1.5. The Fast-Path Interface

PostgreSQL provides a fast-path interface to send function calls to the backend. This is a trapdoor into system internals and can be a potential security hole. Most users will not need this feature.

• PQfn Request execution of a backend function via the fast-path interface.

  PGresult* PQfn(PGconn* conn,
                 int fnid,
                 int *result_buf,
                 int *result_len,
                 int result_is_int,
                 const PQArgBlock *args,
                 int nargs);

  The fnid argument is the object identifier of the function to be executed. result_buf is the buffer in which to place the return value. The caller must have allocated sufficient space to store the return value (there is no check!). The actual result length will be returned in the integer pointed to by result_len. If a 4-byte integer result is expected, set result_is_int to 1; otherwise set it to 0. (Setting result_is_int to 1 tells libpq to byte-swap the value if necessary, so that it is delivered as a proper int value for the client machine. When result_is_int is 0, the byte string sent by the backend is returned unmodified.) args and nargs specify the arguments to be passed to the function.

  typedef struct {
      int len;
      int isint;
      union {
          int *ptr;
          int integer;
      } u;
  } PQArgBlock;

  PQfn always returns a valid PGresult*. The result status should be checked before the result is used. The caller is responsible for freeing the PGresult with PQclear when it is no longer needed.