SYSTEM CATALOG · System catalog

pg_language

PostgreSQL documentation ↗Source definition ↗

The catalog pg_language registers languages in which you can write functions or stored procedures. See CREATE LANGUAGE and Chapter 40 for more information about language handlers.

First seen PG 9.0Last seen PG 19Columns 9

9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19^β3

Checked column by column against a PostgreSQL 18.6 instance · Raw measurement record ↗

Columns PostgreSQL 18

pg_language

COLUMN	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
`oid`	`oid`NOT NULL	Row identifier
`lanname`	`name`NOT NULL	Name of the language
`lanowner`	`oid`NOT NULL	Owner of the languageReferences:`pg_authid.oid`
`lanispl`	`boolean`NOT NULLDocumented as:`bool`	This is false for internal languages (such as SQL) and true for user-defined languages. Currently, pg_dump still uses this to determine which languages need to be dumped, but this might be replaced by a different mechanism in the future.
`lanpltrusted`	`boolean`NOT NULLDocumented as:`bool`	True if this is a trusted language, which means that it is believed not to grant access to anything outside the normal SQL execution environment. Only superusers can create functions in untrusted languages.
`lanplcallfoid`	`oid`NOT NULL	For noninternal languages this references the language handler, which is a special function that is responsible for executing all functions that are written in the particular language. Zero for internal languages.References:`pg_proc.oid`
`laninline`	`oid`NOT NULL	This references a function that is responsible for executing “inline” anonymous code blocks (DO blocks). Zero if inline blocks are not supported.References:`pg_proc.oid`
`lanvalidator`	`oid`NOT NULL	This references a language validator function that is responsible for checking the syntax and validity of new functions when they are created. Zero if no validator is provided.References:`pg_proc.oid`
`lanacl`	`aclitem[]`	Access privileges; see Section 5.8 for details

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 type

PresentAdded / 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
`oid`
`lanname`
`lanowner`
`lanispl`
`lanpltrusted`
`lanplcallfoid`
`laninline`
`lanvalidator`
`lanacl`

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 majors

PostgreSQL 19 ← 18

1 column description updates

PostgreSQL 17 ← 16

1 column description updatesCatalog description updated

PostgreSQL 14 ← 13

1 column description updatesCatalog description updated

PostgreSQL 12 ← 11

~ oid: implicit → ordinary2 column description updatesCatalog description updated

PostgreSQL 11 ← 10

Catalog description updated

PostgreSQL 10 ← 9.6

1 column description updatesCatalog description updated

PostgreSQL 9.6 ← 9.5

Catalog description updated

PostgreSQL 9.3 ← 9.2

1 column description updatesCatalog description updated

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