SQL to merge rows

Question

Update

How I can select the rows from a table that when ordered

• the first element matches some row
• the second element matches the next row
• the third element the next row after the second row
• the forth element the next row after the third row
• and so on until the end of values in array?

The Logic

Supposing I have these rows as result of a query (table token holds id and word and table positioning holds id and position):

 id | word | textblockid |sentence |position 
 5  | Fear |      5      |    1    |    1
 8  | of   |      5      |    1    |    2
 6  | the  |      5      |    1    |    3
 7  | Dark |      5      |    1    |    4
 9  | is   |      5      |    1    |    5

I can have this spread in the table with different textblockids, sentences and positions.

I want to transform in this:

 id  | word             | textblockid | sentence |position 
 10  | Fear of the Dark |      5      |     1    |    1
  9  | is               |      5      |     1    |    2

I'm doing a function that receives an array with the ids to merge, something like merge_tokens('{5,8,6,7}').

I insert the new word Fear of the Dark in the table token and get the generated id (as in example, id is 10). This is easy.

The Question

I need to update the id of the first word (in this case, Fear) to 10 and delete the next words(of,the,Dark).

My doubt is how I can perform these operations. I think I need to SELECT from an ordered table where the first row id matches the first element in the id array, the second row id matches the second element id array and so on, and after this, update the first element and remove the next ones.

I can't delete just delete the other rows by id because they are used in other words. I only will delete the of where the previous is Fear, the next is of and the next Dark. Following this rule, I only can delete the where the previous is of, the other previous Fear and the next is Dark.

As example, I can have in the same table something like that can't be affected:

 id  | word      | textblockid |sentence |position 
 6   | the       |      8      |    3    |    10
 11  | sound     |      8      |    3    |    21
 8   | of        |      8      |    3    |    12
 6   | the       |      8      |    3    |    13
 7   | mountain  |      8      |    3    |    14

Answer 1

After answering most of your recent questions I have a vague idea of what you are doing. So I had a closer look at your solution and optimized quite a bit. Mostly I simplified the code, but there are some substantial improvements, too.

Some points:

• Don't use the undocumented assignment operator = in plpgsql. Use := instead. See this related question for more info.
• Why LOOP BEGIN? A separate code block only slows down if you don't need it. Removed it.
• Many more, I added a few comments

Please have a look at the code side-by-side for some hints.
Test the two versions to see which performs faster.

For your consideration:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION merge_tokens(words varchar[], separator varchar)
  RETURNS VOID AS
$body$
DECLARE         
    r              record;
    current_id     integer;
    ids            integer[];
    generated_word varchar :=  '';  -- you can initialize variables at declaration time. Saves additional assignment.

BEGIN
    -- get the ids and generate the word
    RAISE NOTICE 'Getting ids and generating words';
    generated_word := array_to_string(words, separator);  -- 1 assignment is much cheaper. Also: no trim() needed.
    ids := ARRAY
    (  SELECT t.id
       FROM  (
          SELECT row_number() OVER () AS rn, text
          FROM  (SELECT unnest(words) AS text) x) y
          JOIN   token t USING (text)
       ORDER  BY rn);
    RAISE NOTICE 'Generated word: %', generated_word;

    -- check if the don't exists to insert it
    SELECT INTO current_id  t.id FROM token t WHERE t.text = generated_word; 
    IF NOT FOUND THEN
        RAISE NOTICE 'Word don''t exists';
        INSERT INTO token(text) VALUES(generated_word)
        RETURNING id
        INTO current_id;  --get the last value without additional query.
    END IF;
    RAISE NOTICE 'Word id: %', current_id;

