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28.3. Command Execution Functions

Once a connection to a database server has been successfully established, the functions described here are used to perform SQL queries and commands.

28.3.1. Main Functions

PQexec

Submits a command to the server and waits for the result.

PGresult *PQexec(PGconn *conn, const char *command);

Returns a PGresult pointer or possibly a null pointer. A non-null pointer will generally be returned except in out-of-memory conditions or serious errors such as inability to send the command to the server. If a null pointer is returned, it should be treated like a PGRES_FATAL_ERROR result. Use PQerrorMessage to get more information about such errors.

It is allowed to include multiple SQL commands (separated by semicolons) in the command string. Multiple queries sent in a single PQexec call are processed in a single transaction, unless there are explicit BEGIN/COMMIT commands included in the query string to divide it into multiple transactions. Note however that the returned PGresult structure describes only the result of the last command executed from the string. Should one of the commands fail, processing of the string stops with it and the returned PGresult describes the error condition.

PQexecParams

Submits a command to the server and waits for the result, with the ability to pass parameters separately from the SQL command text.

PGresult *PQexecParams(PGconn *conn,
                       const char *command,
                       int nParams,
                       const Oid *paramTypes,
                       const char * const *paramValues,
                       const int *paramLengths,
                       const int *paramFormats,
                       int resultFormat);

PQexecParams is like PQexec, but offers additional functionality: parameter values can be specified separately from the command string proper, and query results can be requested in either text or binary format. PQexecParams is supported only in protocol 3.0 and later connections; it will fail when using protocol 2.0.

If parameters are used, they are referred to in the command string as $1, $2, etc. nParams is the number of parameters supplied; it is the length of the arrays paramTypes[], paramValues[], paramLengths[], and paramFormats[]. (The array pointers may be NULL when nParams is zero.) paramTypes[] specifies, by OID, the data types to be assigned to the parameter symbols. If paramTypes is NULL, or any particular element in the array is zero, the server assigns a data type to the parameter symbol in the same way it would do for an untyped literal string. paramValues[] specifies the actual values of the parameters. A null pointer in this array means the corresponding parameter is null; otherwise the pointer points to a zero-terminated text string (for text format) or binary data in the format expected by the server (for binary format). paramLengths[] specifies the actual data lengths of binary-format parameters. It is ignored for null parameters and text-format parameters. The array pointer may be null when there are no binary parameters. paramFormats[] specifies whether parameters are text (put a zero in the array) or binary (put a one in the array). If the array pointer is null then all parameters are presumed to be text. resultFormat is zero to obtain results in text format, or one to obtain results in binary format. (There is not currently a provision to obtain different result columns in different formats, although that is possible in the underlying protocol.)

The primary advantage of PQexecParams over PQexec is that parameter values may be separated from the command string, thus avoiding the need for tedious and error-prone quoting and escaping. Unlike PQexec, PQexecParams allows at most one SQL command in the given string. (There can be semicolons in it, but not more than one nonempty command.) This is a limitation of the underlying protocol, but has some usefulness as an extra defense against SQL-injection attacks.

Tip: Specifying parameter types via OIDs is tedious, particularly if you prefer not to hard-wire particular OID values into your program. However, you can avoid doing so even in cases where the server by itself cannot determine the type of the parameter, or chooses a different type than you want. In the SQL command text, attach an explicit cast to the parameter symbol to show what data type you will send. For example,

select * from mytable where x = $1::bigint;

This forces parameter $1 to be treated as bigint, whereas by default it would be assigned the same type as x. Forcing the parameter type decision, either this way or by specifying a numeric type OID, is strongly recommended when sending parameter values in binary format, because binary format has less redundancy than text format and so there is less chance that the server will detect a type mismatch mistake for you.

PQprepare

Submits a request to create a prepared statement with the given parameters, and waits for completion.

PGresult *PQprepare(PGconn *conn,
                    const char *stmtName,
                    const char *query,
                    int nParams,
                    const Oid *paramTypes);

PQprepare creates a prepared statement for later execution with PQexecPrepared. This feature allows commands that will be used repeatedly to be parsed and planned just once, rather than each time they are executed. PQprepare is supported only in protocol 3.0 and later connections; it will fail when using protocol 2.0.

