-->
<refentry id="APP-PSQL">
+ <indexterm zone="app-psql">
+ <primary>psql</primary>
+ </indexterm>
+
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle><application>psql</application></refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
- <indexterm zone="app-psql">
- <primary>psql</primary>
- </indexterm>
-
<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>psql</command>
<arg rep="repeat"><replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable></arg>
- <arg><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable>
- <arg><replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></arg></arg>
+ <arg choice="opt"><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable>
+ <arg choice="opt"><replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></arg></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<term><option>--echo-all</></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Print all input lines to standard output as they are read. This is more
- useful for script processing than interactive mode. This is
+ Print all nonempty input lines to standard output as they are read.
+ (This does not apply to lines read interactively.) This is
equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
<literal>all</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>-b</></term>
+ <term><option>--echo-errors</></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Print failed SQL commands to standard error output. This is
+ equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
+ <literal>errors</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></></term>
<term><option>--command=<replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></></term>
or a single backslash command. Thus you cannot mix
<acronym>SQL</acronym> and <application>psql</application>
meta-commands with this option. To achieve that, you could
- pipe the string into <application>psql</application>, like
- this: <literal>echo '\x \\ SELECT * FROM foo;' | psql</literal>.
+ pipe the string into <application>psql</application>, for example:
+ <literal>echo '\x \\ SELECT * FROM foo;' | psql</literal>.
(<literal>\\</> is the separator meta-command.)
</para>
<para>
<command>BEGIN</>/<command>COMMIT</> commands included in the
string to divide it into multiple transactions. This is
different from the behavior when the same string is fed to
- <application>psql</application>'s standard input.
+ <application>psql</application>'s standard input. Also, only
+ the result of the last SQL command is returned.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Because of these legacy behaviors, putting more than one command in
+ the <option>-c</option> string often has unexpected results. It's
+ better to feed multiple commands to <application>psql</application>'s
+ standard input, either using <application>echo</application> as
+ illustrated above, or via a shell here-document, for example:
+<programlisting>
+psql <<EOF
+\x
+SELECT * FROM foo;
+EOF
+</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
argument on the command line.
</para>
<para>
- If this parameter contains an <symbol>=</symbol> sign, it is treated as a
- <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string. See <xref linkend="libpq-connect"> for more information.
+ If this parameter contains an <symbol>=</symbol> sign or starts
+ with a valid <acronym>URI</acronym> prefix
+ (<literal>postgresql://</literal>
+ or <literal>postgres://</literal>), it is treated as a
+ <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string. See <xref
+ linkend="libpq-connstring"> for more information.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
Echo the actual queries generated by <command>\d</command> and other backslash
commands. You can use this to study <application>psql</application>'s
internal operations. This is equivalent to
- setting the variable <varname>ECHO_HIDDEN</varname> from within
- <application>psql</application>.
+ setting the variable <varname>ECHO_HIDDEN</varname> to <literal>on</>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
Use the file <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable>
as the source of commands instead of reading commands interactively.
After the file is processed, <application>psql</application>
- terminates. This is in many ways equivalent to the internal
- command <command>\i</command>.
+ terminates. This is in many ways equivalent to the meta-command
+ <command>\i</command>.
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
List all available databases, then exit. Other non-connection
- options are ignored. This is similar to the internal command
+ options are ignored. This is similar to the meta-command
<command>\list</command>.
</para>
</listitem>
<term><option>--no-readline</></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Do not use readline for line editing and do not use the history.
+ Do not use <application>Readline</application> for line editing and do
+ not use the command history.
This can be useful to turn off tab expansion when cutting and pasting.
</para>
</listitem>
Specifies printing options, in the style of
<command>\pset</command>. Note that here you
have to separate name and value with an equal sign instead of a
- space. For example, to set the output format to LaTeX, you could write
+ space. For example, to set the output format to <application>LaTeX</application>, you could write
<literal>-P format=latex</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
quietly. By default, it prints welcome messages and various
informational output. If this option is used, none of this
happens. This is useful with the <option>-c</option> option.
- Within <application>psql</application> you can also set the
- <varname>QUIET</varname> variable to achieve the same effect.
+ This is equivalent to setting the variable <varname>QUIET</varname>
+ to <literal>on</>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
Perform a variable assignment, like the <command>\set</command>
- internal command. Note that you must separate name and value, if
+ meta-command. Note that you must separate name and value, if
any, by an equal sign on the command line. To unset a variable,
- leave off the equal sign. To just set a variable without a value,
+ leave off the equal sign. To set a variable with an empty value,
use the equal sign but leave off the value. These assignments are
done during a very early stage of start-up, so variables reserved
for internal purposes might get overwritten later.
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>-z</option></term>
+ <term><option>--field-separator-zero</option></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Set the field separator for unaligned output to a zero byte.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>-0</option></term>
+ <term><option>--record-separator-zero</option></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Set the record separator for unaligned output to a zero byte. This is
+ useful for interfacing, for example, with <literal>xargs -0</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-1</option></term>
<term><option>--single-transaction</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- When <application>psql</application> executes a script with the
- <option>-f</> option, adding this option wraps
- <command>BEGIN</>/<command>COMMIT</> around the script to execute it
- as a single transaction. This ensures that either all the commands
- complete successfully, or no changes are applied.
+ When <application>psql</application> executes a script, adding
+ this option wraps <command>BEGIN</>/<command>COMMIT</> around the
+ script to execute it as a single transaction. This ensures that
+ either all the commands complete successfully, or no changes are
+ applied.
</para>
<para>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-?</></term>
- <term><option>--help</></term>
+ <term><option>--help[=<replaceable class="parameter">topic</>]</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show help about <application>psql</application> command line
- arguments, and exit.
+ Show help about <application>psql</application> and exit. The optional
+ <replaceable class="parameter">topic</> parameter (defaulting
+ to <literal>options</literal>) selects which part of psql is
+ explained: <literal>commands</> describes <application>psql</>'s
+ backslash commands; <literal>options</> describes the commandline
+ switches that can be passed to <application>psql</>;
+ and <literal>variables</> shows help about about psql configuration
+ variables.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
determined at compile time.
Since the database server uses the same default, you will not have
to specify the port in most cases. The default user name is your
- Unix user name, as is the default database name. Note that you cannot
+ operating-system user name, as is the default database name.
+ Note that you cannot
just connect to any database under any user name. Your database
administrator should have informed you about your access rights.
</para>
<para>
An alternative way to specify connection parameters is in a
- <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string, which is used instead of a
- database name. This mechanism give you very wide control over the
+ <parameter>conninfo</parameter> string or
+ a <acronym>URI</acronym>, which is used instead of a database
+ name. This mechanism give you very wide control over the
connection. For example:
<programlisting>
$ <userinput>psql "service=myservice sslmode=require"</userinput>
+$ <userinput>psql postgresql://dbmaster:5433/mydb?sslmode=require</userinput>
</programlisting>
- This way you can also use LDAP for connection parameter lookup as
- described in <xref linkend="libpq-ldap">.
