2 $PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml,v 1.188 2007/03/03 17:19:11 momjian Exp $
3 PostgreSQL documentation
6 <refentry id="APP-PSQL">
8 <refentrytitle id="app-psql-title"><application>psql</application></refentrytitle>
9 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
10 <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
14 <refname><application>psql</application></refname>
16 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> interactive terminal
20 <indexterm zone="app-psql">
21 <primary>psql</primary>
26 <command>psql</command>
27 <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable></arg>
28 <arg><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable>
29 <arg><replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></arg></arg>
34 <title>Description</title>
37 <application>psql</application> is a terminal-based front-end to
38 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>. It enables you to type in
39 queries interactively, issue them to
40 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, and see the query results.
41 Alternatively, input can be from a file. In addition, it provides a
42 number of meta-commands and various shell-like features to
43 facilitate writing scripts and automating a wide variety of tasks.
47 <refsect1 id="R1-APP-PSQL-3">
48 <title>Options</title>
52 <term><option>-a</></term>
53 <term><option>--echo-all</></term>
56 Print all input lines to standard output as they are read. This is more
57 useful for script processing rather than interactive mode. This is
58 equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
59 <literal>all</literal>.
65 <term><option>-A</></term>
66 <term><option>--no-align</></term>
69 Switches to unaligned output mode. (The default output mode is
76 <term><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></></term>
77 <term><option>--command <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></></term>
80 Specifies that <application>psql</application> is to execute one
81 command string, <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>,
82 and then exit. This is useful in shell scripts.
85 <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> must be either
86 a command string that is completely parsable by the server (i.e.,
87 it contains no <application>psql</application> specific features),
88 or a single backslash command. Thus you cannot mix
89 <acronym>SQL</acronym> and <application>psql</application>
90 meta-commands with this option. To achieve that, you could
91 pipe the string into <application>psql</application>, like
92 this: <literal>echo '\x \\ SELECT * FROM foo;' | psql</literal>.
93 (<literal>\\</> is the separator meta-command.)
96 If the command string contains multiple SQL commands, they are
97 processed in a single transaction, unless there are explicit
98 <command>BEGIN</>/<command>COMMIT</> commands included in the
99 string to divide it into multiple transactions. This is
100 different from the behavior when the same string is fed to
101 <application>psql</application>'s standard input.
107 <term><option>-d <replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable></></term>
108 <term><option>--dbname <replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable></></term>
111 Specifies the name of the database to connect to. This is
112 equivalent to specifying <replaceable
113 class="parameter">dbname</replaceable> as the first non-option
114 argument on the command line.
117 If this parameter contains an <symbol>=</symbol> sign, it it treated as a
118 <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string. See <xref linkend="libpq-connect"> for more information.
124 <term><option>-e</></term>
125 <term><option>--echo-queries</></term>
128 Copy all SQL commands sent to the server to standard output as well.
130 to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
131 <literal>queries</literal>.
137 <term><option>-E</></term>
138 <term><option>--echo-hidden</></term>
141 Echo the actual queries generated by <command>\d</command> and other backslash
142 commands. You can use this to study <application>psql</application>'s
143 internal operations. This is equivalent to
144 setting the variable <varname>ECHO_HIDDEN</varname> from within
145 <application>psql</application>.
151 <term><option>-f <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
152 <term><option>--file <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
155 Use the file <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable>
156 as the source of commands instead of reading commands interactively.
157 After the file is processed, <application>psql</application>
158 terminates. This is in many ways equivalent to the internal
159 command <command>\i</command>.
163 If <replaceable>filename</replaceable> is <literal>-</literal>
164 (hyphen), then standard input is read.
168 Using this option is subtly different from writing <literal>psql
170 class="parameter">filename</replaceable></literal>. In general,
171 both will do what you expect, but using <literal>-f</literal>
172 enables some nice features such as error messages with line
173 numbers. There is also a slight chance that using this option will
174 reduce the start-up overhead. On the other hand, the variant using
175 the shell's input redirection is (in theory) guaranteed to yield
176 exactly the same output that you would have gotten had you entered
183 <term><option>-F <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable></></term>
184 <term><option>--field-separator <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable></></term>
187 Use <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable> as the
188 field separator for unaligned output. This is equivalent to
189 <command>\pset fieldsep</command> or <command>\f</command>.
195 <term><option>-h <replaceable class="parameter">hostname</replaceable></></term>
196 <term><option>--host <replaceable class="parameter">hostname</replaceable></></term>
199 Specifies the host name of the machine on which the
200 server is running. If the value begins
201 with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix-domain
208 <term><option>-H</></term>
209 <term><option>--html</></term>
212 Turn on <acronym>HTML</acronym> tabular output. This is
213 equivalent to <literal>\pset format html</literal> or the
214 <command>\H</command> command.
220 <term><option>-l</></term>
221 <term><option>--list</></term>
224 List all available databases, then exit. Other non-connection
225 options are ignored. This is similar to the internal command
226 <command>\list</command>.
232 <term><option>-L <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
233 <term><option>--log-file <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
236 Write all query output into file <replaceable
237 class="parameter">filename</replaceable>, in addition to the
238 normal output destination.
244 <term><option>-o <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
245 <term><option>--output <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></></term>
248 Put all query output into file <replaceable
249 class="parameter">filename</replaceable>. This is equivalent to
250 the command <command>\o</command>.
256 <term><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></></term>
257 <term><option>--port <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></></term>
260 Specifies the TCP port or the local Unix-domain
261 socket file extension on which the server is listening for
262 connections. Defaults to the value of the <envar>PGPORT</envar>
263 environment variable or, if not set, to the port specified at
264 compile time, usually 5432.
270 <term><option>-P <replaceable class="parameter">assignment</replaceable></></term>
271 <term><option>--pset <replaceable class="parameter">assignment</replaceable></></term>
274 Allows you to specify printing options in the style of
275 <command>\pset</command> on the command line. Note that here you
276 have to separate name and value with an equal sign instead of a
277 space. Thus to set the output format to LaTeX, you could write
278 <literal>-P format=latex</literal>.
284 <term><option>-q</></term>
285 <term><option>--quiet</></term>
288 Specifies that <application>psql</application> should do its work
289 quietly. By default, it prints welcome messages and various
290 informational output. If this option is used, none of this
291 happens. This is useful with the <option>-c</option> option.
292 Within <application>psql</application> you can also set the
293 <varname>QUIET</varname> variable to achieve the same effect.
299 <term><option>-R <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable></></term>
300 <term><option>--record-separator <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable></></term>
303 Use <replaceable class="parameter">separator</replaceable> as the
304 record separator for unaligned output. This is equivalent to the
305 <command>\pset recordsep</command> command.
311 <term><option>-s</></term>
312 <term><option>--single-step</></term>
315 Run in single-step mode. That means the user is prompted before
316 each command is sent to the server, with the option to cancel
317 execution as well. Use this to debug scripts.
323 <term><option>-S</></term>
324 <term><option>--single-line</></term>
327 Runs in single-line mode where a newline terminates an SQL command, as a
333 This mode is provided for those who insist on it, but you are not
334 necessarily encouraged to use it. In particular, if you mix
335 <acronym>SQL</acronym> and meta-commands on a line the order of
336 execution might not always be clear to the inexperienced user.
343 <term><option>-t</></term>
344 <term><option>--tuples-only</></term>
347 Turn off printing of column names and result row count footers,
348 etc. This is equivalent to the <command>\t</command> command.
354 <term><option>-T <replaceable class="parameter">table_options</replaceable></></term>
355 <term><option>--table-attr <replaceable class="parameter">table_options</replaceable></></term>
358 Allows you to specify options to be placed within the
359 <acronym>HTML</acronym> <sgmltag>table</sgmltag> tag. See
360 <command>\pset</command> for details.
366 <term><option>-u</></term>
369 Forces <application>psql</application> to prompt for the user name and
370 password before connecting to the database.
374 This option is deprecated, as it is conceptually flawed.
375 (Prompting for a non-default user name and prompting for a
376 password because the server requires it are really two different
377 things.) You are encouraged to look at the <option>-U</option> and
378 <option>-W</option> options instead.
384 <term><option>-U <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></></term>
385 <term><option>--username <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></></term>
388 Connect to the database as the user <replaceable
389 class="parameter">username</replaceable> instead of the default.
390 (You must have permission to do so, of course.)
