Objects in Postgres can trivially have their ownership re-assigned, e.g.:
alter table test_table set owner to gary;
You can also trivially re-assign ownership of all objects a user owns:
REASSIGN OWNED BY test_user TO gary 
However, you can’t list all objects in the same way, and there is not a simple way to change the owner for objects in a schema. Functions are particularly difficult, because you must know the arguments:
alter function test(id int) set owner to gary;
To the best of my knowledge, the following script will change the owner of all objects in a schema, including some rarer types:
create or replace function chown(in_schema varchar, new_owner varchar) 
returns void as
$$
declare
  object_types varchar[];
  object_classes varchar[];
  object_type record;
  r record;
begin
  object_types = '{type,table,sequence,index,table,view}';
  object_classes = '{c,t,S,i,r,v}';
  for object_type in 
      select unnest(object_types) type_name, 
                unnest(object_classes) code
  loop
    for r in 
      execute '
          select n.nspname, c.relname 
          from pg_class c, pg_namespace n 
          where n.oid = c.relnamespace 
            and nspname = ''' || in_schema || '''
            and relkind = ''' || object_type.code || ''''
    loop 
      raise notice 'Changing ownership of % %.% to %', 
                  object_type.type_name, 
                  r.nspname, r.relname, new_owner;
      execute 
        'alter ' || object_type.type_name || ' '
                 || r.nspname || '.' || r.relname 
                 || ' owner to ' || new_owner;
    end loop;
  end loop;
  for r in 
    select  p.proname, n.nspname,
       pg_catalog.pg_get_function_identity_arguments(p.oid) args
    from    pg_catalog.pg_namespace n
    join    pg_catalog.pg_proc p
    on      p.pronamespace = n.oid
    where   n.nspname = in_schema
  LOOP
    raise notice 'Changing ownership of function %.%(%) to %', 
                 r.nspname, r.proname, r.args, new_owner;
    execute 
       'alter function ' || r.nspname || '.' || r.proname ||
       '(' || r.args || ') owner to ' || new_owner;
  end LOOP;
  for r in 
    select * 
    from pg_catalog.pg_namespace n
    join pg_catalog.pg_ts_dict d 
      on d.dictnamespace = n.oid
    where n.nspname = in_schema
  LOOP
    execute 
       'alter text search dictionary ' || r.nspname || '.' || r.dictname || 
       ' owner to ' || new_owner;
  end LOOP;
end;
$$
language plpgsql;
	
Finding this function really saved me a lot of time, but one small modification on line 24 where I wished to restrict the schemas this function would change is in error, I don’t understand why. My code now reads:
EXECUTE ‘
SELECT n.nspname, c.relname
FROM pg_class c, pg_namespace n
WHERE n.oid = c.relnamespace
AND nspname ILIKE ‘dlk_%’
AND relkind = ”’ || object_type.code || ””
and I can run it successfully in psql with the variable substituted out, but it complains about a syntax error in the function.
The function doesn’t work here:
ERROR: column “schema_a” does not exist
ZEILE 1: SELECT chown(schema_a,new_owner)
^
ANFRAGE: SELECT chown(schema_a,new_owner)
KONTEXT: PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 2 at PERFORM
********** Error **********
ERROR: column “schema_a” does not exist
SQL state: 42703
Context: PL/pgSQL function inline_code_block line 2 at PERFORM
Sorry, I missed the quotes, but the function is still not working. Can you please help me?
CREATE SCHEMA schema_a AUTHORIZATION user_old;
CREATE TABLE schema_a.test_a (
id serial NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT test_a_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
ALTER TABLE schema_a.test_a OWNER TO user_old;
SELECT chown(‘schema_a’, ‘user_new’)
NOTICE: Changing ownership of sequence schema_a.test_a_id_seq to user_new
ERROR: cannot change owner of sequence “test_a_id_seq”
DETAIL: Sequence “test_a_id_seq” is linked to table “test_a”.
KONTEXT: SQL statement “alter sequence schema_a.test_a_id_seq owner to user_new”
PL/pgSQL function chown(character varying,character varying) line 27 at EXECUTE
********** Error **********
ERROR: cannot change owner of sequence “test_a_id_seq”
SQL state: 0A000
Detail: Sequence “test_a_id_seq” is linked to table “test_a”.
Context: SQL statement “alter sequence schema_a.test_a_id_seq owner to user_new”
PL/pgSQL function chown(character varying,character varying) line 27 at EXECUTE
You need to change order of object_types:
object_types = ‘{type,table,index,table,view,sequence,materialized view}’;
object_classes = ‘{c,t,i,r,v,S,m}’;
Change owner of table before sequence. Table sequence owner change with the alter table. And after, other sequence change with alter sequence.
I had materialized view.
I’m new to Postgres, lol.
When I run the Alter table command, I have the error below:
ERROR: “TABLE_NAME” is an error table
DETAIL: ALTER TABLE is not allowed on error tables
********** Error **********
ERROR: “” is an error table
SQL state: 42809
Detail: ALTER TABLE is not allowed on error tables