Variable containing the number of rows affected by previous DELETE? (in a function)

Question

I have a function that is used as an INSERT trigger. This function deletes rows that would conflict with [the serial number in] the row being inserted. It works beautifully,

Answer 1

For a very robust solution, that is part of PostgreSQL SQL and not just plpgsql you could also do the following:

with a as (DELETE FROM feeds_item WHERE shareurl ~ re1 returning 1)
select count(*) from a;

You can actually get lots more information such as:

with a as (delete from sales returning amount)
select sum(amount) from a;

to see totals, in this way you could get any aggregate and even group and filter it.