396 <term><option>-v <replaceable class="parameter">assignment</replaceable></></term>
397 <term><option>--set <replaceable class="parameter">assignment</replaceable></></term>
398 <term><option>--variable <replaceable class="parameter">assignment</replaceable></></term>
401 Perform a variable assignment, like the <command>\set</command>
402 internal command. Note that you must separate name and value, if
403 any, by an equal sign on the command line. To unset a variable,
404 leave off the equal sign. To just set a variable without a value,
405 use the equal sign but leave off the value. These assignments are
406 done during a very early stage of start-up, so variables reserved
407 for internal purposes might get overwritten later.
413 <term><option>-V</></term>
414 <term><option>--version</></term>
417 Print the <application>psql</application> version and exit.
423 <term><option>-W</></term>
424 <term><option>--password</></term>
427 Forces <application>psql</application> to prompt for a
428 password before connecting to a database.
432 <application>psql</application> should automatically prompt for a
433 password whenever the server requests password authentication.
434 However, currently password request detection is not totally
435 reliable, hence this option to force a prompt. If no password
436 prompt is issued and the server requires password authentication,
437 the connection attempt will fail.
441 This option will remain set for the entire session, even if you
442 change the database connection with the meta-command
443 <command>\connect</command>.
450 <term><option>-x</></term>
451 <term><option>--expanded</></term>
454 Turn on the expanded table formatting mode. This is equivalent to the
455 <command>\x</command> command.
461 <term><option>-X,</></term>
462 <term><option>--no-psqlrc</></term>
465 Do not read the start-up file (neither the system-wide
466 <filename>psqlrc</filename> file nor the user's
467 <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file).
473 <term><option>-1</option></term>
474 <term><option>--single-transaction</option></term>
477 When <application>psql</application> executes a script with the
478 <option>-f</> option, adding this option wraps
479 <command>BEGIN</>/<command>COMMIT</> around the script to execute it
480 as a single transaction. This ensures that either all the commands
481 complete successfully, or no changes are applied.
485 If the script itself uses <command>BEGIN</>, <command>COMMIT</>,
486 or <command>ROLLBACK</>, this option will not have the desired
488 Also, if the script contains any command that cannot be executed
489 inside a transaction block, specifying this option will cause that
490 command (and hence the whole transaction) to fail.
496 <term><option>-?</></term>
497 <term><option>--help</></term>
500 Show help about <application>psql</application> command line
510 <title>Exit Status</title>
513 <application>psql</application> returns 0 to the shell if it
514 finished normally, 1 if a fatal error of its own (out of memory,
515 file not found) occurs, 2 if the connection to the server went bad
516 and the session was not interactive, and 3 if an error occurred in a
517 script and the variable <varname>ON_ERROR_STOP</varname> was set.
525 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PSQL-connecting">
526 <title>Connecting To A Database</title>
529 <application>psql</application> is a regular
530 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> client application. In order
531 to connect to a database you need to know the name of your target
532 database, the host name and port number of the server and what user
533 name you want to connect as. <application>psql</application> can be
534 told about those parameters via command line options, namely
535 <option>-d</option>, <option>-h</option>, <option>-p</option>, and
536 <option>-U</option> respectively. If an argument is found that does
537 not belong to any option it will be interpreted as the database name
538 (or the user name, if the database name is already given). Not all
539 these options are required; there are useful defaults. If you omit the host
540 name, <application>psql</> will connect via a Unix-domain socket
541 to a server on the local host, or via TCP/IP to <literal>localhost</> on
542 machines that don't have Unix-domain sockets. The default port number is
543 determined at compile time.
544 Since the database server uses the same default, you will not have
545 to specify the port in most cases. The default user name is your
546 Unix user name, as is the default database name. Note that you cannot
547 just connect to any database under any user name. Your database
548 administrator should have informed you about your access rights.
552 When the defaults aren't quite right, you can save yourself
553 some typing by setting the environment variables
554 <envar>PGDATABASE</envar>, <envar>PGHOST</envar>,
555 <envar>PGPORT</envar> and/or <envar>PGUSER</envar> to appropriate
556 values. (For additional environment variables, see <xref
557 linkend="libpq-envars">.) It is also convenient to have a
558 <filename>~/.pgpass</> file to avoid regularly having to type in
559 passwords. See <xref linkend="libpq-pgpass"> for more information.
563 An alternative way to specify connection parameters is in a
564 <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string, which is used instead of a
565 database name. This mechanism give you very wide control over the
566 connection. For example:
568 $ <userinput>psql "service=myservice sslmode=require"</userinput>
570 See <xref linkend="libpq-connect"> for more information on all the
571 available connection options.
575 If the connection could not be made for any reason (e.g., insufficient
576 privileges, server is not running on the targeted host, etc.),
577 <application>psql</application> will return an error and terminate.
581 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PSQL-4">
582 <title>Entering SQL Commands</title>
585 In normal operation, <application>psql</application> provides a
586 prompt with the name of the database to which
587 <application>psql</application> is currently connected, followed by
588 the string <literal>=></literal>. For example:
590 $ <userinput>psql testdb</userinput>
591 Welcome to psql &version;, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.
593 Type: \copyright for distribution terms
594 \h for help with SQL commands
595 \? for help with psql commands
596 \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
604 At the prompt, the user can type in <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands.
605 Ordinarily, input lines are sent to the server when a
606 command-terminating semicolon is reached. An end of line does not
607 terminate a command. Thus commands can be spread over several lines for
608 clarity. If the command was sent and executed without error, the results
609 of the command are displayed on the screen.
613 Whenever a command is executed, <application>psql</application> also polls
614 for asynchronous notification events generated by
615 <xref linkend="SQL-LISTEN" endterm="SQL-LISTEN-title"> and
616 <xref linkend="SQL-NOTIFY" endterm="SQL-NOTIFY-title">.
621 <title>Meta-Commands</title>
624 Anything you enter in <application>psql</application> that begins
625 with an unquoted backslash is a <application>psql</application>
626 meta-command that is processed by <application>psql</application>
627 itself. These commands help make
628 <application>psql</application> more useful for administration or
629 scripting. Meta-commands are more commonly called slash or backslash
634 The format of a <application>psql</application> command is the backslash,
635 followed immediately by a command verb, then any arguments. The arguments
636 are separated from the command verb and each other by any number of
637 whitespace characters.
641 To include whitespace into an argument you can quote it with a
642 single quote. To include a single quote into such an argument,
643 use two single quotes. Anything contained in single quotes is
644 furthermore subject to C-like substitutions for
645 <literal>\n</literal> (new line), <literal>\t</literal> (tab),
646 <literal>\</literal><replaceable>digits</replaceable> (octal), and
647 <literal>\x</literal><replaceable>digits</replaceable> (hexadecimal).
651 If an unquoted argument begins with a colon (<literal>:</literal>),
652 it is taken as a <application>psql</> variable and the value of the
653 variable is used as the argument instead.
657 Arguments that are enclosed in backquotes (<literal>`</literal>)
658 are taken as a command line that is passed to the shell. The
659 output of the command (with any trailing newline removed) is taken
660 as the argument value. The above escape sequences also apply in
665 Some commands take an <acronym>SQL</acronym> identifier (such as a
666 table name) as argument. These arguments follow the syntax rules
667 of <acronym>SQL</acronym>: Unquoted letters are forced to
668 lowercase, while double quotes (<literal>"</>) protect letters
669 from case conversion and allow incorporation of whitespace into
670 the identifier. Within double quotes, paired double quotes reduce
671 to a single double quote in the resulting name. For example,
672 <literal>FOO"BAR"BAZ</> is interpreted as <literal>fooBARbaz</>,
673 and <literal>"A weird"" name"</> becomes <literal>A weird"
678 Parsing for arguments stops when another unquoted backslash occurs.
679 This is taken as the beginning of a new meta-command. The special
680 sequence <literal>\\</literal> (two backslashes) marks the end of
681 arguments and continues parsing <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands, if
682 any. That way <acronym>SQL</acronym> and
683 <application>psql</application> commands can be freely mixed on a
684 line. But in any case, the arguments of a meta-command cannot
685 continue beyond the end of the line.
689 The following meta-commands are defined:
693 <term><literal>\a</literal></term>
696 If the current table output format is unaligned, it is switched to aligned.
697 If it is not unaligned, it is set to unaligned. This command is
698 kept for backwards compatibility. See <command>\pset</command> for a
699 more general solution.
705 <term><literal>\cd [ <replaceable>directory</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
708 Changes the current working directory to
709 <replaceable>directory</replaceable>. Without argument, changes
710 to the current user's home directory.
715 To print your current working directory, use <literal>\!pwd</literal>.
722 <term><literal>\C [ <replaceable class="parameter">title</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
725 Sets the title of any tables being printed as the result of a
726 query or unset any such title. This command is equivalent to
727 <literal>\pset title <replaceable
728 class="parameter">title</replaceable></literal>. (The name of
729 this command derives from <quote>caption</quote>, as it was
730 previously only used to set the caption in an
731 <acronym>HTML</acronym> table.)
