Contents
format()
A function for formatting a string with placeholder
format() is a system function for formatting a string with format specifiers, similar to sprintf() et al.
format() was added in PostgreSQL 9.1.
Usage
format (formatstrtext[,formatargany[, ...] ])
The format specifiers are similar to those used in sprintf() implementations. format() also provides the SQL-specific format specifiers %I and %L, which treat the argument value as an SQL identifier or an SQL literal respectively. These are useful for generating dynamic queries.
Note that unlike the standard C sprintf(), format() allows format specifiers with and without position fields to be mixed in the same format string
Change history
- PostgreSQL 9.1
- added (commit 75048707)
Examples
Basic usage example for format():
postgres=# SELECT format('Hello %s', 'World');
format
-------------
Hello World
(1 row)
Using the SQL-specific format specifiers %I and %L:
postgres=# SELECT format('INSERT INTO %I VALUES(%L)', 'CamelCaseTable', E'O\'Reilly');
format
--------------------------------------------------
INSERT INTO "CamelCaseTable" VALUES('O''Reilly')
(1 row)
References
- PostgreSQL documentation: format