PDOPGSQL

PDOPGSQL, commonly referred to as PDO_PGSQL, is the PostgreSQL driver for the PHP Data Objects (PDO) extension. It provides a uniform, object‑oriented interface for accessing PostgreSQL databases from PHP code, allowing developers to write database‑driven applications that can be adapted to other databases with minimal changes to the data access layer.

The PDO driver supports core PDO features such as prepared statements and parameter binding, transaction control, and a variety of fetch modes. Queries are executed through the PDO abstraction, and errors can be surfaced as exceptions when the error mode is set to PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION. Data is mapped to PHP types by PDO, with binding controlled by PDO::PARAM_* constants.

Usage typically involves creating a PDO instance with a PostgreSQL DSN and credentials, preparing statements, executing them with bound parameters, and fetching results. Example:

$pdo = new PDO('pgsql:host=localhost;dbname=mydb', 'user', 'password');

$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);

$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE id = :id');

$stmt->execute(['id' => 42]);

$row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

Installation and configuration require enabling the PDO PostgreSQL extension in the PHP environment (often via php.ini, with extensions such as pdo_pgsql and, in some setups, pgsql). The DSN for the connection follows the form: pgsql:host=HOST;port=PORT;dbname=DBNAME. The username and password are typically supplied to the PDO constructor. A PostgreSQL client library must be available to the PHP build.

Limitations include that some PostgreSQL features (such as large objects or certain server‑side bulk operations) may require the native pgsql extension or alternative approaches outside PDO. For typical CRUD and data access tasks, PDO_PGSQL provides a portable and reliable interface aligned with PDO conventions.