pg_language — PostgreSQL system catalog

The PostgreSQL pg_language system catalog: full column reference (names, types, descriptions), catalog relationships and version support.

The Sev-1 Admin
The Sev-1 Admin  ·  2 min read

Summary

The catalog pg_language registers languages in which you can write functions or stored procedures. See createlanguage and xplang for more information about language handlers.

(Description quoted from the official PostgreSQL documentation.)

Columns

The pg_language system catalog exposes the following columns (names, types and descriptions are taken verbatim from the PostgreSQL documentation):

  • oid oid
    Row identifier
  • lanname name
    Name of the language
  • lanowner oid references pg_authid.oid
    Owner of the language
  • lanispl bool
    This is false for internal languages (such as SQL) and true for user-defined languages. Currently, pg_dump still uses this to determine which languages need to be dumped, but this might be replaced by a different mechanism in the future.
  • lanpltrusted bool
    True if this is a trusted language, which means that it is believed not to grant access to anything outside the normal SQL execution environment. Only superusers can create functions in untrusted languages.
  • lanplcallfoid oid references pg_proc.oid
    For noninternal languages this references the language handler, which is a special function that is responsible for executing all functions that are written in the particular language. Zero for internal languages.
  • laninline oid references pg_proc.oid
    This references a function that is responsible for executing “inline” anonymous code blocks (do blocks). Zero if inline blocks are not supported.
  • lanvalidator oid references pg_proc.oid
    This references a language validator function that is responsible for checking the syntax and validity of new functions when they are created. Zero if no validator is provided.
  • lanacl aclitem[]
    Access privileges; see ddl_priv for details

Related catalogs

This object references the following other system catalogs:

Version applicability

Present in PostgreSQL 17, 18, 19 (verified against each release’s documentation). This is a long-standing system object that also exists in earlier PostgreSQL releases.

Related & references

Reference: PostgreSQL documentation — pg_language.