Proper syntax for "WHERE column IN [ArrayOfValues]"?

I have an array of user ids, and would like to select all the users at once.

This query:

  this.db.query({
    text: "SELECT * FROM users WHERE remote_id IN $1 AND provider = $2",
    values: [array_of_ids, provider_string]
  }, cb);

Gives the error error: syntax error at or near "$1"

What’s the correct syntax for this? Couldn’t find it in the documentation or via google.

Thanks.

[whitelynx]

Since node-postgres already correctly renders JavaScript Arrays as PostgreSQL array literals, there’s a much simpler and less hackish solution possible; instead of using IN to test for membership, use = ANY(...):

client.query({
    text: "SELECT * FROM users"
            + " WHERE remote_id = ANY($1)"
            + " AND provider = $2",
    values: [
        [1, 3, 4], // remote_id values
        'Facebook', // provider
    ],
}, callback);

There is a full example in this gist: https://gist.github.com/whitelynx/5686162

I’m not sure what the performance considerations are of doing this instead of doing an actual IN clause; I haven’t done any benchmarks on it. I wouldn’t expect it to perform too differently, though.

It might be a good idea to add this to the answers for the FAQ question on this topic.

[ringerc]

@whitelynx I’ve updated the FAQ entry for this to reflect what you’ve said above. As I do not actually use node-postgres myself (I’m a PostgreSQL dev / Stack Overflow helper / PgJDBC contributor) I’d appreciate it if you could sanity-check the change and, if possible, add links to any node-postgres documentation that might exist to explain array parameters.