Doc: note that statement-level view triggers require an INSTEAD OF trigger.

tglsfdc · tglsfdc · commit 7b544c4e053b · 2018-03-18T15:10:28.000-04:00
If a view lacks an INSTEAD OF trigger, DML on it can only work by rewriting the command into a command on the underlying base table(s). Then we will fire triggers attached to those table(s), not those for the view. This seems appropriate from a consistency standpoint, but nowhere was the behavior explicitly documented, so let's do that. There was some discussion of throwing an error or warning if a statement trigger is created on a view without creating a row INSTEAD OF trigger. But a simple implementation of that would result in dump/restore ordering hazards. Given that it's been like this all along, and we hadn't heard a complaint till now, a documentation improvement seems sufficient. Per bug #15106 from Pu Qun. Back-patch to all supported branches. Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/152083391168.1215.16892140713507052796@wrigleys.postgresql.org
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_trigger.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_trigger.sgml
@@ -409,6 +409,19 @@ UPDATE OF <replaceable>column_name1</replaceable> [, <replaceable>column_name2</
    rows.
   </para>
 
+  <para>
+   Statement-level triggers on a view are fired only if the action on the
+   view is handled by a row-level <literal>INSTEAD OF</literal> trigger.
+   If the action is handled by an <literal>INSTEAD</literal> rule, then
+   whatever statements are emitted by the rule are executed in place of the
+   original statement naming the view, so that the triggers that will be
+   fired are those on tables named in the replacement statements.
+   Similarly, if the view is automatically updatable, then the action is
+   handled by automatically rewriting the statement into an action on the
+   view's base table, so that the base table's statement-level triggers are
+   the ones that are fired.
+  </para>
+
   <para>
    In <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> versions before 7.3, it was
    necessary to declare trigger functions as returning the placeholder
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/trigger.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/trigger.sgml
@@ -56,15 +56,21 @@
    <para>
     On views, triggers can be defined to execute instead of
     <command>INSERT</command>, <command>UPDATE</command>, or
-    <command>DELETE</command> operations.  <literal>INSTEAD OF</> triggers
+    <command>DELETE</command> operations.
+    Such <literal>INSTEAD OF</literal> triggers
     are fired once for each row that needs to be modified in the view.
     It is the responsibility of the
-    trigger's function to perform the necessary modifications to the
-    underlying base tables and, where appropriate, return the modified
+    trigger's function to perform the necessary modifications to the view's
+    underlying base table(s) and, where appropriate, return the modified
     row as it will appear in the view.  Triggers on views can also be defined
     to execute once per <acronym>SQL</acronym> statement, before or after
     <command>INSERT</command>, <command>UPDATE</command>, or
     <command>DELETE</command> operations.
+    However, such triggers are fired only if there is also
+    an <literal>INSTEAD OF</literal> trigger on the view.  Otherwise,
+    any statement targeting the view must be rewritten into a statement
+    affecting its underlying base table(s), and then the triggers
+    that will be fired are the ones attached to the base table(s).
    </para>
 
    <para>
