I was confronted with a similar problem. I have several scripts which create or modify schemas, and each run in a single transaction. So, dropping a non-existent TYPE will produce a show-stopping error. I wrote this function, and others for various database objects:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION dba_droptype(varchar) RETURNS boolean AS ' DECLARE p_type ALIAS FOR $1; v_exists boolean; BEGIN SELECT INTO v_exists TRUE WHERE EXISTS( SELECT 1 FROM pg_type WHERE typname = p_type::name); IF v_exists THEN RAISE NOTICE ''Dropping TYPE %'', p_type; EXECUTE ''DROP TYPE '' || p_type || '' CASCADE''; END IF; RETURN FOUND; END; ' LANGUAGE 'plpgsql'; COMMENT ON FUNCTION dba_droptype(varchar) IS ' Usage: SELECT dba_drop_type(type_name) Checks for existence of a type and drops it if found. Implements DROP TYPE CASCADE; if a function or other object depends on the type, that object will also be dropped. Returns TRUE if successful, returns FALSE if type is not found.'; -- Craig Addleman DBA ShareChive LLC * Philippe Lang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2005-04-06 05:59]: > Hi, > > Since it is not possible to use CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE, is there a way > of using DROP TYPE on a non-existing type, without causing the entire > script to abort? It may sound crazy to ask for this, but it could be > really useful in my case, where Pl/Pgsql and Pl/Perl code is being > generated automatically, based on data found in a database. > > Thanks > > ----------------- > Philippe Lang > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to [EMAIL PROTECTED]