PostgreSQL 8.3.1 Documentation
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# 31.4. Server-Side Functions

There are server-side functions callable from SQL that correspond to each of the client-side functions described above; indeed, for the most part the client-side functions are simply interfaces to the equivalent server-side functions. The ones that are actually useful to call via SQL commands are `lo_creat`, `lo_create`, `lo_unlink`, `lo_import`, and `lo_export`. Here are examples of their use:

    CREATE TABLE image (
        name            text,
        raster          oid
    );

    SELECT lo_creat(-1);       -- returns OID of new, empty large object

    SELECT lo_create(43213);   -- attempts to create large object with OID 43213

    SELECT lo_unlink(173454);  -- deletes large object with OID 173454

    INSERT INTO image (name, raster)
        VALUES ('beautiful image', lo_import('/etc/motd'));

    SELECT lo_export(image.raster, '/tmp/motd') FROM image
        WHERE name = 'beautiful image';

The server-side `lo_import` and `lo_export` functions behave considerably differently from their client-side analogs. These two functions read and write files in the server's file system, using the permissions of the database's owning user. Therefore, their use is restricted to superusers. In contrast, the client-side import and export functions read and write files in the client's file system, using the permissions of the client program. The client-side functions can be used by any PostgreSQL user.

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