    -- select the records that will be updated
    RAISE NOTICE 'Getting words to be updated.';
    FOR r IN
        SELECT textblockid, sentence, position, tokenid, rn
        FROM
        ( -- select the rows that are complete
          SELECT textblockid, sentence, position, tokenid, rn, count(*) OVER (PARTITION BY grp) AS counting
          FROM
          ( -- match source with lookup table
                SELECT source.textblockid, source.sentence, source.position, source.tokenid, source.rn, source.grp
                FROM
                (   -- select textblocks where words appears with row number to matching
                     SELECT tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position, tb.tokenid, grp
                                           ,CASE WHEN grp > 0 THEN
                                            row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY grp ORDER BY tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position)
                                            END AS rn               
                     FROM
                     (   -- create the groups to be used in partition by to generate the row numbers
                          SELECT tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position, tb.tokenid
                                ,SUM(CASE WHEN tb.tokenid = ids[1] THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) OVER (ORDER BY tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position) AS grp
                          FROM  textblockhastoken tb
                          JOIN
                          (   --select the textblocks where the word appears
                                SELECT textblockid, sentence
                                FROM   textblockhastoken tb
                                WHERE  tb.tokenid = ids[1]
                          ) res USING (textblockid, sentence)
                     ) tb
                ) source
                -- create the lookup table to match positions
                JOIN (SELECT row_number() OVER () as rn, id FROM unnest(ids) AS id) lookup USING (rn)
                WHERE source.tokenid = lookup.id
          ) merged
        ) g  
        WHERE g.counting = array_length(ids,1)
        ORDER BY g.rn --order by row number to update first, delete and change positions after
    LOOP
        --check if update or delete
        IF (r.rn = 1) THEN
            RAISE NOTICE 'Updating word in T:% S:% P:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence, r.position;
            UPDATE textblockhastoken tb SET tokenid = current_id
            WHERE (tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position)
                = ( r.textblockid,  r.sentence,  r.position);
        ELSE
            RAISE NOTICE 'Deleting word in T:% S:% P:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence, r.position;
            DELETE FROM textblockhastoken tb
            WHERE (tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position)
                = ( r.textblockid,  r.sentence,  r.position);
        END IF;
        --check if is the last word to update the positions
        IF (r.rn = array_length(ids,1)) THEN
            RAISE NOTICE 'Changing positions in T:% S:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence;
            UPDATE textblockhastoken tb SET position = new_position
            FROM
            (   SELECT textblockid, sentence, position
                      ,row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY tb.textblockid, tb.sentence ORDER BY tb.position) as new_position
                FROM   textblockhastoken tb
                WHERE  tb.textblockid = r.textblockid AND tb.sentence = r.sentence
            ) np
            WHERE (tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position)
                = (np.textblockid, np.sentence, np.position)
            AND    tb.position <> np.new_position;
        END IF;
    END LOOP;
END;
$body$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Answer 2

This answer is for my particular case. I don't know if is the best way, but works for me.

I build this procedure with answer from these questions: Is possible have different conditions for each row in a query? and How create a WINDOW in PostgreSQL until the same value appears again?

The FOREARCH is only working in PostgreSQL 9.1.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION merge_tokens(words VARCHAR[], separator VARCHAR)
RETURNS VOID
AS $$
DECLARE         
    r RECORD;
    current_id INTEGER;
    current_word VARCHAR;       
    ids INTEGER[];
    generated_word VARCHAR;

BEGIN       
    -- get the ids and generate the word
    RAISE NOTICE 'Getting ids and generating words';
    generated_word = '';
    FOREACH current_word IN ARRAY words
    LOOP BEGIN                      
        generated_word = generated_word || current_word;
        generated_word = generated_word || separator;
        SELECT t.id INTO current_id FROM token t WHERE t.text = current_word;
        ids = ids || current_id;
    END;
    END LOOP;

    -- remove lead and ending spacing in word
    RAISE NOTICE 'Generated word: %', generated_word;
    generated_word = TRIM(generated_word);

    -- check if the don't exists to insert it
    SELECT t.id INTO current_id FROM token t WHERE t.text = generated_word; 
    IF (current_id IS NULL) THEN
        RAISE NOTICE 'Word don''t exists';
        INSERT INTO token(id,text) VALUES(nextval('tokenidsqc'),generated_word);
        current_id = lastval(); --get the last value from the sequence      
    END IF;
    RAISE NOTICE 'Word id: %', current_id;