- See <xref linkend="libpq-connect"> for more information on all the
+ This way you can also use <acronym>LDAP</acronym> for connection
+ parameter lookup as described in <xref linkend="libpq-ldap">.
+ See <xref linkend="libpq-paramkeywords"> for more information on all the
available connection options.
</para>
</para>
<para>
- If at least one of standard input or standard output are a
+ If both standard input and standard output are a
terminal, then <application>psql</application> sets the client
encoding to <quote>auto</quote>, which will detect the
appropriate client encoding from the locale settings
<xref linkend="SQL-LISTEN"> and
<xref linkend="SQL-NOTIFY">.
</para>
+
+ <para>
+ While C-style block comments are passed to the server for
+ processing and removal, SQL-standard comments are removed by
+ <application>psql</application>.
+ </para>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="APP-PSQL-meta-commands">
</para>
<para>
- To include whitespace into an argument you can quote it with a
- single quote. To include a single quote into such an argument,
- use two single quotes. Anything contained in single quotes is
+ To include whitespace in an argument you can quote it with
+ single quotes. To include a single quote in an argument,
+ write two single quotes within single-quoted text.
+ Anything contained in single quotes is
furthermore subject to C-like substitutions for
<literal>\n</literal> (new line), <literal>\t</literal> (tab),
+ <literal>\b</literal> (backspace), <literal>\r</literal> (carriage return),
+ <literal>\f</literal> (form feed),
<literal>\</literal><replaceable>digits</replaceable> (octal), and
<literal>\x</literal><replaceable>digits</replaceable> (hexadecimal).
+ A backslash preceding any other character within single-quoted text
+ quotes that single character, whatever it is.
</para>
<para>
- If an unquoted argument begins with a colon (<literal>:</literal>),
- it is taken as a <application>psql</> variable and the value of the
- variable is used as the argument instead. If the variable name is
- surrounded by single quotes (e.g. <literal>:'var'</literal>), it
- will be escaped as an SQL literal and the result will be used as
- the argument. If the variable name is surrounded by double quotes,
- it will be escaped as an SQL identifier and the result will be used
- as the argument.
+ Within an argument, text that is enclosed in backquotes
+ (<literal>`</literal>) is taken as a command line that is passed to the
+ shell. The output of the command (with any trailing newline removed)
+ replaces the backquoted text.
</para>
<para>
- Arguments that are enclosed in backquotes (<literal>`</literal>)
- are taken as a command line that is passed to the shell. The
- output of the command (with any trailing newline removed) is taken
- as the argument value. The above escape sequences also apply in
- backquotes.
+ If an unquoted colon (<literal>:</literal>) followed by a
+ <application>psql</> variable name appears within an argument, it is
+ replaced by the variable's value, as described in <xref
+ linkend="APP-PSQL-interpolation" endterm="APP-PSQL-interpolation-title">.
</para>
<para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry id="APP-PSQL-meta-commands-copy">
<term><literal>\copy { <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> ) ] | ( <replaceable class="parameter">query</replaceable> ) }
{ <literal>from</literal> | <literal>to</literal> }
- { <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | stdin | stdout | pstdin | pstdout }
- [ with ]
- [ binary ]
- [ oids ]
- [ delimiter [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
- [ null [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">string</replaceable>' ]
- [ csv
- [ header ]
- [ quote [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
- [ escape [ as ] '<replaceable class="parameter">character</replaceable>' ]
- [ force quote <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> | * ]
- [ force not null <replaceable class="parameter">column_list</replaceable> ] ]</literal>
- </term>
+ { <replaceable class="parameter">'filename'</replaceable> | program <replaceable class="parameter">'command'</replaceable> | stdin | stdout | pstdin | pstdout }
+ [ [ with ] ( <replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- The syntax of the command is similar to that of the
- <acronym>SQL</acronym> <xref linkend="sql-copy">
- command. Note that, because of this,
- special parsing rules apply to the <command>\copy</command>
- command. In particular, the variable substitution rules and
- backslash escapes do not apply.
+ When <literal>program</> is specified,
+ <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> is
+ executed by <application>psql</application> and the data passed from
+ or to <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> is
+ routed between the server and the client.
+ Again, the execution privileges are those of
+ the local user, not the server, and no SQL superuser
+ privileges are required.
</para>
<para>
- <literal>\copy ... from stdin | to stdout</literal>
- reads/writes based on the command input and output respectively.
- All rows are read from the same source that issued the command,
- continuing until <literal>\.</literal> is read or the stream
- reaches <acronym>EOF</>. Output is sent to the same place as
- command output. To read/write from
- <application>psql</application>'s standard input or output, use
- <literal>pstdin</> or <literal>pstdout</>. This option is useful
+ For <literal>\copy ... from stdin</>, data rows are read from the same
+ source that issued the command, continuing until <literal>\.</literal>
+ is read or the stream reaches <acronym>EOF</>. This option is useful
for populating tables in-line within a SQL script file.
+ For <literal>\copy ... to stdout</>, output is sent to the same place
+ as <application>psql</> command output, and
+ the <literal>COPY <replaceable>count</></literal> command status is
+ not printed (since it might be confused with a data row).
+ To read/write <application>psql</application>'s standard input or
+ output regardless of the current command source or <literal>\o</>
+ option, write <literal>from pstdin</> or <literal>to pstdout</>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The syntax of this command is similar to that of the
+ <acronym>SQL</acronym> <xref linkend="sql-copy">
+ command. All options other than the data source/destination are
+ as specified for <xref linkend="sql-copy">.
+ Because of this, special parsing rules apply to the <command>\copy</>
+ command. In particular, <application>psql</>'s variable substitution
+ rules and backslash escapes do not apply.
</para>
<tip>
<listitem>
<para>
- For each relation (table, view, index, sequence or foreign table)
- matching the
+ For each relation (table, view, index, sequence, or foreign table)
+ or composite type matching the
<replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>, show all
columns, their types, the tablespace (if not the default) and any
special attributes such as <literal>NOT NULL</literal> or defaults.
below.)
</para>
+ <para>
+ For some types of relation, <literal>\d</> shows additional information
+ for each column: column values for sequences, indexed expression for
+ indexes and foreign data wrapper options for foreign tables.
+ </para>
+
<para>
The command form <literal>\d+</literal> is identical, except that
more information is displayed: any comments associated with the
columns of the table are shown, as is the presence of OIDs in the
- table, the view definition if the relation is a view, and the generic
- options if the relation is a foreign table.
+ table, the view definition if the relation is a view, a non-default
+ <link linkend="SQL-CREATETABLE-REPLICA-IDENTITY">replica
+ identity</link> setting.
</para>
<para>
Lists tablespaces. If <replaceable
class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
is specified, only tablespaces whose names match the pattern are shown.
