<sect2>
<title>Data Type Mapping</title>
<para>
- Function arguments are converted from their PostgreSQL type to a
- corresponding Python type:
+ When a PL/Python function is called, its arguments are converted from
+ their PostgreSQL data type to a corresponding Python type:
+
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Otherwise,
<literal>decimal.Decimal</literal> from the standard library will be
used. <literal>cdecimal</literal> is significantly faster
- than <literal>decimal</literal>. In Python 3.3,
+ than <literal>decimal</literal>. In Python 3.3 and up,
however, <literal>cdecimal</literal> has been integrated into the
standard library under the name <literal>decimal</literal>, so there is
no longer any difference.
</para>
<para>
- Function return values are converted to the declared PostgreSQL
- return data type as follows:
+ When a PL/Python function returns, its return value is converted to the
+ function's declared PostgreSQL return data type as follows:
+
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
When the PostgreSQL return type is <type>bytea</type>, the
return value will be converted to a string (Python 2) or bytes
(Python 3) using the respective Python built-ins, with the
- result being converted <type>bytea</type>.
+ result being converted to <type>bytea</type>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- For all other PostgreSQL return types, the returned Python
- value is converted to a string using the Python
- built-in <literal>str</literal>, and the result is passed to the
- input function of the PostgreSQL data type.
+ For all other PostgreSQL return types, the return value is converted
+ to a string using the Python built-in <literal>str</literal>, and the
+ result is passed to the input function of the PostgreSQL data type.
+ (If the Python value is a <type>float</>, it is converted using
+ the <literal>repr</> built-in instead of <literal>str</literal>, to
+ avoid loss of precision.)
</para>
<para>