---
title: 'PL/pgSQL Row Types'
page_title: 'PL/pgSQL Row Types'
page_description: 'In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PL/pgSQL row types to declare row variables that hold a complete row of a result set.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-plpgsql/pl-pgsql-row-types/'
ogImage: '/postgresqltutorial/actor.png'
updatedOn: '2024-03-19T01:58:41+00:00'
enableTableOfContents: true
previousLink:
  title: 'PL/pgSQL Select Into'
  slug: 'postgresql-plpgsql/pl-pgsql-select-into'
nextLink:
  title: 'PL/pgSQL Record Types'
  slug: 'postgresql-plpgsql/plpgsql-record-types'
---

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PL/pgSQL row types to declare row variables that hold a complete row of a result set.

## Introduction to PL/pgSQL row types

Row variables or row\-type variables are variables of composite types that can store the entire rows of a result set.

These row variables can hold the entire row returned by the [`select into`](/postgresql/postgresql-plpgsql/pl-pgsql-select-into/) or `for` statement.

Here’s the syntax for [declaring a row variable](plpgsql-variables):

```sql
row_variable table_name%ROWTYPE;
row_variable view_name%ROWTYPE;
```

In this syntax:

- First, specify the variable name.
- Second, provide the name of a table or view followed by `%` and `ROWTYPE`.

To access the individual field of a row variable, you use the dot notation (`.`) as follows:

```sql
row_variable.field_name
```

## PL/pgSQL row\-type variable example

We’ll use the `actor` table from the [sample database](../postgresql-getting-started/postgresql-sample-database) to show how row types work:

![](/postgresqltutorial/actor.png)
The following example retrieves the row with id 10 from the actor table and assigns it to a row variable:

```sql
do
$$
declare
   selected_actor actor%rowtype;
begin
   -- select actor with id 10
   select *
   from actor
   into selected_actor
   where actor_id = 10;

   -- show the number of actor
   raise notice 'The actor name is % %',
      selected_actor.first_name,
      selected_actor.last_name;
end;
$$;
```

How it works.

- First, declare a row variable called `selected_actor` with the same type as the row in the `actor` table.
- Second, assign the row whose value in the `actor_id` column is 10 to the `selected_actor` variable using the [`select into`](/postgresql/postgresql-plpgsql/pl-pgsql-select-into/) statement.
- Third, show the first and last names of the selected actor using the `raise notice` statement.

## Summary

- Use row type variables (`%ROWTYPE`) to hold a row of a result set returned by the `select into` statement.