The function creates a prepared statement named stmtName from the query string, which must contain a single SQL command. stmtName may be "" to create an unnamed statement, in which case any pre-existing unnamed statement is automatically replaced; otherwise it is an error if the statement name is already defined in the current session. If any parameters are used, they are referred to in the query as $1, $2, etc. nParams is the number of parameters for which types are pre-specified in the array paramTypes[]. (The array pointer may be NULL when nParams is zero.) paramTypes[] specifies, by OID, the data types to be assigned to the parameter symbols. If paramTypes is NULL, or any particular element in the array is zero, the server assigns a data type to the parameter symbol in the same way it would do for an untyped literal string. Also, the query may use parameter symbols with numbers higher than nParams; data types will be inferred for these symbols as well.

As with PQexec, the result is normally a PGresult object whose contents indicate server-side success or failure. A null result indicates out-of-memory or inability to send the command at all. Use PQerrorMessage to get more information about such errors.

At present, there is no way to determine the actual data type inferred for any parameters whose types are not specified in paramTypes[]. This is a libpq omission that will probably be rectified in a future release.

Prepared statements for use with PQexecPrepared can also be created by executing SQL PREPARE statements. (But PQprepare is more flexible since it does not require parameter types to be pre-specified.) Also, although there is no libpq function for deleting a prepared statement, the SQL DEALLOCATE statement can be used for that purpose.

PQexecPrepared

Sends a request to execute a prepared statement with given parameters, and waits for the result.

PGresult *PQexecPrepared(PGconn *conn,
                         const char *stmtName,
                         int nParams,
                         const char * const *paramValues,
                         const int *paramLengths,
                         const int *paramFormats,
                         int resultFormat);

PQexecPrepared is like PQexecParams, but the command to be executed is specified by naming a previously-prepared statement, instead of giving a query string. This feature allows commands that will be used repeatedly to be parsed and planned just once, rather than each time they are executed. The statement must have been prepared previously in the current session. PQexecPrepared is supported only in protocol 3.0 and later connections; it will fail when using protocol 2.0.

The parameters are identical to PQexecParams, except that the name of a prepared statement is given instead of a query string, and the paramTypes[] parameter is not present (it is not needed since the prepared statement's parameter types were determined when it was created).

The PGresult structure encapsulates the result returned by the server. libpq application programmers should be careful to maintain the PGresult abstraction. Use the accessor functions below to get at the contents of PGresult. Avoid directly referencing the fields of the PGresult structure because they are subject to change in the future.

PQresultStatus

Returns the result status of the command.

ExecStatusType PQresultStatus(const PGresult *res);

PQresultStatus can return one of the following values:

PGRES_EMPTY_QUERY

The string sent to the server was empty.

PGRES_COMMAND_OK

Successful completion of a command returning no data.

PGRES_TUPLES_OK

Successful completion of a command returning data (such as a SELECT or SHOW).

PGRES_COPY_OUT

Copy Out (from server) data transfer started.

PGRES_COPY_IN

Copy In (to server) data transfer started.

PGRES_BAD_RESPONSE

The server's response was not understood.

PGRES_NONFATAL_ERROR

A nonfatal error (a notice or warning) occurred.

PGRES_FATAL_ERROR

A fatal error occurred.

If the result status is PGRES_TUPLES_OK, then the functions described below can be used to retrieve the rows returned by the query. Note that a SELECT command that happens to retrieve zero rows still shows PGRES_TUPLES_OK. PGRES_COMMAND_OK is for commands that can never return rows (INSERT, UPDATE, etc.). A response of PGRES_EMPTY_QUERY may indicate a bug in the client software.

A result of status PGRES_NONFATAL_ERROR will never be returned directly by PQexec or other query execution functions; results of this kind are instead passed to the notice processor (see Section 28.10).

PQresStatus

Converts the enumerated type returned by PQresultStatus into a string constant describing the status code. The caller should not free the result.

char *PQresStatus(ExecStatusType status);

PQresultErrorMessage

Returns the error message associated with the command, or an empty string if there was no error.

char *PQresultErrorMessage(const PGresult *res);

If there was an error, the returned string will include a trailing newline. The caller should not free the result directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

Immediately following a PQexec or PQgetResult call, PQerrorMessage (on the connection) will return the same string as PQresultErrorMessage (on the result). However, a PGresult will retain its error message until destroyed, whereas the connection's error message will change when subsequent operations are done. Use PQresultErrorMessage when you want to know the status associated with a particular PGresult; use PQerrorMessage when you want to know the status from the latest operation on the connection.