737 <term><literal>\connect</literal> (or <literal>\c</literal>) <literal>[ <replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable> ] [ <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable> ] [ <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> ] ]</literal></term>
740 Establishes a new connection to a <productname>PostgreSQL</>
741 server. If the new connection is successfully made, the
742 previous connection is closed. If any of <replaceable
743 class="parameter">dbname</replaceable>, <replaceable
744 class="parameter">username</replaceable>, <replaceable
745 class="parameter">host</replaceable> or <replaceable
746 class="parameter">port</replaceable> are omitted or specified
747 as <literal>-</literal>, the value of that parameter from the
748 previous connection is used. If there is no previous
749 connection, the <application>libpq</application> default for
750 the parameter's value is used.
754 If the connection attempt failed (wrong user name, access
755 denied, etc.), the previous connection will only be kept if
756 <application>psql</application> is in interactive mode. When
757 executing a non-interactive script, processing will
758 immediately stop with an error. This distinction was chosen as
759 a user convenience against typos on the one hand, and a safety
760 mechanism that scripts are not accidentally acting on the
761 wrong database on the other hand.
767 <term><literal>\copy { <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> ) ] | ( <replaceable class="parameter">query</replaceable> ) }
768 { <literal>from</literal> | <literal>to</literal> }
769 { <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | stdin | stdout | pstdin | pstdout }
773 [ delimiter [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
774 [ null [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">string</replaceable>' ]
777 [ quote [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
778 [ escape [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
779 [ force quote <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> ]
780 [ force not null <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> ] ]</literal>
785 Performs a frontend (client) copy. This is an operation that
786 runs an <acronym>SQL</acronym> <xref linkend="SQL-COPY"
787 endterm="SQL-COPY-title"> command, but instead of the server
788 reading or writing the specified file,
789 <application>psql</application> reads or writes the file and
790 routes the data between the server and the local file system.
791 This means that file accessibility and privileges are those of
792 the local user, not the server, and no SQL superuser
793 privileges are required.
797 The syntax of the command is similar to that of the
798 <acronym>SQL</acronym> <xref linkend="sql-copy"
799 endterm="sql-copy-title"> command. Note that, because of this,
800 special parsing rules apply to the <command>\copy</command>
801 command. In particular, the variable substitution rules and
802 backslash escapes do not apply.
806 <literal>\copy ... from stdin | to stdout</literal>
807 reads/writes based on the command input and output respectively.
808 All rows are read from the same source that issued the command,
809 continuing until <literal>\.</literal> is read or the stream
810 reaches <acronym>EOF</>. Output is sent to the same place as
811 command output. To read/write from
812 <application>psql</application>'s standard input or output, use
813 <literal>pstdin</> or <literal>pstdout</>. This option is useful
814 for populating tables in-line within a SQL script file.
819 This operation is not as efficient as the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
820 <command>COPY</command> command because all data must pass
821 through the client/server connection. For large
822 amounts of data the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command might be preferable.
830 <term><literal>\copyright</literal></term>
833 Shows the copyright and distribution terms of
834 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.
840 <term><literal>\d [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
841 <term><literal>\d+ [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
845 For each relation (table, view, index, or sequence) matching the
846 <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>, show all
847 columns, their types, the tablespace (if not the default) and any special
848 attributes such as <literal>NOT NULL</literal> or defaults, if
849 any. Associated indexes, constraints, rules, and triggers are
850 also shown, as is the view definition if the relation is a view.
851 (<quote>Matching the pattern</> is defined below.)
855 The command form <literal>\d+</literal> is identical, except that
856 more information is displayed: any comments associated with the
857 columns of the table are shown, as is the presence of OIDs in the
863 If <command>\d</command> is used without a
864 <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> argument, it is
865 equivalent to <command>\dtvs</command> which will show a list of
866 all tables, views, and sequences. This is purely a convenience
874 <term><literal>\da [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
878 Lists all available aggregate functions, together with the data
879 types they operate on. If <replaceable
880 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
881 is specified, only aggregates whose names match the pattern are shown.
888 <term><literal>\db [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
889 <term><literal>\db+ [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
893 Lists all available tablespaces. If <replaceable
894 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
895 is specified, only tablespaces whose names match the pattern are shown.
896 If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
897 is listed with its associated permissions.
904 <term><literal>\dc [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
907 Lists all available conversions between character-set encodings.
908 If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
909 is specified, only conversions whose names match the pattern are
917 <term><literal>\dC</literal></term>
920 Lists all available type casts.
927 <term><literal>\dd [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
930 Shows the descriptions of objects matching the <replaceable
931 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>, or of all visible objects if
932 no argument is given. But in either case, only objects that have
933 a description are listed.
934 (<quote>Object</quote> covers aggregates, functions, operators,
935 types, relations (tables, views, indexes, sequences, large
936 objects), rules, and triggers.) For example:
938 => <userinput>\dd version</userinput>
940 Schema | Name | Object | Description
941 ------------+---------+----------+---------------------------
942 pg_catalog | version | function | PostgreSQL version string
948 Descriptions for objects can be created with the <xref
949 linkend="sql-comment" endterm="sql-comment-title">
950 <acronym>SQL</acronym> command.
957 <term><literal>\dD [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
960 Lists all available domains. If <replaceable
961 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
962 is specified, only matching domains are shown.
969 <term><literal>\df [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
970 <term><literal>\df+ [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
974 Lists available functions, together with their argument and
975 return types. If <replaceable
976 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
977 is specified, only functions whose names match the pattern are shown.
978 If the form <literal>\df+</literal> is used, additional information about
979 each function, including language and description, is shown.
984 To look up functions taking argument or returning values of a specific
985 type, use your pager's search capability to scroll through the <literal>\df</>
990 To reduce clutter, <literal>\df</> does not show data type I/O
991 functions. This is implemented by ignoring functions that accept
992 or return type <type>cstring</>.
1001 <term><literal>\dg [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1004 Lists all database roles. If <replaceable
1005 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified, only
1006 those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.
1007 (This command is now effectively the same as <literal>\du</>.)
1014 <term><literal>\distvS [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1018 This is not the actual command name: the letters
1019 <literal>i</literal>, <literal>s</literal>,
1020 <literal>t</literal>, <literal>v</literal>,
1021 <literal>S</literal> stand for index, sequence, table, view,
1022 and system table, respectively. You can specify any or all of
1023 these letters, in any order, to obtain a listing of all the
1024 matching objects. The letter <literal>S</literal> restricts
1025 the listing to system objects; without <literal>S</literal>,
1026 only non-system objects are shown. If <literal>+</literal> is
1027 appended to the command name, each object is listed with its
1028 associated description, if any.
1032 If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
1033 specified, only objects whose names match the pattern are listed.
1040 <term><literal>\dl</literal></term>
1043 This is an alias for <command>\lo_list</command>, which shows a
1044 list of large objects.
1051 <term><literal>\dn [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1052 <term><literal>\dn+ [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1056 Lists all available schemas (namespaces). If <replaceable
1057 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> (a regular expression)
1058 is specified, only schemas whose names match the pattern are listed.
1059 Non-local temporary schemas are suppressed. If <literal>+</literal>
1060 is appended to the command name, each object is listed with its associated
1061 permissions and description, if any.
1068 <term><literal>\do [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1071 Lists available operators with their operand and return types.
1072 If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
1073 specified, only operators whose names match the pattern are listed.
1080 <term><literal>\dp [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1083 Produces a list of all available tables, views and sequences with their
1084 associated access privileges.
1085 If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
1086 specified, only tables, views and sequences whose names match the pattern are listed.
1090 The <xref linkend="sql-grant" endterm="sql-grant-title"> and
1091 <xref linkend="sql-revoke" endterm="sql-revoke-title">
1092 commands are used to set access privileges.
1099 <term><literal>\dT [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1100 <term><literal>\dT+ [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1103 Lists all data types or only those that match <replaceable
1104 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>. The command form
1105 <literal>\dT+</literal> shows extra information.
1112 <term><literal>\du [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1115 Lists all database roles, or only those that match <replaceable
1116 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>.
1123 <term><literal>\edit</literal> (or <literal>\e</literal>) <literal>[ <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1127 If <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> is
1128 specified, the file is edited; after the editor exits, its
1129 content is copied back to the query buffer. If no argument is
1130 given, the current query buffer is copied to a temporary file
1131 which is then edited in the same fashion.