- If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
- is listed with its associated permissions.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each tablespace
+ is listed with its associated options, on-disk size, permissions and
+ description.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\dc[S] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\dc[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Lists conversions between character-set encodings.
By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
pattern or the <literal>S</literal> modifier to include system
objects.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
+ is listed with its associated description.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\dC [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\dC[+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Lists type casts.
If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
is specified, only casts whose source or target types match the
pattern are listed.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
+ is listed with its associated description.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><literal>\dd[S] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Shows the descriptions of objects matching the <replaceable
- class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>, or of all visible objects if
- no argument is given. But in either case, only objects that have
- a description are listed.
+ Shows the descriptions of objects of type <literal>constraint</>,
+ <literal>operator class</>, <literal>operator family</>,
+ <literal>rule</>, and <literal>trigger</>. All
+ other comments may be viewed by the respective backslash commands for
+ those object types.
+ </para>
+
+ <para><literal>\dd</literal> displays descriptions for objects matching the
+ <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>, or of visible
+ objects of the appropriate type if no argument is given. But in either
+ case, only objects that have a description are listed.
By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
pattern or the <literal>S</literal> modifier to include system
objects.
- <quote>Object</quote> covers aggregates, functions, operators,
- types, relations (tables, views, indexes, sequences), large
- objects, rules, and triggers. For example:
-<programlisting>
-=> <userinput>\dd version</userinput>
- Object descriptions
- Schema | Name | Object | Description
-------------+---------+----------+---------------------------
- pg_catalog | version | function | PostgreSQL version string
-(1 row)
-</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\dD[S] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\dD[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Lists domains. If <replaceable
By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
pattern or the <literal>S</literal> modifier to include system
objects.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
+ is listed with its associated permissions and description.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>\dE[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<term><literal>\di[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\dm[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<term><literal>\ds[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<term><literal>\dt[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<term><literal>\dv[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
In this group of commands, the letters <literal>E</literal>,
- <literal>i</literal>, <literal>s</literal>,
+ <literal>i</literal>, <literal>m</literal>, <literal>s</literal>,
<literal>t</literal>, and <literal>v</literal>
- stand for foreign table, index, sequence, table, and view,
+ stand for foreign table, index, materialized view, sequence, table, and view,
respectively.
You can specify any or all of
these letters, in any order, to obtain a listing of objects
specified, only those servers whose name matches the pattern
are listed. If the form <literal>\des+</literal> is used, a
full description of each server is shown, including the
- server's ACL, type, version, and options.
+ server's ACL, type, version, options, and description.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
specified, only entries whose table name or schema name matches
the pattern are listed. If the form <literal>\det+</literal>
- is used, generic options are also displayed.
+ is used, generic options and the foreign table description
+ are also displayed.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
specified, only those foreign-data wrappers whose name matches
the pattern are listed. If the form <literal>\dew+</literal>
- is used, the ACL and options of the foreign-data wrapper are
- also shown.
+ is used, the ACL, options, and description of the foreign-data
+ wrapper are also shown.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<literal>n</>, <literal>t</>, or <literal>w</> to the command.
If <replaceable
class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified, only
- functions whose names match the pattern are shown. If the
- form <literal>\df+</literal> is used, additional information
- about each function, including volatility, language, source
- code and description, is shown. By default, only user-created
+ functions whose names match the pattern are shown.
+ By default, only user-created
objects are shown; supply a pattern or the <literal>S</literal>
modifier to include system objects.
+ If the form <literal>\df+</literal> is used, additional information
+ about each function is shown, including security classification,
+ volatility, owner, language, source code and description.
</para>
<tip>
<term><literal>\dg[+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Lists database roles. If <replaceable
- class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified, only
- those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.
- (This command is now effectively the same as <literal>\du</literal>).
+ Lists database roles.
+ (Since the concepts of <quote>users</> and <quote>groups</> have been
+ unified into <quote>roles</>, this command is now equivalent to
+ <literal>\du</literal>.)
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified,
+ only those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.
If the form <literal>\dg+</literal> is used, additional information
- is shown about each role, including the comment for each role.
+ is shown about each role; currently this adds the comment for each
+ role.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\do[S] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\do[S+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Lists operators with their operand and return types.
+ Lists operators with their operand and result types.
If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
specified, only operators whose names match the pattern are listed.
- By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
+ By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
pattern or the <literal>S</literal> modifier to include system
objects.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name,
+ additional information about each operator is shown, currently just
+ the name of the underlying function.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is
specified, only types whose names match the pattern are listed.
If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each type is
- listed with its internal name and size, as well as its allowed values
- if it is an <type>enum</> type.
+ listed with its internal name and size, its allowed values
+ if it is an <type>enum</> type, and its associated permissions.
By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
pattern or the <literal>S</literal> modifier to include system
objects.
<term><literal>\du[+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Lists database roles. If <replaceable
- class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified, only
- those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.
+ Lists database roles.
+ (Since the concepts of <quote>users</> and <quote>groups</> have been
+ unified into <quote>roles</>, this command is now equivalent to
+ <literal>\dg</literal>.)
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified,
+ only those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.
If the form <literal>\du+</literal> is used, additional information
- is shown about each role, including the comment for each role.
+ is shown about each role; currently this adds the comment for each
+ role.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\dy[+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Lists event triggers.
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable>
+ is specified, only those event triggers whose names match the pattern
+ are listed.
+ If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, each object
+ is listed with its associated description.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>\e</literal> or <literal>\edit</> <literal> <optional> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</> </optional> <optional> <replaceable class="parameter">line_number</> </optional> </literal></term>
<literal>\r</> to cancel.
</para>
- <tip>
<para>
- <application>psql</application> checks the environment
- variables <envar>PSQL_EDITOR</envar>, <envar>EDITOR</envar>, and
- <envar>VISUAL</envar> (in that order) for an editor to use. If
- all of them are unset, <filename>vi</filename> is used on Unix
- systems, <filename>notepad.exe</filename> on Windows systems.
+ If a line number is specified, <application>psql</application> will
+ position the cursor on the specified line of the file or query buffer.
+ Note that if a single all-digits argument is given,
+ <application>psql</application> assumes it is a line number,
+ not a file name.
</para>
- </tip>
+ <tip>
<para>
- If a line number is specified, <application>psql</application> will
- position the cursor on the specified line of the file or query buffer.
- This feature requires the <varname>EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH</varname>
- variable to be set, so that <application>psql</application> knows how
- to specify the line number to the editor. Note that if a single
- all-digits argument is given, <application>psql</application> assumes
- it is a line number not a file name.
+ See under <xref linkend="app-psql-environment"
+ endterm="app-psql-environment-title"> for how to configure and
+ customize your editor.
</para>
+ </tip>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
If a line number is specified, <application>psql</application> will
- position the cursor on the specified line of the function body
- (note that the function body typically does not begin on the
- first line of the file).