PQresultErrorField

Returns an individual field of an error report.

char *PQresultErrorField(const PGresult *res, int fieldcode);

fieldcode is an error field identifier; see the symbols listed below. NULL is returned if the PGresult is not an error or warning result, or does not include the specified field. Field values will normally not include a trailing newline. The caller should not free the result directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

The following field codes are available:

PG_DIAG_SEVERITY

The severity; the field contents are ERROR, FATAL, or PANIC (in an error message), or WARNING, NOTICE, DEBUG, INFO, or LOG (in a notice message), or a localized translation of one of these. Always present.

PG_DIAG_SQLSTATE

The SQLSTATE code for the error. The SQLSTATE code identifies the type of error that has occurred; it can be used by front-end applications to perform specific operations (such as error handling) in response to a particular database error. For a list of the possible SQLSTATE codes, see Appendix A. This field is not localizable, and is always present.

PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_PRIMARY

The primary human-readable error message (typically one line). Always present.

PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_DETAIL

Detail: an optional secondary error message carrying more detail about the problem. May run to multiple lines.

PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_HINT

Hint: an optional suggestion what to do about the problem. This is intended to differ from detail in that it offers advice (potentially inappropriate) rather than hard facts. May run to multiple lines.

PG_DIAG_STATEMENT_POSITION

A string containing a decimal integer indicating an error cursor position as an index into the original statement string. The first character has index 1, and positions are measured in characters not bytes.

PG_DIAG_INTERNAL_POSITION

This is defined the same as the PG_DIAG_STATEMENT_POSITION field, but it is used when the cursor position refers to an internally generated command rather than the one submitted by the client. The PG_DIAG_INTERNAL_QUERY field will always appear when this field appears.

PG_DIAG_INTERNAL_QUERY

The text of a failed internally-generated command. This could be, for example, a SQL query issued by a PL/pgSQL function.

PG_DIAG_CONTEXT

An indication of the context in which the error occurred. Presently this includes a call stack traceback of active procedural language functions and internally-generated queries. The trace is one entry per line, most recent first.

PG_DIAG_SOURCE_FILE

The file name of the source-code location where the error was reported.

PG_DIAG_SOURCE_LINE

The line number of the source-code location where the error was reported.

PG_DIAG_SOURCE_FUNCTION

The name of the source-code function reporting the error.

The client is responsible for formatting displayed information to meet its needs; in particular it should break long lines as needed. Newline characters appearing in the error message fields should be treated as paragraph breaks, not line breaks.

Errors generated internally by libpq will have severity and primary message, but typically no other fields. Errors returned by a pre-3.0-protocol server will include severity and primary message, and sometimes a detail message, but no other fields.

Note that error fields are only available from PGresult objects, not PGconn objects; there is no PQerrorField function.

PQclear

Frees the storage associated with a PGresult. Every command result should be freed via PQclear when it is no longer needed.

void PQclear(PGresult *res);

You can keep a PGresult object around for as long as you need it; it does not go away when you issue a new command, nor even if you close the connection. To get rid of it, you must call PQclear. Failure to do this will result in memory leaks in your application.

PQmakeEmptyPGresult

Constructs an empty PGresult object with the given status.

PGresult *PQmakeEmptyPGresult(PGconn *conn, ExecStatusType status);

This is libpq's internal function to allocate and initialize an empty PGresult object. This function returns NULL if memory could not be allocated. It is exported because some applications find it useful to generate result objects (particularly objects with error status) themselves. If conn is not null and status indicates an error, the current error message of the specified connection is copied into the PGresult. Note that PQclear should eventually be called on the object, just as with a PGresult returned by libpq itself.

28.3.2. Retrieving Query Result Information

These functions are used to extract information from a PGresult object that represents a successful query result (that is, one that has status PGRES_TUPLES_OK). For objects with other status values they will act as though the result has zero rows and zero columns.

PQntuples

Returns the number of rows (tuples) in the query result.

int PQntuples(const PGresult *res);

PQnfields

Returns the number of columns (fields) in each row of the query result.

int PQnfields(const PGresult *res);

PQfname

Returns the column name associated with the given column number. Column numbers start at 0. The caller should not free the result directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

char *PQfname(const PGresult *res,
              int column_number);

NULL is returned if the column number is out of range.

