[prev] 70 [next]

Representing Tables

Representing one table needs tuples in several catalog tables.

Due to O-O heritage, base table for tables is called pg_class.

The pg_class table also handles other "table-like" objects:

  • views ... represents attributes/domains of view
  • composite (tuple) types ... from CREATE TYPE AS
  • sequences, indexes (top-level defn), other "special" objects
All tuples in pg_class have an OID, used as primary key.

Some fields from the pg_class table:

  • oid, relname, relnamespace, reltype, relowner
  • relkind, reltuples, relnatts, relhaspkey, relacl, ...