    -- select the records that will be updated
    RAISE NOTICE 'Getting words to be updated.';
    FOR r IN SELECT grouping.textblockid, grouping.sentence, grouping.position, grouping.tokenid, grouping.row_number
    FROM
    (
        -- select the rows that are complete
        SELECT merged.textblockid, merged.sentence, merged.position, merged.tokenid,merged.row_number,count(*) OVER w as counting           
        FROM
        (
            -- match source with lookup table
            SELECT source.textblockid, source.sentence, source.position, source.tokenid,source.row_number, source.grp
            FROM
            (   -- select textblocks where words appears with row number to matching
                SELECT tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position, tb.tokenid, grp,
                    CASE WHEN grp > 0 THEN
                        row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY grp ORDER BY tb.textblockid,tb.sentence,tb.position)
                    END AS row_number               
                FROM
                (   -- create the groups to be used in partition by to generate the row numbers
                    SELECT tb.textblockid, tb.sentence, tb.position, tb.tokenid,
                        SUM(CASE WHEN tb.tokenid = ids[1] THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) OVER (ORDER BY tb.textblockid,tb.sentence,tb.position) AS grp
                    FROM textblockhastoken tb,
                    (   --select the textblocks where the word appears
                        SELECT textblockid, sentence
                        FROM textblockhastoken tb
                        WHERE tb.tokenid = ids[1]
                    )res
                    WHERE tb.textblockid = res.textblockid
                    AND tb.sentence = res.sentence                      
                )tb
            )source,
            -- create the lookup table to match positions
            (
                SELECT row_number() OVER () as row_number,id FROM unnest(ids::INTEGER[]) as id
            )lookup
            WHERE source.tokenid = lookup.id
            AND source.row_number = lookup.row_number
        )merged
        WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY grp)
    ) grouping      
    WHERE grouping.counting = array_length(ids,1)
    ORDER BY grouping.row_number --order by row number to update first, delete and change positions after
    -- end of query and start of iterations actions
    LOOP BEGIN
        --check if update or delete
        IF (r.row_number = 1) THEN
            RAISE NOTICE 'Updating word in T:% S:% P:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence, r.position;
            UPDATE textblockhastoken tb SET tokenid = current_id
            WHERE tb.textblockid = r.textblockid 
            AND tb.sentence = r.sentence
            AND tb.position = r.position;
        ELSE
            RAISE NOTICE 'Deleting word in T:% S:% P:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence, r.position;
            DELETE FROM textblockhastoken tb
            WHERE tb.textblockid = r.textblockid 
            AND tb.sentence = r.sentence
            AND tb.position = r.position;
        END IF;
        --check if is the last word to update the positions
        IF (r.row_number = array_length(ids,1)) THEN
            RAISE NOTICE 'Changing positions in T:% S:%', r.textblockid, r.sentence;
            UPDATE textblockhastoken tb SET position = new_position
            FROM
            (   
                SELECT textblockid, sentence, position, row_number() OVER w as new_position
                FROM textblockhastoken tb
                WHERE tb.textblockid = r.textblockid AND tb.sentence = r.sentence
                WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY tb.textblockid, tb.sentence ORDER BY tb.position)             
            )new_positioning                
            WHERE tb.textblockid = new_positioning.textblockid 
            AND tb.sentence = new_positioning.sentence
            AND tb.position = new_positioning.position
            AND tb.position <> new_positioning.new_position;
        END IF;
    END;
    END LOOP;
END 
$$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Answer 3

Best do this in one transaction:

UPDATE token
SET    word = (
    SELECT string_agg(word, ' '  ORDER BY position)
    FROM   token
    WHERE  id = ANY('{5,8,6,7}'::int[])
    )
      ,id = nextval('token_id_seq')
WHERE  id = ('{5,8,6,7}'::int[])[1];

DELETE FROM token
WHERE  id = ANY('{5,8,6,7}'::int[])
AND    id <> ('{5,8,6,7}'::int[])[1];

Replace '{5,8,6,7}'::int[] with your integer array parameter.
I get the new id from the sequence I assume exists.
I further assume that the ordering in array concurs with the ordering by position. Alternative version follows below.
id to be updated is the first element of the array.