- This feature requires the <varname>EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH</varname>
- variable to be set, so that <application>psql</application> knows how
- to specify the line number to the editor.
+ position the cursor on the specified line of the function body.
+ (Note that the function body typically does not begin on the first
+ line of the file.)
</para>
+
+ <tip>
+ <para>
+ See under <xref linkend="app-psql-environment"
+ endterm="app-psql-environment-title"> for how to configure and
+ customize your editor.
+ </para>
+ </tip>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\g</literal> [ { <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | <literal>|</literal><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> } ]</term>
-
+ <term><literal>\g [ <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\g [ |<replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Sends the current query input buffer to the server and
+ Sends the current query input buffer to the server, and
optionally stores the query's output in <replaceable
class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes the output
- into a separate Unix shell executing <replaceable
- class="parameter">command</replaceable>. A bare
- <literal>\g</literal> is virtually equivalent to a semicolon. A
- <literal>\g</literal> with argument is a <quote>one-shot</quote>
+ to the shell command <replaceable
+ class="parameter">command</replaceable>. The file or command is
+ written to only if the query successfully returns zero or more tuples,
+ not if the query fails or is a non-data-returning SQL command.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A bare <literal>\g</literal> is essentially equivalent to a semicolon.
+ A <literal>\g</literal> with argument is a <quote>one-shot</quote>
alternative to the <command>\o</command> command.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\gset [ <replaceable class="parameter">prefix</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends the current query input buffer to the server and stores the
+ query's output into <application>psql</> variables (see <xref
+ linkend="APP-PSQL-variables" endterm="APP-PSQL-variables-title">).
+ The query to be executed must return exactly one row. Each column of
+ the row is stored into a separate variable, named the same as the
+ column. For example:
+<programlisting>
+=> <userinput>SELECT 'hello' AS var1, 10 AS var2</userinput>
+-> <userinput>\gset</userinput>
+=> <userinput>\echo :var1 :var2</userinput>
+hello 10
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you specify a <replaceable class="parameter">prefix</replaceable>,
+ that string is prepended to the query's column names to create the
+ variable names to use:
+<programlisting>
+=> <userinput>SELECT 'hello' AS var1, 10 AS var2</userinput>
+-> <userinput>\gset result_</userinput>
+=> <userinput>\echo :result_var1 :result_var2</userinput>
+hello 10
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If a column result is NULL, the corresponding variable is unset
+ rather than being set.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If the query fails or does not return one row,
+ no variables are changed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>\h</literal> or <literal>\help</literal> <literal>[ <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\H</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\H</literal> or <literal>\html</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Turns on <acronym>HTML</acronym> query output format. If the
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\i <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\i</literal> or <literal>\include</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Reads input from the file <replaceable
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\l</literal> (or <literal>\list</literal>)</term>
- <term><literal>\l+</literal> (or <literal>\list+</literal>)</term>
+ <term><literal>\ir</literal> or <literal>\include_relative</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <literal>\ir</> command is similar to <literal>\i</>, but resolves
+ relative file names differently. When executing in interactive mode,
+ the two commands behave identically. However, when invoked from a
+ script, <literal>\ir</literal> interprets file names relative to the
+ directory in which the script is located, rather than the current
+ working directory.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\l[+]</literal> or <literal>\list[+] [ <link linkend="APP-PSQL-patterns"><replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable></link> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- List the names, owners, character set encodings, and access privileges
- of all the databases in the server.
+ List the databases in the server and show their names, owners,
+ character set encodings, and access privileges.
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">pattern</replaceable> is specified,
+ only databases whose names match the pattern are listed.
If <literal>+</literal> is appended to the command name, database
sizes, default tablespaces, and descriptions are also displayed.
(Size information is only available for databases that the current
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\o</literal> [ {<replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> | <literal>|</literal><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>} ]</term>
-
+ <term><literal>\o</literal> or <literal>\out [ <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\o</literal> or <literal>\out [ |<replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Saves future query results to the file <replaceable
- class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes future results
- into a separate Unix shell to execute <replaceable
- class="parameter">command</replaceable>. If no arguments are
- specified, the query output will be reset to the standard output.
+ Arranges to save future query results to the file <replaceable
+ class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipe future results
+ to the shell command <replaceable
+ class="parameter">command</replaceable>. If no argument is
+ specified, the query output is reset to the standard output.
</para>
- <para>
- <quote>Query results</quote> includes all tables, command
+ <para><quote>Query results</quote> includes all tables, command
responses, and notices obtained from the database server, as
well as output of various backslash commands that query the
database (such as <command>\d</command>), but not error
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\p</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\p</literal> or <literal>\print</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Print the current query buffer to the standard output.
<term><literal>\prompt [ <replaceable class="parameter">text</replaceable> ] <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Prompts the user to set variable <replaceable
- class="parameter">name</>. An optional prompt, <replaceable
+ Prompts the user to supply text, which is assigned to the variable
+ <replaceable class="parameter">name</>.
+ An optional prompt string, <replaceable
class="parameter">text</>, can be specified. (For multiword
- prompts, use single quotes.)
+ prompts, surround the text with single quotes.)
</para>
<para>
By default, <literal>\prompt</> uses the terminal for input and
- output. However, if the <option>-f</> command line switch is
+ output. However, if the <option>-f</> command line switch was
used, <literal>\prompt</> uses standard input and standard output.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\pset <replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\pset [ <replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> ] ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
the current setting being displayed.
</para>
+ <para>
+ <command>\pset</command> without any arguments displays the current status
+ of all printing options.
+ </para>
+
<para>
Adjustable printing options are:
<variablelist>
the number the more borders and lines the tables will have,
but this depends on the particular format. In
<acronym>HTML</acronym> format, this will translate directly
- into the <literal>border=...</literal> attribute; in the
- other formats only values 0 (no border), 1 (internal dividing lines),
- and 2 (table frame) make sense.
+ into the <literal>border=...</literal> attribute; in
+ <literal>latex</literal> and <literal>latex-longtable</literal>
+ formats, a value of 3 will add a dividing line between each row; in
+ the other formats only values 0 (no border), 1 (internal dividing
+ lines), and 2 (table frame) make sense and values above 2 will be
+ treated the same as <literal>border = 2</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
Sets the target width for the <literal>wrapped</> format, and also
the width limit for determining whether output is wide enough to
- require the pager.
+ require the pager or switch to the vertical display in expanded auto
+ mode.
Zero (the default) causes the target width to be controlled by the
environment variable <envar>COLUMNS</>, or the detected screen width
if <envar>COLUMNS</> is not set.
<term><literal>expanded</literal> (or <literal>x</literal>)</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> is specified
- it must be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>
- which will enable or disable expanded mode. If <replaceable
- class="parameter">value</replaceable> is omitted the command toggles
- between regular and expanded mode.
- When expanded mode is enabled, query results
- are displayed in two columns, with the column name on the left and
- the data on the right. This mode is useful if the data wouldn't fit
- on the screen in the normal <quote>horizontal</quote> mode.
