Getting the SQL to create an object can be a nuisance. Either you need to run pg_dump, which is usually serious overkill, and occasionally can significantly impact processing, or you rely on a client library. Retail DDL is a set of server side functions intended to make getting this SQL much easier.

Each of the functions will be described and many will be demonstrated. Also discussed will be the usefulness of these functions in checking the integrity of the object definitions for a database, as a protection against incompetent or malicious database users.