PostgreSQL 14 ← 13
← Catalog atlas / pg_inherits
SYSTEM CATALOG · System catalog
pg_inherits
The catalog pg_inherits records information about table and index inheritance hierarchies. There is one entry for each direct parent-child table or index relationship in the database. (Indirect inheritance can be determined by following chains of entries.)
Checked column by column against a PostgreSQL 18.6 instance · Raw measurement record ↗
Columns PostgreSQL 18
pg_inheritsPostgreSQL 19 beta 3 is a preview snapshot; the structure can still change before release.
| COLUMN | TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
inhrelid |
oidNOT NULL |
The OID of the child table or indexReferences:pg_class.oid |
inhparent |
oidNOT NULL |
The OID of the parent table or indexReferences:pg_class.oid |
inhseqno |
integerNOT NULLDocumented as:int4 |
If there is more than one direct parent for a child table (multiple inheritance), this number tells the order in which the inherited columns are to be arranged. The count starts at 1. Indexes cannot have multiple inheritance, since they can only inherit when using declarative partitioning. |
inhdetachpending |
booleanNOT NULLDocumented as:bool |
true for a partition that is in the process of being detached; false otherwise. |
Columns marked "implicit" are not included in SELECT *; some early statistics views are completed from same-version source, and the extra provenance is shown in the column description.
Common system columns 6
System attributes PostgreSQL provides, normally not expanded by SELECT *. Kept separately so they are not mixed in with ordinary columns.
| Columns | Type | attnum |
|---|---|---|
tableoid | oid | -6 |
cmax | cid | -5 |
xmax | xid | -4 |
cmin | cid | -3 |
xmin | xid | -2 |
ctid | tid | -1 |
Column evolution matrix
Hover a cell for the column typePresentAdded / type or attribute changeRemoved
| COLUMN | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
inhrelid |
|||||||||||||||||
inhparent |
|||||||||||||||||
inhseqno |
|||||||||||||||||
inhdetachpending |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
9.0 is the coverage baseline; a column already present in the baseline is not marked as added. The matrix aligns columns by name, so a rename appears as the old column removed and a new column added.
Evolution timeline
Changes between adjacent majorsPostgreSQL 13 ← 12
PostgreSQL 11 ← 10
Compare any two versions
Pick two versions to see added, removed, and retyped columns. The interactive comparison needs JavaScript; the evolution timeline reads fine without it.