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> is specified it
+ must be either <literal>on</literal> or <literal>off</literal>, which
+ will enable or disable expanded mode, or <literal>auto</literal>.
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> is omitted the
+ command toggles between the on and off settings. When expanded mode
+ is enabled, query results are displayed in two columns, with the
+ column name on the left and the data on the right. This mode is
+ useful if the data wouldn't fit on the screen in the
+ normal <quote>horizontal</quote> mode. In the auto setting, the
+ expanded mode is used whenever the query output is wider than the
+ screen, otherwise the regular mode is used. The auto setting is only
+ effective in the aligned and wrapped formats. In other formats, it
+ always behaves as if the expanded mode is off.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>fieldsep_zero</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the field separator to use in unaligned output format to a zero
+ byte.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>footer</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Sets the output format to one of <literal>unaligned</literal>,
<literal>aligned</literal>, <literal>wrapped</literal>,
- <literal>html</literal>,
- <literal>latex</literal>, or <literal>troff-ms</literal>.
+ <literal>html</literal>, <literal>asciidoc</literal>,
+ <literal>latex</literal> (uses <literal>tabular</literal>),
+ <literal>latex-longtable</literal>, or
+ <literal>troff-ms</literal>.
Unique abbreviations are allowed. (That would mean one letter
is enough.)
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>unaligned</> format writes all columns of a row on one
+ <para><literal>unaligned</> format writes all columns of a row on one
line, separated by the currently active field separator. This
is useful for creating output that might be intended to be read
in by other programs (for example, tab-separated or comma-separated
format).
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>aligned</literal> format is the standard, human-readable,
+ <para><literal>aligned</literal> format is the standard, human-readable,
nicely formatted text output; this is the default.
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>wrapped</> format is like <literal>aligned</> but wraps
+ <para><literal>wrapped</> format is like <literal>aligned</> but wraps
wide data values across lines to make the output fit in the target
column width. The target width is determined as described under
the <literal>columns</> option. Note that <application>psql</> will
</para>
<para>
- The <literal>html</>, <literal>latex</>, and <literal>troff-ms</>
+ The <literal>html</>, <literal>asciidoc</>, <literal>latex</>,
+ <literal>latex-longtable</literal>, and <literal>troff-ms</>
formats put out tables that are intended to
be included in documents using the respective mark-up
- language. They are not complete documents! (This might not be
- so dramatic in <acronym>HTML</acronym>, but in LaTeX you must
- have a complete document wrapper.)
+ language. They are not complete documents! This might not be
+ necessary in <acronym>HTML</acronym>, but in
+ <application>LaTeX</application> you must have a complete
+ document wrapper. <literal>latex-longtable</literal>
+ also requires the <application>LaTeX</application>
+ <literal>longtable</literal> and <literal>booktabs</> packages.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<literal>wrapped</> output formats.
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>ascii</literal> style uses plain <acronym>ASCII</acronym>
+ <para><literal>ascii</literal> style uses plain <acronym>ASCII</acronym>
characters. Newlines in data are shown using
a <literal>+</literal> symbol in the right-hand margin.
When the <literal>wrapped</literal> format wraps data from
and again in the left-hand margin of the following line.
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>old-ascii</literal> style uses plain <acronym>ASCII</>
+ <para><literal>old-ascii</literal> style uses plain <acronym>ASCII</>
characters, using the formatting style used
in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 8.4 and earlier.
Newlines in data are shown using a <literal>:</literal>
symbol is used in place of the left-hand column separator.
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>unicode</literal> style uses Unicode box-drawing characters.
+ <para><literal>unicode</literal> style uses Unicode box-drawing characters.
Newlines in data are shown using a carriage return symbol
in the right-hand margin. When the data is wrapped from one line
to the next without a newline character, an ellipsis symbol
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>pager_min_lines</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If <literal>pager_min_lines</> is set to a number greater than the
+ page height, the pager program will not be called unless there are
+ at least this many lines of output to show. The default setting
+ is 0.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>recordsep</literal></term>
<listitem>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>recordsep_zero</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the record separator to use in unaligned output format to a zero
+ byte.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>tableattr</literal> (or <literal>T</literal>)</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Specifies attributes to be placed inside the
- <acronym>HTML</acronym> <sgmltag>table</sgmltag> tag in
- <literal>html</> output format. This
+ In <acronym>HTML</acronym> format, this specifies attributes
+ to be placed inside the <sgmltag>table</sgmltag> tag. This
could for example be <literal>cellpadding</literal> or
<literal>bgcolor</literal>. Note that you probably don't want
to specify <literal>border</literal> here, as that is already
<replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> is given,
the table attributes are unset.
</para>
+ <para>
+ In <literal>latex-longtable</literal> format, this controls
+ the proportional width of each column containing a left-aligned
+ data type. It is specified as a whitespace-separated list of values,
+ e.g. <literal>'0.2 0.2 0.6'</>. Unspecified output columns
+ use the last specified value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>unicode_border_style</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the border drawing style for the unicode linestyle to one
+ of <literal>single</literal> or <literal>double</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>unicode_column_style</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the column drawing style for the unicode linestyle to one
+ of <literal>single</literal> or <literal>double</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>unicode_header_style</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the header drawing style for the unicode linestyle to one
+ of <literal>single</literal> or <literal>double</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</para>
</tip>
- <note>
- <para>
- It is an error to call <command>\pset</command> without any
- arguments. In the future this case might show the current status
- of all printing options.
- </para>
- </note>
-
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\q</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\q</literal> or <literal>\quit</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Quits the <application>psql</application> program.
+ In a script file, only execution of that script is terminated.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\r</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\r</literal> or <literal>\reset</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Resets (clears) the query buffer.
<term><literal>\s [ <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Print or save the command line history to <replaceable
- class="parameter">filename</replaceable>. If <replaceable
- class="parameter">filename</replaceable> is omitted, the history
- is written to the standard output. This option is only available
- if <application>psql</application> is configured to use the
- <acronym>GNU</acronym> <application>Readline</application> library.
+ Print <application>psql</application>'s command line history
+ to <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable>.
+ If <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable> is omitted,
+ the history is written to the standard output (using the pager if
+ appropriate). This command is not available
+ if <application>psql</application> was built
+ without <application>Readline</application> support.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
- Sets the internal variable <replaceable
+ Sets the <application>psql</> variable <replaceable
class="parameter">name</replaceable> to <replaceable
- class="parameter">value</replaceable> or, if more than one value
- is given, to the concatenation of all of them. If no second
- argument is given, the variable is just set with no value. To
+ class="parameter">value</replaceable>, or if more than one value
+ is given, to the concatenation of all of them. If only one
+ argument is given, the variable is set with an empty value. To
unset a variable, use the <command>\unset</command> command.
</para>
+ <para><command>\set</> without any arguments displays the names and values
+ of all currently-set <application>psql</> variables.
