9.25. Set Returning Functions

This section describes functions that possibly return more than one row. The most widely used functions in this class are series generating functions, as detailed in Table 9.63 and Table 9.64. Other, more specialized set-returning functions are described elsewhere in this manual. See Section 7.2.1.4 for ways to combine multiple set-returning functions.

Table 9.63. Series Generating Functions

Function Description
generate_series ( start integer, stop integer [, step integer ] ) → setof integer generate_series ( start bigint, stop bigint [, step bigint ] ) → setof bigint generate_series ( start numeric, stop numeric [, step numeric ] ) → setof numeric Generates a series of values from start to stop, with a step size of step. step defaults to 1.
generate_series ( start timestamp, stop timestamp, step interval ) → setof timestamp generate_series ( start timestamp with time zone, stop timestamp with time zone, step interval ) → setof timestamp with time zone Generates a series of values from start to stop, with a step size of step.

When step is positive, zero rows are returned if start is greater than stop. Conversely, when step is negative, zero rows are returned if start is less than stop. Zero rows are also returned if any input is NULL. It is an error for step to be zero. Some examples follow:

SELECT * FROM generate_series(2,4);
 generate_series