passing table field name in postgres function

[coolminded]

hi all,
can i pass field name of a table as a parameter in a function created in postgres,
what i mean is i have one table :student with field names
id
name
add.

can i create a function where i can pass either of the fieldname as a parameter.
so that 1 function can be used for either of the conditions.

TIA

[rski]

Probably Yes, but I don't knwo what do you want to achieve? Can you put an example which describes how do you want the function work?

[coolminded]

thanx for your quick response.

what i want is i have a table tbl_student with field names:
id
name
class
applied_date
registered_date
confirmed_date
stage

if the stage of the student is 1 then i have to search by applied_date, if the stage is 2 then the search is by registered_date and if the stage is 3 then the search is by confirmed_date,
what i want is if i know the stage, then i have to pass the different date in a single function .
eg:
create or replace function fn_getStudent(' registered_date ' .......
or
create or replace function fn_getStudent(' applied_date') .......
or
create or replace function fn_getStudent(' confirmed_date' ) .......

the same function but with different fieldname of the table.
i think u now understand what i mean...
thank you.

[rski]

But don't you pass only a date value as a parameter? All those columns are type of date I guess so the function that accepts date as parameter would be enough.
Or you want to pass a column name as parameter ?