[GENERAL] Function returning subset of columns from table (return type)

[Myk]

Hi

I'm pretty new to PostgreSQL, and have encountered a bit of trouble with 
functions, namely the return type. Version is 8.0.15.

I have the following table:

note (
        id int,
        added date,
        updated date,
        text varchar(1000)
)

and want to define a function that just returns the dates and text by id. I 
initially just did:

create function note_get (id int)
returns setof note
as 'select * from note where id=$1' language sql;

which was fine. Then later I thought I'd try formatting the columns (they're 
only intended for display):

create function note_get (
        id int
)
returns setof record
as '
select
        to_char (added, ''Mon D YYYY''),
        to_char (updated, ''Mon D YYYY''),
        text
from
        note
where
        id=$1
' language sql;

but this gives me
ERROR:  a column definition list is required for functions returning "record"

Further reading led me to:

create function note_get (
        id int,
        out added varchar(12),
        out updated varchar(12),
        out text varchar(1000)
)
returns setof record 
...

which got me
ERROR:  CREATE FUNCTION / OUT parameters are not implemented

at which point I thought it best to go out for a walk :)

How do I create a function that returns a number of columns like this? 

Thanks
-- 
Mike

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