name\fR
.RS 4
The name (optionally schema\-qualified) of a function that is an index method support function for the operator class\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIargument_type\fR
.RS 4
The parameter data type(s) of the function\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIstorage_type\fR
.RS 4
The data type actually stored in the index\&. Normally this is the same as the column data type, but some index methods (currently GiST, GIN, SP\-GiST and BRIN) allow it to be different\&. The
STORAGE
clause must be omitted unless the index method allows a different type to be used\&. If the column
\fIdata_type\fR
is specified as
anyarray, the
\fIstorage_type\fR
can be declared as
anyelement
to indicate that the index entries are members of the element type belonging to the actual array type that each particular index is created for\&.
.RE
.PP
The
OPERATOR,
FUNCTION, and
STORAGE
clauses can appear in any order\&.
.SH "NOTES"
.PP
Because the index machinery does not check access permissions on functions before using them, including a function or operator in an operator class is tantamount to granting public execute permission on it\&. This is usually not an issue for the sorts of functions that are useful in an operator class\&.
.PP
The operators should not be defined by SQL functions\&. An SQL function is likely to be inlined into the calling query, which will prevent the optimizer from recognizing that the query matches an index\&.
.PP
Before
PostgreSQL
8\&.4, the
OPERATOR
clause could include a
RECHECK
option\&. This is no longer supported because whether an index operator is
\(lqlossy\(rq
is now determined on\-the\-fly at run time\&. This allows efficient handling of cases where an operator might or might not be lossy\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
The following example command defines a GiST index operator class for the data type
_int4
(array of
int4)\&. See the
intarray
module for the complete example\&.
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
CREATE OPERATOR CLASS gist__int_ops
DEFAULT FOR TYPE _int4 USING gist AS
OPERATOR 3 &&,
OPERATOR 6 = (anyarray, anyarray),
OPERATOR 7 @>,
OPERATOR 8 <@,
OPERATOR 20 @@ (_int4, query_int),
FUNCTION 1 g_int_consistent (internal, _int4, smallint, oid, internal),
FUNCTION 2 g_int_union (internal, internal),
FUNCTION 3 g_int_compress (internal),
FUNCTION 4 g_int_decompress (internal),
FUNCTION 5 g_int_penalty (internal, internal, internal),
FUNCTION 6 g_int_picksplit (internal, internal),
FUNCTION 7 g_int_same (_int4, _int4, internal);
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
\fBCREATE OPERATOR CLASS\fR
is a
PostgreSQL
extension\&. There is no
\fBCREATE OPERATOR CLASS\fR
statement in the SQL standard\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
ALTER OPERATOR CLASS (\fBALTER_OPERATOR_CLASS\fR(7)), DROP OPERATOR CLASS (\fBDROP_OPERATOR_CLASS\fR(7)), CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY (\fBCREATE_OPERATOR_FAMILY\fR(7)), ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY (\fBALTER_OPERATOR_FAMILY\fR(7))
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