So notice that when doing the actual select it is able to do the index query. But for some reason with a prepared statement, it is not able to do it.
Any ideas?
In the index-using example, PG knows the value you are comparing to. So, it can make a better estimate of how many rows will be returned. With the prepared/compiled version it has to come up with a plan that makes sense for any value.
If you look back at the explain output you'll see PG is guessing 181,923 rows will match with the prepared query but only 1 for the second query. If in fact you returned that many rows, you wouldn't want to use the index - it would mean fetching values twice.
The only work-around if you are using plpgsql functions is to use EXECUTE to make sure your queries are planned for each value provided.
-- Richard Huxton Archonet Ltd
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