1135 The new query buffer is then re-parsed according to the normal
1136 rules of <application>psql</application>, where the whole buffer
1137 is treated as a single line. (Thus you cannot make scripts this
1138 way. Use <command>\i</command> for that.) This means also that
1139 if the query ends with (or rather contains) a semicolon, it is
1140 immediately executed. In other cases it will merely wait in the
1146 <application>psql</application> searches the environment
1147 variables <envar>PSQL_EDITOR</envar>, <envar>EDITOR</envar>, and
1148 <envar>VISUAL</envar> (in that order) for an editor to use. If
1149 all of them are unset, <filename>vi</filename> is used on Unix
1150 systems, <filename>notepad.exe</filename> on Windows systems.
1158 <term><literal>\echo <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> [ ... ]</literal></term>
1161 Prints the arguments to the standard output, separated by one
1162 space and followed by a newline. This can be useful to
1163 intersperse information in the output of scripts. For example:
1165 => <userinput>\echo `date`</userinput>
1166 Tue Oct 26 21:40:57 CEST 1999
1168 If the first argument is an unquoted <literal>-n</literal> the trailing
1169 newline is not written.
1174 If you use the <command>\o</command> command to redirect your
1175 query output you might wish to use <command>\qecho</command>
1176 instead of this command.
1184 <term><literal>\encoding [ <replaceable class="parameter">encoding</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1188 Sets the client character set encoding. Without an argument, this command
1189 shows the current encoding.
1196 <term><literal>\f [ <replaceable class="parameter">string</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1200 Sets the field separator for unaligned query output. The default
1201 is the vertical bar (<literal>|</literal>). See also
1202 <command>\pset</command> for a generic way of setting output
1210 <term><literal>\g</literal> [ { <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | <literal>|</literal><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> } ]</term>
1214 Sends the current query input buffer to the server and
1215 optionally stores the query's output in <replaceable
1216 class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes the output
1217 into a separate Unix shell executing <replaceable
1218 class="parameter">command</replaceable>. A bare
1219 <literal>\g</literal> is virtually equivalent to a semicolon. A
1220 <literal>\g</literal> with argument is a <quote>one-shot</quote>
1221 alternative to the <command>\o</command> command.
1227 <term><literal>\help</literal> (or <literal>\h</literal>) <literal>[ <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1230 Gives syntax help on the specified <acronym>SQL</acronym>
1231 command. If <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>
1232 is not specified, then <application>psql</application> will list
1233 all the commands for which syntax help is available. If
1234 <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> is an
1235 asterisk (<literal>*</literal>), then syntax help on all
1236 <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands is shown.
1241 To simplify typing, commands that consists of several words do
1242 not have to be quoted. Thus it is fine to type <userinput>\help
1243 alter table</userinput>.
1251 <term><literal>\H</literal></term>
1254 Turns on <acronym>HTML</acronym> query output format. If the
1255 <acronym>HTML</acronym> format is already on, it is switched
1256 back to the default aligned text format. This command is for
1257 compatibility and convenience, but see <command>\pset</command>
1258 about setting other output options.
1265 <term><literal>\i <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></literal></term>
1268 Reads input from the file <replaceable
1269 class="parameter">filename</replaceable> and executes it as
1270 though it had been typed on the keyboard.
1274 If you want to see the lines on the screen as they are read you
1275 must set the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
1276 <literal>all</literal>.
1284 <term><literal>\l</literal> (or <literal>\list</literal>)</term>
1285 <term><literal>\l+</literal> (or <literal>\list+</literal>)</term>
1288 List the names, owners, and character set encodings of all the databases in
1289 the server. If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command
1290 name, database descriptions are also displayed.
1297 <term><literal>\lo_export <replaceable class="parameter">loid</replaceable> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></literal></term>
1301 Reads the large object with <acronym>OID</acronym> <replaceable
1302 class="parameter">loid</replaceable> from the database and
1303 writes it to <replaceable
1304 class="parameter">filename</replaceable>. Note that this is
1305 subtly different from the server function
1306 <function>lo_export</function>, which acts with the permissions
1307 of the user that the database server runs as and on the server's
1312 Use <command>\lo_list</command> to find out the large object's
1313 <acronym>OID</acronym>.
1321 <term><literal>\lo_import <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">comment</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1325 Stores the file into a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
1326 large object. Optionally, it associates the given
1327 comment with the object. Example:
1329 foo=> <userinput>\lo_import '/home/peter/pictures/photo.xcf' 'a picture of me'</userinput>
1332 The response indicates that the large object received object
1333 ID 152801, which can be used to access the newly-created large
1334 object in the future. For the sake of readability, it is
1335 recommended to always associate a human-readable comment with
1336 every object. Both OIDs and comments can be viewed with the
1337 <command>\lo_list</command> command.
1341 Note that this command is subtly different from the server-side
1342 <function>lo_import</function> because it acts as the local user
1343 on the local file system, rather than the server's user and file
1350 <term><literal>\lo_list</literal></term>
1353 Shows a list of all <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
1354 large objects currently stored in the database,
1355 along with any comments provided for them.
1361 <term><literal>\lo_unlink <replaceable class="parameter">loid</replaceable></literal></term>
1365 Deletes the large object with <acronym>OID</acronym>
1366 <replaceable class="parameter">loid</replaceable> from the
1372 Use <command>\lo_list</command> to find out the large object's
1373 <acronym>OID</acronym>.
1381 <term><literal>\o</literal> [ {<replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | <literal>|</literal><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>} ]</term>
1385 Saves future query results to the file <replaceable
1386 class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes future results
1387 into a separate Unix shell to execute <replaceable
1388 class="parameter">command</replaceable>. If no arguments are
1389 specified, the query output will be reset to the standard output.
1393 <quote>Query results</quote> includes all tables, command
1394 responses, and notices obtained from the database server, as
1395 well as output of various backslash commands that query the
1396 database (such as <command>\d</command>), but not error
1402 To intersperse text output in between query results, use
1403 <command>\qecho</command>.
1411 <term><literal>\p</literal></term>
1414 Print the current query buffer to the standard output.
1420 <term><literal>\password [ <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1423 Changes the password of the specified user (by default, the current
1424 user). This command prompts for the new password, encrypts it, and
1425 sends it to the server as an <command>ALTER ROLE</> command. This
1426 makes sure that the new password does not appear in cleartext in the
1427 command history, the server log, or elsewhere.
1433 <term><literal>\prompt [ <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> ] <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></literal></term>
1436 Prompts the user to set variable <replaceable
1437 class="parameter">name</>. An optional prompt, <replaceable
1438 class="parameter">text</>, can be specified. (For multi-word
1439 prompts, use single-quotes.)
1443 By default, <literal>\prompt</> uses the terminal for input and
1444 output. However, if the <option>-f</> command line switch is
1445 used, <literal>\prompt</> uses standard input and standard output.
1451 <term><literal>\pset <replaceable class="parameter">parameter</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1455 This command sets options affecting the output of query result
1456 tables. <replaceable class="parameter">parameter</replaceable>
1457 describes which option is to be set. The semantics of
1458 <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> depend
1463 Adjustable printing options are:
1466 <term><literal>format</literal></term>
1469 Sets the output format to one of <literal>unaligned</literal>,
1470 <literal>aligned</literal>, <literal>html</literal>,
1471 <literal>latex</literal>, or <literal>troff-ms</literal>.
1472 Unique abbreviations are allowed. (That would mean one letter
1477 <quote>Unaligned</quote> writes all columns of a row on a
1478 line, separated by the currently active field separator. This
1479 is intended to create output that might be intended to be read
1480 in by other programs (tab-separated, comma-separated).
1481 <quote>Aligned</quote> mode is the standard, human-readable,
1482 nicely formatted text output that is default. The
1483 <quote><acronym>HTML</acronym></quote> and
1484 <quote>LaTeX</quote> modes put out tables that are intended to
1485 be included in documents using the respective mark-up
1486 language. They are not complete documents! (This might not be
1487 so dramatic in <acronym>HTML</acronym>, but in LaTeX you must
1488 have a complete document wrapper.)
1494 <term><literal>border</literal></term>
1497 The second argument must be a number. In general, the higher
1498 the number the more borders and lines the tables will have,
1499 but this depends on the particular format. In
1500 <acronym>HTML</acronym> mode, this will translate directly
1501 into the <literal>border=...</literal> attribute, in the
1502 others only values 0 (no border), 1 (internal dividing lines),
1503 and 2 (table frame) make sense.
1509 <term><literal>expanded</literal> (or <literal>x</literal>)</term>
1512 You can specify an optional second argument, if it is provided it
1513 may be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>
1514 which will enable or disable expanded mode. If the second
1515 argument is not provided then we will toggle between regular and
1516 expanded format. When expanded format is enabled, query results
1517 are displayed in two columns, with the column name on the left and
1518 the data on the right. This mode is useful if the data wouldn't fit
1519 on the screen in the normal <quote>horizontal</quote> mode.
