How to declare a variable in a PostgreSQL query

Question

How do I declare a variable for use in a PostgreSQL 8.3 query?

In MS SQL Server I can do this:

DECLARE @myvar INT
SET @myvar = 5

SELECT *
FROM somew         


        

Answer 1

Here is an example using PREPARE statements. You still can't use ?, but you can use $n notation:

PREPARE foo(integer) AS
    SELECT  *
    FROM    somewhere
    WHERE   something = $1;
EXECUTE foo(5);
DEALLOCATE foo;