+ </para>
+
<para>
- Valid variable names can contain characters, digits, and
+ Valid variable names can contain letters, digits, and
underscores. See the section <xref
linkend="APP-PSQL-variables"
endterm="APP-PSQL-variables-title"> below for details.
<note>
<para>
- This command is
totally separate from the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
+ This command is
unrelated to the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
command <xref linkend="SQL-SET">.
</para>
</note>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\setenv <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable> [ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the environment variable <replaceable
+ class="parameter">name</replaceable> to <replaceable
+ class="parameter">value</replaceable>, or if the
+ <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable> is
+ not supplied, unsets the environment variable. Example:
+<programlisting>
+testdb=> <userinput>\setenv PAGER less</userinput>
+testdb=> <userinput>\setenv LESS -imx4F</userinput>
+</programlisting></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>\sf[+] <replaceable class="parameter">function_description</> </literal></term>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\w</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></term>
- <term><literal>\w</literal> <literal>|</><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></term>
+ <term><literal>\unset <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></literal></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Unsets (deletes) the <application>psql</> variable <replaceable
+ class="parameter">name</replaceable>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\w</literal> or <literal>\write</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></term>
+ <term><literal>\w</literal> or <literal>\write</literal> <literal>|</><replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Outputs the current query buffer to the file <replaceable
- class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes it to the Unix
+ class="parameter">filename</replaceable> or pipes it to the shell
command <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>.
</para>
</listitem>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\x</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\watch [ <replaceable class="parameter">seconds</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Toggles expanded table formatting mode. As such it is equivalent to
+ Repeatedly execute the current query buffer (like <literal>\g</>)
+ until interrupted or the query fails. Wait the specified number of
+ seconds (default 2) between executions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>\x [ <replaceable class="parameter">on</replaceable> | <replaceable class="parameter">off</replaceable> | <replaceable class="parameter">auto</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets or toggles expanded table formatting mode. As such it is equivalent to
<literal>\pset expanded</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
<term><literal>\! [ <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Escapes to a separate Unix shell or executes the Unix command
+ Escapes to a separate shell or executes the shell command
<replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>. The
arguments are not further interpreted; the shell will see them
- as-is.
+ as-is. In particular, the variable substitution rules and
+ backslash escapes do not apply.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>\?</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>\? [ <replaceable class="parameter">topic</> ]</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Shows help information about the backslash commands.
+ Shows help information. The optional
+ <replaceable class="parameter">topic</> parameter
+ (defaulting to <literal>commands</>) selects which part of psql is
+ explained: <literal>commands</> describes <application>psql</>'s
+ backslash commands; <literal>options</> describes the commandline
+ switches that can be passed to <application>psql</>;
+ and <literal>variables</> shows help about about psql configuration
+ variables.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<application>psql</application> provides variable substitution
features similar to common Unix command shells.
Variables are simply name/value pairs, where the value
- can be any string of any length. To set variables, use the
- <application>psql</application> meta-command
- <command>\set</command>:
+ can be any string of any length. The name must consist of letters
+ (including non-Latin letters), digits, and underscores.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To set a variable, use the <application>psql</application> meta-command
+ <command>\set</command>. For example,
<programlisting>
testdb=> <userinput>\set foo bar</userinput>
</programlisting>
sets the variable <literal>foo</literal> to the value
<literal>bar</literal>. To retrieve the content of the variable, precede
- the name with a colon and use it as the argument of any slash
- command:
+ the name with a colon, for example:
<programlisting>
testdb=> <userinput>\echo :foo</userinput>
bar
</programlisting>
+ This works in both regular SQL commands and meta-commands; there is
+ more detail in <xref linkend="APP-PSQL-interpolation"
+ endterm="APP-PSQL-interpolation-title">, below.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If you call <command>\set</command> without a second argument, the
+ variable is set, with an empty string as value. To unset (i.e., delete)
+ a variable, use the command <command>\unset</command>. To show the
+ values of all variables, call <command>\set</command> without any argument.
</para>
<note>
</note>
<para>
- If you call <command>\set</command> without a second argument, the
- variable is set, with an empty string as value. To unset (or delete) a
- variable, use the command <command>\unset</command>.
- </para>
-
- <para>
- <application>psql</application>'s internal variable names can
- consist of letters, numbers, and underscores in any order and any
- number of them. A number of these variables are treated specially
- by <application>psql</application>. They indicate certain option
+ A number of these variables are treated specially
+ by <application>psql</application>. They represent certain option
settings that can be changed at run time by altering the value of
- the variable or that represent some state of the application. Although
- you can use these variables for any other purpose, this is not
+ the variable, or in some cases represent changeable state of
+ <application>psql</application>. Although
+ you can use these variables for other purposes, this is not
recommended, as the program behavior might grow really strange
- really quickly. By convention, all specially treated variables
- consist of all upper-case letters (and possibly numbers and
+ really quickly. By convention, all specially treated variables' names
+ consist of all upper-case ASCII letters (and possibly digits and
underscores). To ensure maximum compatibility in the future, avoid
using such variable names for your own purposes. A list of all specially
treated variables follows.
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <indexterm>
- <primary>autocommit</primary>
- <secondary>psql</secondary>
- </indexterm>
- <term><varname>AUTOCOMMIT</varname></term>
+ <term>
+ <varname>AUTOCOMMIT</varname>
+ <indexterm>
+ <primary>autocommit</primary>
+ <secondary>psql</secondary>
+ </indexterm>
+ </term>
<listitem>
<para>
When <literal>on</> (the default), each SQL command is automatically
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><varname>COMP_KEYWORD_CASE</varname></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Determines which letter case to use when completing an SQL key word.
+ If set to <literal>lower</literal> or <literal>upper</literal>, the
+ completed word will be in lower or upper case, respectively. If set
+ to <literal>preserve-lower</literal>
+ or <literal>preserve-upper</literal> (the default), the completed word
+ will be in the case of the word already entered, but words being
+ completed without anything entered will be in lower or upper case,
+ respectively.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>DBNAME</varname></term>
<listitem>
<term><varname>ECHO</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If set to <literal>all</literal>, all lines
- entered from the keyboard or from a script are written to the standard output
- before they are parsed or executed. To select this behavior on program
+ If set to <literal>all</literal>, all nonempty input lines are printed
+ to standard output as they are read. (This does not apply to lines
+ read interactively.) To select this behavior on program
start-up, use the switch <option>-a</option>. If set to
<literal>queries</literal>,
- <application>psql</application> merely prints all queries as
- they are sent to the server. The switch for this is
- <option>-e</option>.
+ <application>psql</application> prints each query to standard output
+ as it is sent to the server. The switch for this is
+ <option>-e</option>. If set to <literal>errors</literal>, then only
+ failed queries are displayed on standard error output. The switch
+ for this is <option>-b</option>. If unset, or if set to
+ <literal>none</literal> (or any other value than those above) then
+ no queries are displayed.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>ECHO_HIDDEN</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- When this variable is set and a backslash command queries the
- database, the query is first shown. This way you can study the
+ When this variable is set to <literal>on</> and a backslash command
+ queries the database, the query is first shown.