1523 Expanded mode is supported by all four output formats.
1529 <term><literal>null</literal></term>
1532 The second argument is a string that should be printed
1533 whenever a column is null. The default is not to print
1534 anything, which can easily be mistaken for, say, an empty
1535 string. Thus, one might choose to write <literal>\pset null
1542 <term><literal>fieldsep</literal></term>
1545 Specifies the field separator to be used in unaligned output
1546 mode. That way one can create, for example, tab- or
1547 comma-separated output, which other programs might prefer. To
1548 set a tab as field separator, type <literal>\pset fieldsep
1549 '\t'</literal>. The default field separator is
1550 <literal>'|'</literal> (a vertical bar).
1556 <term><literal>footer</literal></term>
1559 You can specify an optional second argument, if it is provided it
1560 may be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>
1561 which will enable or disable display of the default footer
1562 <literal>(x rows)</literal>. If the second argument is not
1563 provided then we will toggle between on and off.
1569 <term><literal>numericlocale</literal></term>
1572 You can specify an optional second argument, if it is provided it
1573 may be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>
1574 which will enable or disable display of a locale-aware character
1575 to seperate groups of digits to the left of the decimal marker. If
1576 the second argument is not provided then we will toggle between
1583 <term><literal>recordsep</literal></term>
1586 Specifies the record (line) separator to use in unaligned
1587 output mode. The default is a newline character.
1593 <term><literal>tuples_only</literal> (or <literal>t</literal>)</term>
1596 You can specify an optional second argument, if it is provided it
1597 may be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>
1598 which will enable or display the tuples only mode. If the
1599 second argument is not provided then we will toggle between tuples
1600 only and full display. Full display shows extra information such
1601 as column headers, titles, and various footers. In tuples only
1602 mode, only actual table data is shown.
1608 <term><literal>title [ <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1611 Sets the table title for any subsequently printed tables. This
1612 can be used to give your output descriptive tags. If no
1613 argument is given, the title is unset.
1619 <term><literal>tableattr</literal> (or <literal>T</literal>) <literal>[ <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1622 Allows you to specify any attributes to be placed inside the
1623 <acronym>HTML</acronym> <sgmltag>table</sgmltag> tag. This
1624 could for example be <literal>cellpadding</literal> or
1625 <literal>bgcolor</literal>. Note that you probably don't want
1626 to specify <literal>border</literal> here, as that is already
1627 taken care of by <literal>\pset border</literal>.
1634 <term><literal>pager</literal></term>
1637 Controls use of a pager for query and <application>psql</>
1638 help output. If the environment variable <envar>PAGER</envar>
1639 is set, the output is piped to the specified program.
1640 Otherwise a platform-dependent default (such as
1641 <filename>more</filename>) is used.
1645 When the pager is off, the pager is not used. When the pager
1646 is on, the pager is used only when appropriate, i.e. the
1647 output is to a terminal and will not fit on the screen.
1648 (<application>psql</> does not do a perfect job of estimating
1649 when to use the pager.) <literal>\pset pager</> turns the
1650 pager on and off. Pager can also be set to <literal>always</>,
1651 which causes the pager to be always used, or you can set the pager
1652 to <literal>on</> which will enable the usage of the pager when
1653 appropriate, or you can set the pager to <literal>off</> which
1654 will disable the pager.
1662 Illustrations on how these different formats look can be seen in
1663 the <xref linkend="APP-PSQL-examples"
1664 endterm="APP-PSQL-examples-title"> section.
1669 There are various shortcut commands for <command>\pset</command>. See
1670 <command>\a</command>, <command>\C</command>, <command>\H</command>,
1671 <command>\t</command>, <command>\T</command>, and <command>\x</command>.
1677 It is an error to call <command>\pset</command> without
1678 arguments. In the future this call might show the current status
1679 of all printing options.
1688 <term><literal>\q</literal></term>
1691 Quits the <application>psql</application> program.
1698 <term><literal>\qecho <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> [ ... ] </literal></term>
1701 This command is identical to <command>\echo</command> except
1702 that the output will be written to the query output channel, as
1703 set by <command>\o</command>.
1710 <term><literal>\r</literal></term>
1713 Resets (clears) the query buffer.
1720 <term><literal>\s [ <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1723 Print or save the command line history to <replaceable
1724 class="parameter">filename</replaceable>. If <replaceable
1725 class="parameter">filename</replaceable> is omitted, the history
1726 is written to the standard output. This option is only available
1727 if <application>psql</application> is configured to use the
1728 <acronym>GNU</acronym> <application>Readline</application> library.
1735 <term><literal>\set [ <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> [ ... ] ] ]</literal></term>
1739 Sets the internal variable <replaceable
1740 class="parameter">name</replaceable> to <replaceable
1741 class="parameter">value</replaceable> or, if more than one value
1742 is given, to the concatenation of all of them. If no second
1743 argument is given, the variable is just set with no value. To
1744 unset a variable, use the <command>\unset</command> command.
1748 Valid variable names can contain characters, digits, and
1749 underscores. See the section <xref
1750 linkend="APP-PSQL-variables"
1751 endterm="APP-PSQL-variables-title"> below for details.
1752 Variable names are case-sensitive.
1756 Although you are welcome to set any variable to anything you
1757 want, <application>psql</application> treats several variables
1758 as special. They are documented in the section about variables.
1763 This command is totally separate from the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
1764 command <xref linkend="SQL-SET" endterm="SQL-SET-title">.
1772 <term><literal>\t</literal></term>
1775 Toggles the display of output column name headings and row count
1776 footer. This command is equivalent to <literal>\pset
1777 tuples_only</literal> and is provided for convenience.
1784 <term><literal>\T <replaceable class="parameter">table_options</replaceable></literal></term>
1787 Allows you to specify attributes to be placed within the
1788 <sgmltag>table</sgmltag> tag in <acronym>HTML</acronym> tabular
1789 output mode. This command is equivalent to <literal>\pset
1790 tableattr <replaceable
1791 class="parameter">table_options</replaceable></literal>.
1798 <term><literal>\timing</literal></term>
1801 Toggles a display of how long each SQL statement takes, in milliseconds.
1808 <term><literal>\w</literal> {<replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | <replaceable class="parameter">|command</replaceable>}</term>
1811 Outputs the current query buffer to the file <replaceable
1812 class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes it to the Unix
1813 command <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>.
1820 <term><literal>\x</literal></term>
1823 Toggles expanded table formatting mode. As such it is equivalent to
1824 <literal>\pset expanded</literal>.
1831 <term><literal>\z [ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1834 Produces a list of all available tables, views and sequences with their
1835 associated access privileges.
1836 If a <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
1837 specified, only tables,views and sequences whose names match the pattern are listed.
1841 The <xref linkend="sql-grant" endterm="sql-grant-title"> and
1842 <xref linkend="sql-revoke" endterm="sql-revoke-title">
1843 commands are used to set access privileges.
1847 This is an alias for <command>\dp</command> (<quote>display
1848 privileges</quote>).
1855 <term><literal>\! [ <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
1858 Escapes to a separate Unix shell or executes the Unix command
1859 <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>. The
1860 arguments are not further interpreted, the shell will see them
1868 <term><literal>\?</literal></term>
1871 Shows help information about the backslash commands.
1879 <refsect3 id="APP-PSQL-patterns">
1880 <title id="APP-PSQL-patterns-title">Patterns</title>
1883 <primary>patterns</primary>
1884 <secondary>in psql and pg_dump</secondary>
1888 The various <literal>\d</> commands accept a <replaceable
1889 class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> parameter to specify the
1890 object name(s) to be displayed. In the simplest case, a pattern
1891 is just the exact name of the object. The characters within a
1892 pattern are normally folded to lower case, just as in SQL names;
1893 for example, <literal>\dt FOO</> will display the table named
1894 <literal>foo</>. As in SQL names, placing double quotes around
1895 a pattern stops folding to lower case. Should you need to include
1896 an actual double quote character in a pattern, write it as a pair
1897 of double quotes within a double-quote sequence; again this is in
1898 accord with the rules for SQL quoted identifiers. For example,
1899 <literal>\dt "FOO""BAR"</> will display the table named
1900 <literal>FOO"BAR</> (not <literal>foo"bar</>). Unlike the normal
1901 rules for SQL names, you can put double quotes around just part
1902 of a pattern, for instance <literal>\dt FOO"FOO"BAR</> will display
1903 the table named <literal>fooFOObar</>.
