40.2. Data Values in PL/Perl

Note: At present, this section is just taken from PostgreSQL documentation and is subject to revision for Postgres-XC.

The argument values supplied to a PL/Perl function's code are simply the input arguments converted to text form (just as if they had been displayed by a SELECT statement). Conversely, the return and return_next commands will accept any string that is acceptable input format for the function's declared return type.