| Goal | Find routines that contain a statement that sorts rows based on random values. This can be used to find a random subset of rows. It is a computationally expensive operation. |
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| Notes | Refers to the column pg_proc.prokind and thus works starting from PostgreSQL 11. There could be multiple routines with the same name but with different parameters in the same schema (overloading). Thus, for the unique identification of the routine it is necessary to present also its parameters in addition to the schema name and routine name. In the returned body of routine the query replaces each newline character with the line break (br) tag for the better readability in case the query result is displayed in a web browser. |
| Type | Problem detection Each row in the result could represent a flaw in the design |
| Reliability | Medium Medium number of false-positive results |
| License | MIT (opens in new tab) |
| Fixing Suggestion | Bill Karwin in his book of SQL database design antipatterns offers various alternatives for finding a random subset of rows. |
| Data Source | INFORMATION_SCHEMA+system catalog |
| SQL Query |
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Categories
This query is classified under the following categories:
Does not work in some earlier PostgreSQL version
Queries of this category provide information that was not available in some earlier PostgreSQL version
Performance
Queries of this category provide information about indexes in a database.
User-defined routines
Queries of this category provide information about the user-defined routines
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Does not work in some earlier PostgreSQL version | Queries of this category provide information that was not available in some earlier PostgreSQL version |
| Performance | Queries of this category provide information about indexes in a database. |
| User-defined routines | Queries of this category provide information about the user-defined routines |
Further reading and related materials:
This is one of the antipatterns from the Bill Karwin's book of SQL antipatterns. See Chapter 16: Random Selection.
| Reference |
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| This is one of the antipatterns from the Bill Karwin's book of SQL antipatterns. See Chapter 16: Random Selection. |