1907 Within a pattern, <literal>*</> matches any sequence of characters
1908 (including no characters) and <literal>?</> matches any single character.
1909 (This notation is comparable to Unix shell file name patterns.)
1910 For example, <literal>\dt int*</> displays all tables whose names
1911 begin with <literal>int</>. But within double quotes, <literal>*</>
1912 and <literal>?</> lose these special meanings and are just matched
1917 A pattern that contains a dot (<literal>.</>) is interpreted as a schema
1918 name pattern followed by an object name pattern. For example,
1919 <literal>\dt foo*.bar*</> displays all tables whose table name
1920 starts with <literal>bar</> that are in schemas whose schema name
1921 starts with <literal>foo</>. When no dot appears, then the pattern
1922 matches only objects that are visible in the current schema search path.
1923 Again, a dot within double quotes loses its special meaning and is matched
1928 Advanced users can use regular-expression notations such as character
1929 classes, for example <literal>[0-9]</> to match any digit. All regular
1930 expression special characters work as specified in
1931 <xref linkend="functions-posix-regexp">, except for <literal>.</> which
1932 is taken as a separator as mentioned above, <literal>*</> which is
1933 translated to the regular-expression notation <literal>.*</>, and
1934 <literal>?</> which is translated to <literal>.</>. You can emulate
1935 these pattern characters at need by writing
1936 <literal>?</> for <literal>.</>,
1937 <literal>(<replaceable class="parameter">R</replaceable>+|)</literal> for
1938 <literal><replaceable class="parameter">R</replaceable>*</literal>, or
1939 <literal>(<replaceable class="parameter">R</replaceable>|)</literal> for
1940 <literal><replaceable class="parameter">R</replaceable>?</literal>.
1941 Remember that the pattern must match the whole name, unlike the usual
1942 interpretation of regular expressions; write <literal>*</> at the beginning
1943 and/or end if you don't wish the pattern to be anchored.
1944 Note that within double quotes, all regular expression special characters
1945 lose their special meanings and are matched literally. Also, the regular
1946 expression special characters are matched literally in operator name
1947 patterns (i.e., the argument of <literal>\do</>).
1951 Whenever the <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> parameter
1952 is omitted completely, the <literal>\d</> commands display all objects
1953 that are visible in the current schema search path — this is
1954 equivalent to using the pattern <literal>*</>.
1955 To see all objects in the database, use the pattern <literal>*.*</>.
1961 <title>Advanced features</title>
1963 <refsect3 id="APP-PSQL-variables">
1964 <title id="APP-PSQL-variables-title">Variables</title>
1967 <application>psql</application> provides variable substitution
1968 features similar to common Unix command shells.
1969 Variables are simply name/value pairs, where the value
1970 can be any string of any length. To set variables, use the
1971 <application>psql</application> meta-command
1972 <command>\set</command>:
1974 testdb=> <userinput>\set foo bar</userinput>
1976 sets the variable <literal>foo</literal> to the value
1977 <literal>bar</literal>. To retrieve the content of the variable, precede
1978 the name with a colon and use it as the argument of any slash
1981 testdb=> <userinput>\echo :foo</userinput>
1988 The arguments of <command>\set</command> are subject to the same
1989 substitution rules as with other commands. Thus you can construct
1990 interesting references such as <literal>\set :foo
1991 'something'</literal> and get <quote>soft links</quote> or
1992 <quote>variable variables</quote> of <productname>Perl</productname>
1993 or <productname><acronym>PHP</acronym></productname> fame,
1994 respectively. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), there is no way to do
1995 anything useful with these constructs. On the other hand,
1996 <literal>\set bar :foo</literal> is a perfectly valid way to copy a
2002 If you call <command>\set</command> without a second argument, the
2003 variable is set, with an empty string as value. To unset (or delete) a
2004 variable, use the command <command>\unset</command>.
2008 <application>psql</application>'s internal variable names can
2009 consist of letters, numbers, and underscores in any order and any
2010 number of them. A number of these variables are treated specially
2011 by <application>psql</application>. They indicate certain option
2012 settings that can be changed at run time by altering the value of
2013 the variable or represent some state of the application. Although
2014 you can use these variables for any other purpose, this is not
2015 recommended, as the program behavior might grow really strange
2016 really quickly. By convention, all specially treated variables
2017 consist of all upper-case letters (and possibly numbers and
2018 underscores). To ensure maximum compatibility in the future, avoid
2019 using such variable names for your own purposes. A list of all specially
2020 treated variables follows.
2026 <primary>autocommit</primary>
2027 <secondary>psql</secondary>
2029 <term><varname>AUTOCOMMIT</varname></term>
2032 When <literal>on</> (the default), each SQL command is automatically
2033 committed upon successful completion. To postpone commit in this
2034 mode, you must enter a <command>BEGIN</> or <command>START
2035 TRANSACTION</> SQL command. When <literal>off</> or unset, SQL
2036 commands are not committed until you explicitly issue
2037 <command>COMMIT</> or <command>END</>. The autocommit-off
2038 mode works by issuing an implicit <command>BEGIN</> for you, just
2039 before any command that is not already in a transaction block and
2040 is not itself a <command>BEGIN</> or other transaction-control
2041 command, nor a command that cannot be executed inside a transaction
2042 block (such as <command>VACUUM</>).
2047 In autocommit-off mode, you must explicitly abandon any failed
2048 transaction by entering <command>ABORT</> or <command>ROLLBACK</>.
2049 Also keep in mind that if you exit the session
2050 without committing, your work will be lost.
2056 The autocommit-on mode is <productname>PostgreSQL</>'s traditional
2057 behavior, but autocommit-off is closer to the SQL spec. If you
2058 prefer autocommit-off, you might wish to set it in the system-wide
2059 <filename>psqlrc</filename> file or your
2060 <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file.
2067 <term><varname>DBNAME</varname></term>
2070 The name of the database you are currently connected to. This is
2071 set every time you connect to a database (including program
2072 start-up), but can be unset.
2078 <term><varname>ECHO</varname></term>
2081 If set to <literal>all</literal>, all lines
2082 entered from the keyboard or from a script are written to the standard output
2083 before they are parsed or executed. To select this behavior on program
2084 start-up, use the switch <option>-a</option>. If set to
2085 <literal>queries</literal>,
2086 <application>psql</application> merely prints all queries as
2087 they are sent to the server. The switch for this is
2088 <option>-e</option>.
2094 <term><varname>ECHO_HIDDEN</varname></term>
2097 When this variable is set and a backslash command queries the
2098 database, the query is first shown. This way you can study the
2099 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> internals and provide
2100 similar functionality in your own programs. (To select this behavior
2101 on program start-up, use the switch <option>-E</option>.) If you set
2102 the variable to the value <literal>noexec</literal>, the queries are
2103 just shown but are not actually sent to the server and executed.
2109 <term><varname>ENCODING</varname></term>
2112 The current client character set encoding.
2118 <term><varname>FETCH_COUNT</varname></term>
2121 If this variable is set to an integer value > 0,
2122 the results of <command>SELECT</command> queries are fetched
2123 and displayed in groups of that many rows, rather than the
2124 default behavior of collecting the entire result set before
2125 display. Therefore only a
2126 limited amount of memory is used, regardless of the size of
2127 the result set. Settings of 100 to 1000 are commonly used
2128 when enabling this feature.
2129 Keep in mind that when using this feature, a query might
2130 fail after having already displayed some rows.
2134 Although you can use any output format with this feature,
2135 the default <literal>aligned</> format tends to look bad
2136 because each group of <varname>FETCH_COUNT</varname> rows
2137 will be formatted separately, leading to varying column
2138 widths across the row groups. The other output formats work better.
2145 <term><varname>HISTCONTROL</varname></term>
2148 If this variable is set to <literal>ignorespace</literal>,
2149 lines which begin with a space are not entered into the history
2150 list. If set to a value of <literal>ignoredups</literal>, lines
2151 matching the previous history line are not entered. A value of
2152 <literal>ignoreboth</literal> combines the two options. If
2153 unset, or if set to any other value than those above, all lines
2154 read in interactive mode are saved on the history list.
2158 This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from
2159 <application>Bash</application>.
2166 <term><varname>HISTFILE</varname></term>
2169 The file name that will be used to store the history list. The default
2170 value is <filename>~/.psql_history</filename>. For example, putting:
2172 \set HISTFILE ~/.psql_history- :DBNAME
2174 in <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> will cause
2175 <application>psql</application> to maintain a separate history for
2180 This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from
2181 <application>Bash</application>.
2188 <term><varname>HISTSIZE</varname></term>
2191 The number of commands to store in the command history. The
2192 default value is 500.