+ This feature helps you to study
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> internals and provide
similar functionality in your own programs. (To select this behavior
on program start-up, use the switch <option>-E</option>.) If you set
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term><varname>EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH</varname></term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- When <command>\edit</command> or <command>\ef</command> is used with a
- line number argument, this variable specifies the command-line switch
- used to pass the line number to the user's editor. For editors such
- as <productname>emacs</> or <productname>vi</>, you can simply set
- this variable to a plus sign. Include a trailing space in the value
- of the variable if there needs to be space between the switch name and
- the line number.
- Examples:
-
-<programlisting>
-\set EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH +
-\set EDITOR_LINENUMBER_SWITCH '--line '
-</programlisting>
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>ENCODING</varname></term>
<listitem>
list. If set to a value of <literal>ignoredups</literal>, lines
matching the previous history line are not entered. A value of
<literal>ignoreboth</literal> combines the two options. If
- unset, or if set to any other value than those above, all lines
- read in interactive mode are saved on the history list.
+ unset, or if set to <literal>none</literal> (or any other value
+ than those above), all lines read in interactive mode are
+ saved on the history list.
</para>
<note>
<para>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <indexterm>
- <primary>rollback</primary>
- <secondary>psql</secondary>
- </indexterm>
- <term><varname>ON_ERROR_ROLLBACK</varname></term>
+ <term>
+ <varname>ON_ERROR_ROLLBACK</varname>
+ <indexterm>
+ <primary>rollback</primary>
+ <secondary>psql</secondary>
+ </indexterm>
+ </term>
<listitem>
<para>
- When <literal>on</>, if a statement in a transaction block
+ When set to <literal>on</>, if a statement in a transaction block
generates an error, the error is ignored and the transaction
- continues. When <literal>interactive</>, such errors are only
+ continues. When set to <literal>interactive</>, such errors are only
ignored in interactive sessions, and not when reading script
- files. When <literal>off</> (the default), a statement in a
+ files. When unset or set to <literal>off</>, a statement in a
transaction block that generates an error aborts the entire
- transaction. The on_error_rollback-on mode works by issuing an
+ transaction. The error rollback mode works by issuing an
implicit <command>SAVEPOINT</> for you, just before each command
- that is in a transaction block, and rolls back to the savepoint
- on error.
+ that is in a transaction block, and then rolling back to the
+ savepoint if the command fails.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>ON_ERROR_STOP</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- By default, if non-interactive scripts encounter an error, such
- as a malformed <acronym>SQL</acronym> command or internal
- meta-command, processing continues. This has been the
- traditional behavior of <application>psql</application> but it
- is sometimes not desirable. If this variable is set, script
- processing will immediately terminate. If the script was called
- from another script it will terminate in the same fashion. If
- the outermost script was not called from an interactive
- <application>psql</application> session but rather using the
- <option>-f</option> option, <application>psql</application> will
- return error code 3, to distinguish this case from fatal error
- conditions (error code 1).
+ By default, command processing continues after an error. When this
+ variable is set to <literal>on</>, processing will instead stop
+ immediately. In interactive mode,
+ <application>psql</application> will return to the command prompt;
+ otherwise, <application>psql</application> will exit, returning
+ error code 3 to distinguish this case from fatal error
+ conditions, which are reported using error code 1. In either case,
+ any currently running scripts (the top-level script, if any, and any
+ other scripts which it may have in invoked) will be terminated
+ immediately. If the top-level command string contained multiple SQL
+ commands, processing will stop with the current command.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>QUIET</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This variable is equivalent to the command line option
- <option>-q</option>. It is probably not too useful in
+ Setting this variable to <literal>on</> is equivalent to the command
+ line option <option>-q</option>. It is probably not too useful in
interactive mode.
</para>
</listitem>
<term><varname>SINGLELINE</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This variable is equivalent to the command line option
- <option>-S</option>.
+ Setting this variable to <literal>on</> is equivalent to the command
+ line option <option>-S</option>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>SINGLESTEP</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This variable is equivalent to the command line option
- <option>-s</option>.
+ Setting this variable to <literal>on</> is equivalent to the command
+ line option <option>-s</option>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</refsect3>
- <refsect3>
- <title><acronym>SQL</acronym> Interpolation</title>
+ <refsect3 id="APP-PSQL-interpolation">
+ <title
id="APP-PSQL-interpolation-title"><acronym>SQL</acronym> Interpolation</title>
<para>
- A
n additional useful feature of <application>psql</application>
+ A
key feature of <application>psql</application>
variables is that you can substitute (<quote>interpolate</quote>)
- them into regular <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements.
- <application>psql</application> provides special facilities for
- ensuring that values used as SQL literals and identifiers are
- properly escaped. The syntax for interpolating a value without
- any special escaping is again to prepend the variable name with a colon
- (<literal>:</literal>):
+ them into regular <acronym>SQL</acronym> statements, as well as the
+ arguments of meta-commands. Furthermore,
+ <application>psql</application> provides facilities for
+ ensuring that variable values used as SQL literals and identifiers are
+ properly quoted. The syntax for interpolating a value without
+ any quoting is to prepend the variable name with a colon
+ (<literal>:</literal>). For example,
<programlisting>
testdb=> <userinput>\set foo 'my_table'</userinput>
testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM :foo;</userinput>
</programlisting>
- would then query the table <literal>my_table</literal>. Note that this
+ would query the table <literal>my_table</literal>. Note that this
may be unsafe: the value of the variable is copied literally, so it can
- even contain unbalanced quotes or backslash commands. You must make sure
+ contain unbalanced quotes, or even backslash commands. You must make sure
that it makes sense where you put it.
</para>
<para>
When a value is to be used as an SQL literal or identifier, it is
- safest to arrange for it to be escaped. To escape the value of
+ safest to arrange for it to be quoted. To quote the value of
a variable as an SQL literal, write a colon followed by the variable
- name in single quotes. To escape the value an SQL identifier, write
- a colon followed by the variable name in double quotes. The previous
- example would be more safely written this way:
+ name in single quotes. To quote the value as an SQL identifier, write
+ a colon followed by the variable name in double quotes.
+ These constructs deal correctly with quotes and other special
+ characters embedded within the variable value.
+ The previous example would be more safely written this way:
<programlisting>
testdb=> <userinput>\set foo 'my_table'</userinput>
testdb=> <userinput>SELECT * FROM :"foo";</userinput>
</programlisting>
- Variable interpolation will not be performed into quoted
- <acronym>SQL</acronym> entities.
