Is it possible to define global variables in postgresql

Question

I am using postgresql 9.4 and while writing functions I want to use self-defined error_codes (int). However I may want to change the exact numeric values later.
For instance
-1 means USER_NOT_FOUND.
-2 means USER_DOES_NOT_HAVE_PERMISSION.

I can define these in a table codes_table(code_name::text, code_value::integer) and use them in functions as follows

(SELECT codes_table.code_value FROM codes_table WHERE codes_table.code_name = 'USER_NOT_FOUND')

Is there another way for this. Maybe global variables?

Answer 1

Postgresql does not support global variables on the DB level. Why not add it:

CREATE TABLE global_variables (
  key text not null PRIMARY KEY
  value text
);

INSERT INTO global_variables (key, value) VALUES ('error_code_for_spaceship_engine', '404');

If different types may be the values, consider JSON to be the type for value, but then deserialization code is required for each type.

Answer 2

Postgres does not have global variables. However you can define custom configuration parameters. To keep things clear define your own parameters with a given prefix, say glb.

This simple function will make it easier to place the parameter in queries:

create or replace function glb(code text)
returns integer language sql as $$
    select current_setting('glb.' || code)::integer;
$$;

set glb.user_not_found to -1;
set glb.user_does_not_have_permission to -2;

select glb('user_not_found'), glb('user_does_not_have_permission');

User-defined parameters are local in the session, therefore the parameters should be defined at the beginning of each session.