2196 This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from
2197 <application>Bash</application>.
2204 <term><varname>HOST</varname></term>
2207 The database server host you are currently connected to. This is
2208 set every time you connect to a database (including program
2209 start-up), but can be unset.
2215 <term><varname>IGNOREEOF</varname></term>
2218 If unset, sending an <acronym>EOF</> character (usually
2219 <keycombo action="simul"><keycap>Control</><keycap>D</></>)
2220 to an interactive session of <application>psql</application>
2221 will terminate the application. If set to a numeric value,
2222 that many <acronym>EOF</> characters are ignored before the
2223 application terminates. If the variable is set but has no
2224 numeric value, the default is 10.
2228 This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from
2229 <application>Bash</application>.
2236 <term><varname>LASTOID</varname></term>
2239 The value of the last affected OID, as returned from an
2240 <command>INSERT</command> or <command>lo_insert</command>
2241 command. This variable is only guaranteed to be valid until
2242 after the result of the next <acronym>SQL</acronym> command has
2250 <primary>rollback</primary>
2251 <secondary>psql</secondary>
2253 <term><varname>ON_ERROR_ROLLBACK</varname></term>
2256 When <literal>on</>, if a statement in a transaction block
2257 generates an error, the error is ignored and the transaction
2258 continues. When <literal>interactive</>, such errors are only
2259 ignored in interactive sessions, and not when reading script
2260 files. When <literal>off</> (the default), a statement in a
2261 transaction block that generates an error aborts the entire
2262 transaction. The on_error_rollback-on mode works by issuing an
2263 implicit <command>SAVEPOINT</> for you, just before each command
2264 that is in a transaction block, and rolls back to the savepoint
2271 <term><varname>ON_ERROR_STOP</varname></term>
2274 By default, if non-interactive scripts encounter an error, such
2275 as a malformed <acronym>SQL</acronym> command or internal
2276 meta-command, processing continues. This has been the
2277 traditional behavior of <application>psql</application> but it
2278 is sometimes not desirable. If this variable is set, script
2279 processing will immediately terminate. If the script was called
2280 from another script it will terminate in the same fashion. If
2281 the outermost script was not called from an interactive
2282 <application>psql</application> session but rather using the
2283 <option>-f</option> option, <application>psql</application> will
2284 return error code 3, to distinguish this case from fatal error
2285 conditions (error code 1).
2291 <term><varname>PORT</varname></term>
2294 The database server port to which you are currently connected.
2295 This is set every time you connect to a database (including
2296 program start-up), but can be unset.
2302 <term><varname>PROMPT1</varname></term>
2303 <term><varname>PROMPT2</varname></term>
2304 <term><varname>PROMPT3</varname></term>
2307 These specify what the prompts <application>psql</application>
2308 issues should look like. See <xref
2309 linkend="APP-PSQL-prompting"
2310 endterm="APP-PSQL-prompting-title"> below.
2316 <term><varname>QUIET</varname></term>
2319 This variable is equivalent to the command line option
2320 <option>-q</option>. It is probably not too useful in
2327 <term><varname>SINGLELINE</varname></term>
2330 This variable is equivalent to the command line option
2331 <option>-S</option>.
2337 <term><varname>SINGLESTEP</varname></term>
2340 This variable is equivalent to the command line option
2341 <option>-s</option>.
2347 <term><varname>USER</varname></term>
2350 The database user you are currently connected as. This is set
2351 every time you connect to a database (including program
2352 start-up), but can be unset.
2358 <term><varname>VERBOSITY</varname></term>
2361 This variable can be set to the values <literal>default</>,
2362 <literal>verbose</>, or <literal>terse</> to control the verbosity
2373 <title><acronym>SQL</acronym> Interpolation</title>
2376 An additional useful feature of <application>psql</application>
2377 variables is that you can substitute (<quote>interpolate</quote>)
2378 them into regular <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements. The syntax for
2379 this is again to prepend the variable name with a colon
2380 (<literal>:</literal>):
2382 testdb=> <userinput>\set foo 'my_table'</userinput>
2383 testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM :foo;</userinput>
2385 would then query the table <literal>my_table</literal>. The value of
2386 the variable is copied literally, so it can even contain unbalanced
2387 quotes or backslash commands. You must make sure that it makes sense
2388 where you put it. Variable interpolation will not be performed into
2389 quoted <acronym>SQL</acronym> entities.
2393 A popular application of this facility is to refer to the last
2394 inserted <acronym>OID</acronym> in subsequent statements to build a
2395 foreign key scenario. Another possible use of this mechanism is to
2396 copy the contents of a file into a table column. First load the file into a
2397 variable and then proceed as above:
2399 testdb=> <userinput>\set content '''' `cat my_file.txt` ''''</userinput>
2400 testdb=> <userinput>INSERT INTO my_table VALUES (:content);</userinput>
2402 One problem with this approach is that <filename>my_file.txt</filename>
2403 might contain single quotes. These need to be escaped so that
2404 they don't cause a syntax error when the second line is processed. This
2405 could be done with the program <command>sed</command>:
2407 testdb=> <userinput>\set content '''' `sed -e "s/'/''/g" < my_file.txt` ''''</userinput>
2409 If you are using non-standard-conforming strings then you'll also need
2410 to double backslashes. This is a bit tricky:
2412 testdb=> <userinput>\set content '''' `sed -e "s/'/''/g" -e 's/\\/\\\\/g' < my_file.txt` ''''</userinput>
2414 Note the use of different shell quoting conventions so that neither
2415 the single quote marks nor the backslashes are special to the shell.
2416 Backslashes are still special to <command>sed</command>, however, so
2417 we need to double them. (Perhaps
2418 at one point you thought it was great that all Unix commands use the
2419 same escape character.)
2423 Since colons can legally appear in SQL commands, the following rule
2424 applies: the character sequence
2425 <quote>:name</quote> is not changed unless <quote>name</> is the name
2426 of a variable that is currently set. In any case you can escape
2427 a colon with a backslash to protect it from substitution. (The
2428 colon syntax for variables is standard <acronym>SQL</acronym> for
2429 embedded query languages, such as <application>ECPG</application>.
2430 The colon syntax for array slices and type casts are
2431 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions, hence the
2437 <refsect3 id="APP-PSQL-prompting">
2438 <title id="APP-PSQL-prompting-title">Prompting</title>
2441 The prompts <application>psql</application> issues can be customized
2442 to your preference. The three variables <varname>PROMPT1</varname>,
2443 <varname>PROMPT2</varname>, and <varname>PROMPT3</varname> contain strings
2444 and special escape sequences that describe the appearance of the
2445 prompt. Prompt 1 is the normal prompt that is issued when
2446 <application>psql</application> requests a new command. Prompt 2 is
2447 issued when more input is expected during command input because the
2448 command was not terminated with a semicolon or a quote was not closed.
2449 Prompt 3 is issued when you run an <acronym>SQL</acronym>
2450 <command>COPY</command> command and you are expected to type in the
2451 row values on the terminal.
2455 The value of the selected prompt variable is printed literally,
2456 except where a percent sign (<literal>%</literal>) is encountered.
2457 Depending on the next character, certain other text is substituted
2458 instead. Defined substitutions are:
2462 <term><literal>%M</literal></term>
2465 The full host name (with domain name) of the database server,
2466 or <literal>[local]</literal> if the connection is over a Unix
2468 <literal>[local:<replaceable>/dir/name</replaceable>]</literal>,
2469 if the Unix domain socket is not at the compiled in default
2476 <term><literal>%m</literal></term>
2479 The host name of the database server, truncated at the
2480 first dot, or <literal>[local]</literal> if the connection is
2481 over a Unix domain socket.
2487 <term><literal>%></literal></term>
2488 <listitem><para>The port number at which the database server is listening.</para></listitem>
2492 <term><literal>%n</literal></term>
2495 The database session user name. (The expansion of this
2496 value might change during a database session as the result
2497 of the command <command>SET SESSION
2498 AUTHORIZATION</command>.)
2504 <term><literal>%/</literal></term>
2505 <listitem><para>The name of the current database.</para></listitem>
2509 <term><literal>%~</literal></term>
2510 <listitem><para>Like <literal>%/</literal>, but the output is <literal>~</literal>
2511 (tilde) if the database is your default database.</para></listitem>
2515 <term><literal>%#</literal></term>
2518 If the session user is a database superuser, then a
2519 <literal>#</literal>, otherwise a <literal>></literal>.
