PostgreSQL sequence based on another column

No problem! We’re going to make two tables, things and stuff. stuff will be the table you describe in your question, and things is the one it refers to:

CREATE TABLE things (
    id serial primary key,
    name text
);

CREATE TABLE stuff (
    id integer references things,
    seq integer NOT NULL,
    notes text,
    primary key (id, seq)
);

Then we’ll set things up with a trigger that will create a new sequence every time a row is created:

CREATE FUNCTION make_thing_seq() RETURNS trigger
    LANGUAGE plpgsql
    AS $$
begin
  execute format('create sequence thing_seq_%s', NEW.id);
  return NEW;
end
$$;

CREATE TRIGGER make_thing_seq AFTER INSERT ON things FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE make_thing_seq();

Now we’ll end up with thing_seq_1, thing_seq_2, etc, etc…

Now another trigger on stuff so that it uses the right sequence each time:

CREATE FUNCTION fill_in_stuff_seq() RETURNS trigger
    LANGUAGE plpgsql
    AS $$
begin
  NEW.seq := nextval('thing_seq_' || NEW.id);
  RETURN NEW;
end
$$;

CREATE TRIGGER fill_in_stuff_seq BEFORE INSERT ON stuff FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE fill_in_stuff_seq();

That’ll ensure that when rows go into stuff, the id column is used to find the right sequence to call nextval on.

Here’s a demonstration:

test=# insert into things (name) values ('Joe');
INSERT 0 1
test=# insert into things (name) values ('Bob');
INSERT 0 1
test=# select * from things;
 id | name
----+------
  1 | Joe
  2 | Bob
(2 rows)

test=# \d
              List of relations
 Schema |     Name      |   Type   |  Owner
--------+---------------+----------+----------
 public | stuff         | table    | jkominek
 public | thing_seq_1   | sequence | jkominek
 public | thing_seq_2   | sequence | jkominek
 public | things        | table    | jkominek
 public | things_id_seq | sequence | jkominek
(5 rows)

test=# insert into stuff (id, notes) values (1, 'Keychain');
INSERT 0 1
test=# insert into stuff (id, notes) values (1, 'Pet goat');
INSERT 0 1
test=# insert into stuff (id, notes) values (2, 'Family photo');
INSERT 0 1
test=# insert into stuff (id, notes) values (1, 'Redundant lawnmower');
INSERT 0 1
test=# select * from stuff;
 id | seq |        notes
----+-----+---------------------
  1 |   1 | Keychain
  1 |   2 | Pet goat
  2 |   1 | Family photo
  1 |   3 | Redundant lawnmower
(4 rows)

test=#

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