PQfnumber

Returns the column number associated with the given column name.

int PQfnumber(const PGresult *res,
              const char *column_name);

-1 is returned if the given name does not match any column.

The given name is treated like an identifier in an SQL command, that is, it is downcased unless double-quoted. For example, given a query result generated from the SQL command

select 1 as FOO, 2 as "BAR";

we would have the results:

PQfname(res, 0)              foo
PQfname(res, 1)              BAR
PQfnumber(res, "FOO")        0
PQfnumber(res, "foo")        0
PQfnumber(res, "BAR")        -1
PQfnumber(res, "\"BAR\"")    1

PQftable

Returns the OID of the table from which the given column was fetched. Column numbers start at 0.

Oid PQftable(const PGresult *res,
             int column_number);

InvalidOid is returned if the column number is out of range, or if the specified column is not a simple reference to a table column, or when using pre-3.0 protocol. You can query the system table pg_class to determine exactly which table is referenced.

The type Oid and the constant InvalidOid will be defined when you include the libpq header file. They will both be some integer type.

PQftablecol

Returns the column number (within its table) of the column making up the specified query result column. Query-result column numbers start at 0, but table columns have nonzero numbers.

int PQftablecol(const PGresult *res,
                int column_number);

Zero is returned if the column number is out of range, or if the specified column is not a simple reference to a table column, or when using pre-3.0 protocol.

PQfformat

Returns the format code indicating the format of the given column. Column numbers start at 0.

int PQfformat(const PGresult *res,
              int column_number);

Format code zero indicates textual data representation, while format code one indicates binary representation. (Other codes are reserved for future definition.)

PQftype

Returns the data type associated with the given column number. The integer returned is the internal OID number of the type. Column numbers start at 0.

Oid PQftype(const PGresult *res,
            int column_number);

You can query the system table pg_type to obtain the names and properties of the various data types. The OIDs of the built-in data types are defined in the file src/include/catalog/pg_type.h in the source tree.

PQfmod

Returns the type modifier of the column associated with the given column number. Column numbers start at 0.

int PQfmod(const PGresult *res,
           int column_number);

The interpretation of modifier values is type-specific; they typically indicate precision or size limits. The value -1 is used to indicate "no information available". Most data types do not use modifiers, in which case the value is always -1.

PQfsize

Returns the size in bytes of the column associated with the given column number. Column numbers start at 0.

int PQfsize(const PGresult *res,
            int column_number);

PQfsize returns the space allocated for this column in a database row, in other words the size of the server's internal representation of the data type. (Accordingly, it is not really very useful to clients.) A negative value indicates the data type is variable-length.

PQbinaryTuples

Returns 1 if the PGresult contains binary data and 0 if it contains text data.

int PQbinaryTuples(const PGresult *res);

This function is deprecated (except for its use in connection with COPY), because it is possible for a single PGresult to contain text data in some columns and binary data in others. PQfformat is preferred. PQbinaryTuples returns 1 only if all columns of the result are binary (format 1).

PQgetvalue

Returns a single field value of one row of a PGresult. Row and column numbers start at 0. The caller should not free the result directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

char *PQgetvalue(const PGresult *res,
                 int row_number,
                 int column_number);

For data in text format, the value returned by PQgetvalue is a null-terminated character string representation of the field value. For data in binary format, the value is in the binary representation determined by the data type's typsend and typreceive functions. (The value is actually followed by a zero byte in this case too, but that is not ordinarily useful, since the value is likely to contain embedded nulls.)

An empty string is returned if the field value is null. See PQgetisnull to distinguish null values from empty-string values.

The pointer returned by PQgetvalue points to storage that is part of the PGresult structure. One should not modify the data it points to, and one must explicitly copy the data into other storage if it is to be used past the lifetime of the PGresult structure itself.

PQgetisnull

Tests a field for a null value. Row and column numbers start at 0.

int PQgetisnull(const PGresult *res,
                int row_number,
                int column_number);

This function returns 1 if the field is null and 0 if it contains a non-null value. (Note that PQgetvalue will return an empty string, not a null pointer, for a null field.)

