In the first part of this series, The Anatomy of PostgreSQL - Part 1, we covered PostgreSQL Server object features. In this part, we shall explore
the database and dissect the parts.
Here we see a snapshot of what a standard PostgreSQL database looks like from a PgAdmin interface.
- Catalogs - these hold meta data information and built-in Postgres objects
- Casts - control how Postgres casts from one datatype to another.
- Languages - these are the languages you can define stored functions, aggregates and triggers in.
- Schemas - logical containers for database objects.
- Aggregates - holder for aggregate functions and custom built aggregate functions.
- Conversions
- Domains
- Functions
- Operators
- Operator Classes
- Operator Families - this is not shown in the diagram and is new in PostgreSQL 8.3
- Sequences - objects for implementing autonumbers
- Tables - self-explanatory but we'll cover the various object properties of a table such as indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints.
- Trigger Functions - these are functions you create that get called from a PostgreSQL table trigger body.
- Types - this is one of the key elements that qualifies PostgreSQL as an object relational database, the fact that one can define new data types.
- Views - virtual tables
