Exploring rules in PostgreSQL

As mentioned earlier, rules are simple event handlers. At the user level, it is possible to manage all the events that perform write operations, which are as follows:

• INSERT
• DELETE
• UPDATE

The fundamental concept behind rules is to modify the flow of an event. If we are given an event, what we can do when certain conditions occur is as follows:

• Do nothing and then undo the action of that event.
• Trigger another event instead of the default one.
• Trigger another event in conjunction with the default.

So, given a write operation, for example, an INSERT operation, we can perform one of these three actions:

• Cancel the operation.
• Perform another operation instead of the INSERT.
• Execute the INSERT and, in the same transaction, perform another operation.

Understanding the OLD and NEW variables

Before we start working with rules and then with triggers, we need to...