PQgetlength

Returns the actual length of a field value in bytes. Row and column numbers start at 0.

int PQgetlength(const PGresult *res,
                int row_number,
                int column_number);

This is the actual data length for the particular data value, that is, the size of the object pointed to by PQgetvalue. For text data format this is the same as strlen(). For binary format this is essential information. Note that one should not rely on PQfsize to obtain the actual data length.

PQprint

Prints out all the rows and, optionally, the column names to the specified output stream.

void PQprint(FILE *fout,      /* output stream */
             const PGresult *res,
             const PQprintOpt *po);

typedef struct {
    pqbool  header;      /* print output field headings and row count */
    pqbool  align;       /* fill align the fields */
    pqbool  standard;    /* old brain dead format */
    pqbool  html3;       /* output HTML tables */
    pqbool  expanded;    /* expand tables */
    pqbool  pager;       /* use pager for output if needed */
    char    *fieldSep;   /* field separator */
    char    *tableOpt;   /* attributes for HTML table element */
    char    *caption;    /* HTML table caption */
    char    **fieldName; /* null-terminated array of replacement field names */
} PQprintOpt;

This function was formerly used by psql to print query results, but this is no longer the case. Note that it assumes all the data is in text format.

28.3.3. Retrieving Result Information for Other Commands

These functions are used to extract information from PGresult objects that are not SELECT results.

PQcmdStatus

Returns the command status tag from the SQL command that generated the PGresult.

char *PQcmdStatus(PGresult *res);

Commonly this is just the name of the command, but it may include additional data such as the number of rows processed. The caller should not free the result directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

PQcmdTuples

Returns the number of rows affected by the SQL command.

char *PQcmdTuples(PGresult *res);

This function returns a string containing the number of rows affected by the SQL statement that generated the PGresult. This function can only be used following the execution of an INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MOVE, or FETCH statement, or an EXECUTE of a prepared query that contains a INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. If the command that generated the PGresult was anything else, PQcmdTuples returns the empty string. The caller should not free the return value directly. It will be freed when the associated PGresult handle is passed to PQclear.

PQoidValue

Returns the OID of the inserted row, if the SQL command was an INSERT that inserted exactly one row into a table that has OIDs, or a EXECUTE of a prepared query containing a suitable INSERT statement. Otherwise, this function returns InvalidOid. This function will also return InvalidOid if the table affected by the INSERT statement does not contain OIDs.

Oid PQoidValue(const PGresult *res);

PQoidStatus

Returns a string with the OID of the inserted row, if the SQL command was an INSERT that inserted exactly one row, or a EXECUTE of a prepared statement consisting of a suitable INSERT. (The string will be 0 if the INSERT did not insert exactly one row, or if the target table does not have OIDs.) If the command was not an INSERT, returns an empty string.

char *PQoidStatus(const PGresult *res);

This function is deprecated in favor of PQoidValue. It is not thread-safe.

28.3.4. Escaping Strings for Inclusion in SQL Commands

PQescapeStringConn escapes a string for use within an SQL command. This is useful when inserting data values as literal constants in SQL commands. Certain characters (such as quotes and backslashes) must be escaped to prevent them from being interpreted specially by the SQL parser. PQescapeStringConn performs this operation.

Tip: It is especially important to do proper escaping when handling strings that were received from an untrustworthy source. Otherwise there is a security risk: you are vulnerable to "SQL injection" attacks wherein unwanted SQL commands are fed to your database.

Note that it is not necessary nor correct to do escaping when a data value is passed as a separate parameter in PQexecParams or its sibling routines.

size_t PQescapeStringConn (PGconn *conn,
                           char *to, const char *from, size_t length,
                           int *error);

PQescapeStringConn writes an escaped version of the from string to the to buffer, escaping special characters so that they cannot cause any harm, and adding a terminating zero byte. The single quotes that must surround PostgreSQL string literals are not included in the result string; they should be provided in the SQL command that the result is inserted into. The parameter from points to the first character of the string that is to be escaped, and the length parameter gives the number of bytes in this string. A terminating zero byte is not required, and should not be counted in length. (If a terminating zero byte is found before length bytes are processed, PQescapeStringConn stops at the zero; the behavior is thus rather like strncpy.) to shall point to a buffer that is able to hold at least one more byte than twice the value of length, otherwise the behavior is undefined. Behavior is likewise undefined if the to and from strings overlap.

