Modules and the unknown Command

PostgreSQL 9.1.2 Documentation
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# 40.7. Modules and the `unknown` Command

PL/Tcl has support for autoloading Tcl code when used. It recognizes a special table, `pltcl_modules`, which is presumed to contain modules of Tcl code. If this table exists, the module `unknown` is fetched from the table and loaded into the Tcl interpreter immediately before the first execution of a PL/Tcl function in a database session. (This happens separately for each Tcl interpreter, if more than one is used in a session; see Section 40.4.)

While the `unknown` module could actually contain any initialization script you need, it normally defines a Tcl `unknown` procedure that is invoked whenever Tcl does not recognize an invoked procedure name. PL/Tcl's standard version of this procedure tries to find a module in `pltcl_modules` that will define the required procedure. If one is found, it is loaded into the interpreter, and then execution is allowed to proceed with the originally attempted procedure call. A secondary table `pltcl_modfuncs` provides an index of which functions are defined by which modules, so that the lookup is reasonably quick.

The PostgreSQL distribution includes support scripts to maintain these tables: `pltcl_loadmod`, `pltcl_listmod`, `pltcl_delmod`, as well as source for the standard `unknown` module in `share/unknown.pltcl`. This module must be loaded into each database initially to support the autoloading mechanism.

The tables `pltcl_modules` and `pltcl_modfuncs` must be readable by all, but it is wise to make them owned and writable only by the database administrator. As a security precaution, PL/Tcl will ignore `pltcl_modules` (and thus, not attempt to load the `unknown` module) unless it is owned by a superuser. But update privileges on this table can be granted to other users, if you trust them sufficiently.

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