# Chapter 41. The Rule System

Table of Contents

41.1. The Query Tree

41.2. Views and the Rule System

41.2.1. How SELECT Rules Work

41.2.2. View Rules in Non-SELECT Statements

41.2.3. The Power of Views in PostgreSQL

41.2.4. Updating a View

41.3. Materialized Views

41.4. Rules on INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE

41.4.1. How Update Rules Work

41.4.2. Cooperation with Views

41.5. Rules and Privileges

41.6. Rules and Command Status

41.7. Rules Versus Triggers

This chapter discusses the rule system in PostgreSQL. Production rule systems are conceptually simple, but there are many subtle points involved in actually using them.

Some other database systems define active database rules, which are usually stored procedures and triggers. In PostgreSQL, these can be implemented using functions and triggers as well.

The rule system (more precisely speaking, the query rewrite rule system) is totally different from stored procedures and triggers. It modifies queries to take rules into consideration, and then passes the modified query to the query planner for planning and execution. It is very powerful, and can be used for many things such as query language procedures, views, and versions. The theoretical foundations and the power of this rule system are also discussed in [ston90b] and [ong90].