If the error parameter is not NULL, then *error is set to zero on success, nonzero on error. Presently the only possible error conditions involve invalid multibyte encoding in the source string. The output string is still generated on error, but it can be expected that the server will reject it as malformed. On error, a suitable message is stored in the conn object, whether or not error is NULL.

PQescapeStringConn returns the number of bytes written to to, not including the terminating zero byte.

size_t PQescapeString (char *to, const char *from, size_t length);

PQescapeString is an older, deprecated version of PQescapeStringConn; the difference is that it does not take conn or error parameters. Because of this, it cannot adjust its behavior depending on the connection properties (such as character encoding) and therefore it may give the wrong results. Also, it has no way to report error conditions.

PQescapeString can be used safely in single-threaded client programs that work with only one PostgreSQL connection at a time (in this case it can find out what it needs to know "behind the scenes"). In other contexts it is a security hazard and should be avoided in favor of PQescapeStringConn.

28.3.5. Escaping Binary Strings for Inclusion in SQL Commands

PQescapeByteaConn

Escapes binary data for use within an SQL command with the type bytea. As with PQescapeStringConn, this is only used when inserting data directly into an SQL command string.

unsigned char *PQescapeByteaConn(PGconn *conn,
                                 const unsigned char *from,
                                 size_t from_length,
                                 size_t *to_length);

Certain byte values must be escaped (but all byte values can be escaped) when used as part of a bytea literal in an SQL statement. In general, to escape a byte, it is converted into the three digit octal number equal to the octet value, and preceded by one or two backslashes. The single quote (') and backslash (\) characters have special alternative escape sequences. See Section 8.4 for more information. PQescapeByteaConn performs this operation, escaping only the minimally required bytes.

The from parameter points to the first byte of the string that is to be escaped, and the from_length parameter gives the number of bytes in this binary string. (A terminating zero byte is neither necessary nor counted.) The to_length parameter points to a variable that will hold the resultant escaped string length. This result string length includes the terminating zero byte of the result.

PQescapeByteaConn returns an escaped version of the from parameter binary string in memory allocated with malloc(). This memory must be freed using PQfreemem() when the result is no longer needed. The return string has all special characters replaced so that they can be properly processed by the PostgreSQL string literal parser, and the bytea input function. A terminating zero byte is also added. The single quotes that must surround PostgreSQL string literals are not part of the result string.

On error, a NULL pointer is returned, and a suitable error message is stored in the conn object. Currently, the only possible error is insufficient memory for the result string.

PQescapeBytea

PQescapeBytea is an older, deprecated version of PQescapeByteaConn.

unsigned char *PQescapeBytea(const unsigned char *from,
                             size_t from_length,
                             size_t *to_length);

The only difference from PQescapeByteaConn is that PQescapeBytea does not take a PGconn parameter. Because of this, it cannot adjust its behavior depending on the connection properties (in particular, whether standard-conforming strings are enabled) and therefore it may give the wrong results. Also, it has no way to return an error message on failure.

PQescapeBytea can be used safely in single-threaded client programs that work with only one PostgreSQL connection at a time (in this case it can find out what it needs to know "behind the scenes"). In other contexts it is a security hazard and should be avoided in favor of PQescapeByteaConn.

PQunescapeBytea

Converts a string representation of binary data into binary data — the reverse of PQescapeBytea. This is needed when retrieving bytea data in text format, but not when retrieving it in binary format.

unsigned char *PQunescapeBytea(const unsigned char *from, size_t *to_length);

The from parameter points to a string such as might be returned by PQgetvalue when applied to a bytea column. PQunescapeBytea converts this string representation into its binary representation. It returns a pointer to a buffer allocated with malloc(), or null on error, and puts the size of the buffer in to_length. The result must be freed using PQfreemem when it is no longer needed.

This conversion is not exactly the inverse of PQescapeBytea, because the string is not expected to be "escaped" when received from PQgetvalue. In particular this means there is no need for string quoting considerations, and so no need for a PGconn parameter.

PQfreemem

Frees memory allocated by libpq.

void PQfreemem(void *ptr);

Frees memory allocated by libpq, particularly PQescapeByteaConn, PQescapeBytea, PQunescapeBytea, and PQnotifies. It is needed by Microsoft Windows, which cannot free memory across DLLs, unless multithreaded DLLs (/MD in VC6) are used. On other platforms, this function is the same as the standard library function free().