pg_opfamily#

The catalog pg_opfamily defines operator families. Each operator family is a collection of operators and associated support routines that implement the semantics specified for a particular index access method. Furthermore, the operators in a family are all compatible in a way that is specified by the access method. The operator family concept allows cross-data-type operators to be used with indexes and to be reasoned about using knowledge of access method semantics.

The majority of the information defining an operator family is not in its pg_opfamily row, but in the associated rows in pg_amop, pg_amproc, and pg_opclass. Table 1. pg_catalog.pg_operator

column

type

references

description

oid

oid

Row identifier (hidden attribute; must be explicitly selected)

opfmethod

oid

pg_am.oid

Index access method operator for this family

opfname

name

Name of this operator family

opfnamespace

oid

pg_namespace.oid

Namespace of this operator family

opfowner

oid

pg_authid.oid

Owner of the operator family