Using a table function instead of a view.

table_function_instead_of_view.sql

CREATE TABLE foo(
  some_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  another INT,
  stuff   VARCHAR(20)
);

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION insert_crap_into_foo() RETURNS INTERVAL AS
$$
DECLARE
  counter INT := 0;
  start TIMESTAMP := timeOfDay();
  stop  TIMESTAMP;
BEGIN
  LOOP
    counter := counter + 1;
    INSERT INTO foo(another) VALUES(counter);
    EXIT WHEN counter > 2000000;
  END LOOP;
  stop := timeOfDay();
  RETURN stop - start;
END
$$
language plpgsql;

SELECT insert_crap_into_foo();

SELECT now() AS creating_view;

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION create_bar_function() RETURNS INT AS
$META$
DECLARE
  columns TEXT;
  query   TEXT;
  cmd     TEXT;
BEGIN
  SELECT (select string_agg(column_name || ' ' || data_type, ', ')
      from information_schema.columns where table_name = 'foo'
      group by table_name) INTO columns;
  SELECT 'CREATE FUNCTION bar_function() RETURNS TABLE(' ||
         columns || ') AS $$ BEGIN' ||
         ' RETURN QUERY SELECT * FROM foo;' ||
         ' END $$ language plpgsql;'
         INTO cmd;
  EXECUTE 'DROP FUNCTION IF EXISTS bar_function();';
  EXECUTE cmd;
  RETURN 1;
END
$META$
language plpgsql;

SELECT create_bar_function();

SELECT * FROM bar_function() LIMIT 10;
ALTER TABLE foo ADD more_stuff NUMERIC(10,2);
ALTER TABLE foo DROP more_stuff;
ALTER TABLE foo ALTER COLUMN stuff TYPE VARCHAR(50);
ALTER TABLE foo ALTER COLUMN another TYPE BIGINT;
SELECT * FROM bar_function() LIMIT 10; --error
SELECT create_bar_function();
SELECT * FROM bar_function() LIMIT 10; --OK

DROP FUNCTION insert_crap_into_foo();
DROP FUNCTION bar_function();
DROP FUNCTION create_bar_function();
DROP TABLE foo;

Instead of creating a view, this example shows how to create a table function that returns the same structure that a view would have; to do this we need to create the function dynamically, from another function.