Postgres Insert Into View Rule with Returning Clause

Question

I am attempting to allow insert statements with a returning clause into a view in Postgres v9.4, but am struggling with the syntax. This is how I want to call the insert st

Answer 1

You are much better off using an INSTEAD OF INSERT trigger here:

CREATE FUNCTION MyFuncName() RETURNS trigger AS $$
DECLARE
  id integer;
BEGIN
  INSERT INTO tableA (time) VALUES COALESCE(NEW.time, NOW()) RETURNING aPrimaryKey INTO id;
  INSERT INTO tableB (aPrimaryKey, someCol1) VALUES (id, NEW.someValue);
  RETURN NEW;
END; $$ LANGUAGE PLPGSQL;

CREATE TRIGGER MyView_on_insert INSTEAD OF INSERT ON MyView
  FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE MyFuncName();

Checking the current value of a sequence to see what was inserted in another table is bad bad bad practice. Even while you are here in a single transaction, don't do it.

You are confused about the issue of RETURNING information, because I am confused too when I read your question. Inside of a function use the INTO clause to populate locally declared variables to hold record values which you can then use in subsequent statements. Outside of a function, use the RETURNING clause as you do in your top-most code snippet.