2520 (The expansion of this value might change during a database
2521 session as the result of the command <command>SET SESSION
2522 AUTHORIZATION</command>.)
2528 <term><literal>%R</literal></term>
2531 In prompt 1 normally <literal>=</literal>, but <literal>^</literal> if
2532 in single-line mode, and <literal>!</literal> if the session is
2533 disconnected from the database (which can happen if
2534 <command>\connect</command> fails). In prompt 2 the sequence is
2535 replaced by <literal>-</literal>, <literal>*</literal>, a single quote,
2536 a double quote, or a dollar sign, depending on whether
2537 <application>psql</application> expects more input because the
2538 command wasn't terminated yet, because you are inside a
2539 <literal>/* ... */</literal> comment, or because you are inside
2540 a quoted or dollar-escaped string. In prompt 3 the sequence doesn't
2547 <term><literal>%x</literal></term>
2550 Transaction status: an empty string when not in a transaction
2551 block, or <literal>*</> when in a transaction block, or
2552 <literal>!</> when in a failed transaction block, or <literal>?</>
2553 when the transaction state is indeterminate (for example, because
2554 there is no connection).
2560 <term><literal>%</literal><replaceable class="parameter">digits</replaceable></term>
2563 The character with the indicated octal code is substituted.
2569 <term><literal>%:</literal><replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable><literal>:</literal></term>
2572 The value of the <application>psql</application> variable
2573 <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>. See the
2574 section <xref linkend="APP-PSQL-variables"
2575 endterm="APP-PSQL-variables-title"> for details.
2581 <term><literal>%`</literal><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable><literal>`</literal></term>
2584 The output of <replaceable
2585 class="parameter">command</replaceable>, similar to ordinary
2586 <quote>back-tick</quote> substitution.
2592 <term><literal>%[</literal> ... <literal>%]</literal></term>
2595 Prompts can contain terminal control characters which, for
2596 example, change the color, background, or style of the prompt
2597 text, or change the title of the terminal window. In order for
2598 the line editing features of <application>Readline</application> to work properly, these
2599 non-printing control characters must be designated as invisible
2600 by surrounding them with <literal>%[</literal> and
2601 <literal>%]</literal>. Multiple pairs of these can occur within
2602 the prompt. For example:
2604 testdb=> \set PROMPT1 '%[%033[1;33;40m%]%n@%/%R%[%033[0m%]%# '
2606 results in a boldfaced (<literal>1;</literal>) yellow-on-black
2607 (<literal>33;40</literal>) prompt on VT100-compatible, color-capable
2615 To insert a percent sign into your prompt, write
2616 <literal>%%</literal>. The default prompts are
2617 <literal>'%/%R%# '</literal> for prompts 1 and 2, and
2618 <literal>'>> '</literal> for prompt 3.
2623 This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from
2624 <application>tcsh</application>.
2631 <title>Command-Line Editing</title>
2634 <application>psql</application> supports the <application>Readline</application>
2635 library for convenient line editing and retrieval. The command
2636 history is automatically saved when <application>psql</application>
2637 exits and is reloaded when
2638 <application>psql</application> starts up. Tab-completion is also
2639 supported, although the completion logic makes no claim to be an
2640 <acronym>SQL</acronym> parser. If for some reason you do not like the tab completion, you
2641 can turn it off by putting this in a file named
2642 <filename>.inputrc</filename> in your home directory:
2645 set disable-completion on
2648 (This is not a <application>psql</application> but a
2649 <application>Readline</application> feature. Read its documentation
2650 for further details.)
2658 <title>Environment</title>
2662 <term><envar>PAGER</envar></term>
2666 If the query results do not fit on the screen, they are piped
2667 through this command. Typical values are
2668 <literal>more</literal> or <literal>less</literal>. The default
2669 is platform-dependent. The use of the pager can be disabled by
2670 using the <command>\pset</command> command.
2676 <term><envar>PGDATABASE</envar></term>
2680 Default connection database
2686 <term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term>
2687 <term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term>
2688 <term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term>
2692 Default connection parameters
2698 <term><envar>PSQL_EDITOR</envar></term>
2699 <term><envar>EDITOR</envar></term>
2700 <term><envar>VISUAL</envar></term>
2704 Editor used by the <command>\e</command> command. The variables
2705 are examined in the order listed; the first that is set is used.
2711 <term><envar>SHELL</envar></term>
2715 Command executed by the <command>\!</command> command.
2721 <term><envar>TMPDIR</envar></term>
2725 Directory for storing temporary files. The default is
2726 <filename>/tmp</filename>.
2733 This utility, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</> utilities,
2734 also uses the environment variables supported by <xref
2735 linkend="libpq-envars" endterm="libpq">.
2742 <title>Files</title>
2747 Before starting up, <application>psql</application> attempts to
2748 read and execute commands from the system-wide
2749 <filename>psqlrc</filename> file and the user's
2750 <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file.
2751 (On Windows, the user's startup file is named
2752 <filename>%APPDATA%\postgresql\psqlrc.conf</filename>.)
2753 See <filename><replaceable>PREFIX</>/share/psqlrc.sample</>
2754 for information on setting up the system-wide file. It could be used
2755 to set up the client or the server to taste (using the <command>\set
2756 </command> and <command>SET</command> commands).
2762 Both the system-wide <filename>psqlrc</filename> file and the user's
2763 <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file can be made version-specific
2764 by appending a dash and the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
2765 release number, for example <filename>~/.psqlrc-&version;</filename>.
2766 A matching version-specific file will be read in preference to a
2767 non-version-specific file.
2773 The command-line history is stored in the file
2774 <filename>~/.psql_history</filename>, or
2775 <filename>%APPDATA%\postgresql\psql_history</filename> on Windows.
2783 <title>Notes</title>
2788 In an earlier life <application>psql</application> allowed the
2789 first argument of a single-letter backslash command to start
2790 directly after the command, without intervening whitespace. For
2791 compatibility this is still supported to some extent,
2792 but we are not going to explain the details here as this use is
2793 discouraged. If you get strange messages, keep this in mind.
2796 testdb=> <userinput>\foo</userinput>
2797 Field separator is "oo".
2799 which is perhaps not what one would expect.
2805 <application>psql</application> only works smoothly with servers
2806 of the same version. That does not mean other combinations will
2807 fail outright, but subtle and not-so-subtle problems might come
2808 up. Backslash commands are particularly likely to fail if the
2809 server is of a different version.
2818 <title>Notes for Windows users</title>
2821 <application>psql</application> is built as a <quote>console
2822 application</>. Since the Windows console windows use a different
2823 encoding than the rest of the system, you must take special care
2824 when using 8-bit characters within <application>psql</application>.
2825 If <application>psql</application> detects a problematic
2826 console code page, it will warn you at startup. To change the
2827 console code page, two things are necessary:
2832 Set the code page by entering <userinput>cmd.exe /c chcp
2833 1252</userinput>. (1252 is a code page that is appropriate for
2834 German; replace it with your value.) If you are using Cygwin,
2835 you can put this command in <filename>/etc/profile</filename>.
2841 Set the console font to <literal>Lucida Console</>, because the
2842 raster font does not work with the ANSI code page.
2851 <refsect1 id="APP-PSQL-examples">
2852 <title id="APP-PSQL-examples-title">Examples</title>
2855 The first example shows how to spread a command over several lines of
2856 input. Notice the changing prompt:
2858 testdb=> <userinput>CREATE TABLE my_table (</userinput>
2859 testdb(> <userinput> first integer not null default 0,</userinput>
2860 testdb(> <userinput> second text)</userinput>
2861 testdb-> <userinput>;</userinput>
2864 Now look at the table definition again:
2866 testdb=> <userinput>\d my_table</userinput>
2868 Attribute | Type | Modifier
2869 -----------+---------+--------------------
2870 first | integer | not null default 0
2874 Now we change the prompt to something more interesting:
2876 testdb=> <userinput>\set PROMPT1 '%n@%m %~%R%# '</userinput>
2877 peter@localhost testdb=>
2879 Let's assume you have filled the table with data and want to take a
2882 peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT * FROM my_table;
2892 You can display tables in different ways by using the
2893 <command>\pset</command> command:
2895 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset border 2</userinput>
2897 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM my_table;</userinput>
2908 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset border 0</userinput>
2910 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM my_table;</userinput>
2919 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset border 1</userinput>
2921 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset format unaligned</userinput>
2922 Output format is unaligned.
2923 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset fieldsep ","</userinput>
2924 Field separator is ",".
2925 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\pset tuples_only</userinput>
2926 Showing only tuples.
2927 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>SELECT second, first FROM my_table;</userinput>
2933 Alternatively, use the short commands:
2935 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>\a \t \x</userinput>
2936 Output format is aligned.
2938 Expanded display is on.
2939 peter@localhost testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM my_table;</userinput>