Ordering of the words can be done inside the aggregate function (since PostgreSQL 9.0). Read about that in the manual.

---

Answer to additional question

Order selected rows according to sequence of array elements:

SELECT rn, t.*
FROM   (
    SELECT id
          ,row_number() OVER () AS rn
    FROM (SELECT unnest('{5,8,6,7}'::int[]) id) x
    )  x
JOIN   token t USING (id)
ORDER  BY rn;

Or ... does the same with different techniques, works in older versions of Postgres, too:

SELECT rn, t.*
FROM   (
    SELECT rn
          ,a[rn] AS id
    FROM (SELECT '{5,8,6,7}'::int[] AS a
                ,generate_series(1, array_upper('{5,8,6,7}'::int[], 1)) rn) x
    )  x
JOIN   token t USING (id)
ORDER  BY rn;

---

Combination

Use that in the UPDATE statement:

UPDATE token
SET    word = (
    SELECT string_agg(word, ' '  ORDER BY rn)
    FROM   (
    SELECT rn
          ,a[rn] AS id
    FROM  (
           SELECT '{5,8,6,7}'::int[] AS a
                 ,generate_series(1, array_upper('{5,8,6,7}'::int[], 1)) rn) x
          ) x
    JOIN   token t USING (id)
    )
      ,id = nextval('token_id_seq')
WHERE  id = ('{5,8,6,7}'::int[])[1];

Answer 4

This fragment does not use arrays. (I don't like arrays)

set search_path='tmp';

DROP TABLE wordlist;
CREATE TABLE wordlist
    ( id INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY
    , word varchar
    , textblockid INTEGER NOT NULL
    , sentence INTEGER NOT NULL
    , postion INTEGER NOT NULL
    , UNIQUE (textblockid,sentence,postion)
    );

INSERT INTO wordlist(id,word,textblockid,sentence,postion) VALUES
 (5 , 'Fear', 5 , 1 , 1 )
,(8 , 'of', 5 , 1 , 2 )
,(6 , 'the', 5 , 1 , 3 )
,(7 , 'Dark', 5 , 1 , 4 )
,(9 , 'is', 5 , 1 , 5 )
    ;

WITH RECURSIVE meuk AS (
    SELECT 0 AS lev
        , id,word AS words
        , textblockid,sentence,postion AS lastpos
    FROM wordlist
    UNION
    SELECT 1+ mk.lev AS lev
        , wl.id
        , mk.words || ' '::text || wl.word AS words
        , wl.textblockid,wl.sentence
        , wl.postion AS lastpos
    FROM meuk mk
    JOIN wordlist wl ON (wl.textblockid = mk.textblockid
        AND wl.sentence = mk.sentence
        AND wl.postion = mk.lastpos+1)
    )
SELECT * FROM meuk
WHERE lev = 3
    ;

results:

SET
DROP TABLE
NOTICE:  CREATE TABLE / PRIMARY KEY will create implicit index "wordlist_pkey" for table "wordlist"
NOTICE:  CREATE TABLE / UNIQUE will create implicit index "wordlist_textblockid_sentence_postion_key" for table "wordlist"
CREATE TABLE
INSERT 0 5
 lev | id |      words       | textblockid | sentence | lastpos 
-----+----+------------------+-------------+----------+---------
   3 |  7 | Fear of the Dark |           5 |        1 |       4
   3 |  9 | of the Dark is   |           5 |        1 |       5
(2 rows)

Answer 5

Is this something you could do as part of your merge_tokens function? Seems like you could just have that function keep track of which records need to be updated/deleted, simply based on the provided array (first element updated, the rest deleted).