How to find inherited tables programatically in PostgreSQL?

Question

I have a PostgreSQL 8.3 database where table inheritance is being used. I would like to get a list of all tables along with its schema name which is inherited from a base ta

Answer 1

For those who are running a version of PostgreSQL with RECURSIVE support here's a function that finds derived tables for the specified base table.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION tables_derived_from(base_namespace name, base_table name)
RETURNS TABLE (table_schema name, table_name name, oid oid)
AS $BODY$
    WITH RECURSIVE inherited_id AS
    (
        SELECT i.inhrelid AS oid
        FROM pg_inherits i
        JOIN pg_class base_t ON i.inhparent = base_t.oid
        JOIN pg_namespace base_ns ON base_t.relnamespace = base_ns.oid
        WHERE base_ns.nspname = base_namespace AND base_t.relname = base_table

        UNION

        SELECT i.inhrelid AS oid
        FROM pg_inherits i
        JOIN inherited_id b ON i.inhparent = b.oid
    )
    SELECT child_ns.nspname as table_schema, child_t.relname as table_name, child_t.oid
    FROM inherited_id i
    JOIN pg_class child_t ON i.oid = child_t.oid 
    JOIN pg_namespace child_ns ON child_t.relnamespace = child_ns.oid
    ORDER BY 1, 2, 3;
$BODY$ LANGUAGE sql STABLE;