</para>
<para>
- One possible use of this mechanism is to
- copy the contents of a file into a table column. First load the file into a
- variable and then proceed as above:
+ Variable interpolation will not be performed within quoted
+ <acronym>SQL</acronym> literals and identifiers. Therefore, a
+ construction such as <literal>':foo'</> doesn't work to produce a quoted
+ literal from a variable's value (and it would be unsafe if it did work,
+ since it wouldn't correctly handle quotes embedded in the value).
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ One example use of this mechanism is to
+ copy the contents of a file into a table column.
+ First load the file into a variable and then interpolate the variable's
+ value as a quoted string:
<programlisting>
testdb=> <userinput>\set content `cat my_file.txt`</userinput>
testdb=> <userinput>INSERT INTO my_table VALUES (:'content');</userinput>
</programlisting>
(Note that this still won't work if <filename>my_file.txt</filename> contains NUL bytes.
- psql does not support embedded NUL bytes in variable values.)
+ <application>psql</application> does not support embedded NUL bytes in variable values.)
</para>
<para>
Since colons can legally appear in SQL commands, an apparent attempt
- at interpolation (such as <literal>:name</literal>,
+ at interpolation (that is, <literal>:name</literal>,
<literal>:'name'</literal>, or <literal>:"name"</literal>) is not
- changed unless the named variable is currently set. In any case, you
+ replaced unless the named variable is currently set. In any case, you
can escape a colon with a backslash to protect it from substitution.
- (The colon syntax for variables is standard <acronym>SQL</acronym> for
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The colon syntax for variables is standard <acronym>SQL</acronym> for
embedded query languages, such as <application>ECPG</application>.
- The colon syntax for array slices and type casts are
- <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions, hence the
- conflict. The colon syntax for escaping a variable's value as an
- SQL literal or identifier is a <application>psql</application>
- extension.)
+ The colon syntaxes for array slices and type casts are
+ <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions, which can sometimes
+ conflict with the standard usage. The colon-quote syntax for escaping a
+ variable's value as an SQL literal or identifier is a
+ <application>psql</application> extension.
</para>
</refsect3>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>%l</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The line number inside the current statement, starting from <literal>1</>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>%</literal><replaceable class="parameter">digits</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
exits and is reloaded when
<application>psql</application> starts up. Tab-completion is also
supported, although the completion logic makes no claim to be an
- <acronym>SQL</acronym> parser. If for some reason you do not like the tab completion, you
+ <acronym>SQL</acronym> parser. The queries generated by tab-completion
+ can also interfere with other SQL commands, e.g. <literal>SET
+ TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL</>.
+ If for some reason you do not like the tab completion, you
can turn it off by putting this in a file named
<filename>.inputrc</filename> in your home directory:
<programlisting>
</refsect1>
- <refsect1>
- <title>Environment</title>
+ <refsect1 id="app-psql-environment">
+ <title id="app-psql-environment-title">Environment</title>
<variablelist>
<para>
If <literal>\pset columns</> is zero, controls the
width for the <literal>wrapped</> format and width for determining
- if wide output requires the pager.
+ if wide output requires the pager or should be switched to the
+ vertical format in expanded auto mode.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
- Editor used by the <command>\e</command> command. The variables
- are examined in the order listed; the first that is set is used.
+ Editor used by the <command>\e</command> and
+ <command>\ef</command> commands. The variables are examined in
+ the order listed; the first that is set is used.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The built-in default editors are <filename>vi</filename> on Unix
+ systems and <filename>notepad.exe</filename> on Windows systems.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><envar>PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG</envar></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ When <command>\e</command> or <command>\ef</command> is used
+ with a line number argument, this variable specifies the
+ command-line argument used to pass the starting line number to
+ the user's editor. For editors such as <productname>Emacs</> or
+ <productname>vi</>, this is a plus sign. Include a trailing
+ space in the value of the variable if there needs to be space
+ between the option name and the line number. Examples:
+<programlisting>
+PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG='+'
+PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG='--line '
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The default is <literal>+</literal> on Unix systems
+ (corresponding to the default editor <filename>vi</filename>,
+ and useful for many other common editors); but there is no
+ default on Windows systems.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><envar>PSQL_HISTORY</envar></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Alternative location for the command history file. Tilde (<literal>~</literal>) expansion is performed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><envar>PSQLRC</envar></term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Alternative location of the user's <filename>.psqlrc</filename> file. Tilde (<literal>~</literal>) expansion is performed.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<refsect1>
<title>Files</title>
- <itemizedlist>
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><filename>psqlrc</filename> and <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Unless it is passed an <option>-X</option>
- or <option>-c</option> option,
- <application>psql</application> attempts to
- read and execute commands from the system-wide
- <filename>psqlrc</filename> file and the user's
- <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file before starting up.
- (On Windows, the user's startup file is named
- <filename>%APPDATA%\postgresql\psqlrc.conf</filename>.)
- See <filename><replaceable>PREFIX</>/share/psqlrc.sample</>
- for information on setting up the system-wide file. It could be used
- to set up the client or the server to taste (using the <command>\set
- </command> and <command>SET</command> commands).
+ Unless it is passed an <option>-X</option> or <option>-c</option> option,
+ <application>psql</application> attempts to read and execute commands
+ from the system-wide startup file (<filename>psqlrc</filename>) and then
+ the user's personal startup file (<filename>~/.psqlrc</filename>), after
+ connecting to the database but before accepting normal commands.
+ These files can be used to set up the client and/or the server to taste,
+ typically with <command>\set</command> and <command>SET</command>
+ commands.
</para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
<para>
- Both the system-wide <filename>psqlrc</filename> file and the user's
- <filename>~/.psqlrc</filename> file can be made version-specific
+ The system-wide startup file is named <filename>psqlrc</filename> and is
+ sought in the installation's <quote>system configuration</> directory,
+ which is most reliably identified by running <literal>pg_config
+ --sysconfdir</>. By default this directory will be <filename>../etc/</>
+ relative to the directory containing
+ the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> executables. The name of this
+ directory can be set explicitly via the <envar>PGSYSCONFDIR</envar>
+ environment variable.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The user's personal startup file is named <filename>.psqlrc</filename>
+ and is sought in the invoking user's home directory. On Windows, which
+ lacks such a concept, the personal startup file is named
+ <filename>%APPDATA%\postgresql\psqlrc.conf</filename>.
+ The location of the user's startup file can be set explicitly via
+ the <envar>PSQLRC</envar> environment variable.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Both the system-wide startup file and the user's personal startup file
+ can be made <application>psql</application>-version-specific
by appending a dash and the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
- release number, for example <filename>~/.psqlrc-&version;</filename>.
- A matching version-specific file will be read in preference to a
+ major or minor release number to the file name,
+ for example <filename>~/.psqlrc-9.2</filename> or
+ <filename>~/.psqlrc-9.2.5</filename>. The most specific
+ version-matching file will be read in preference to a
non-version-specific file.
</para>
</listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><filename>.psql_history</filename></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The command-line history is stored in the file
<filename>~/.psql_history</filename>, or
<filename>%APPDATA%\postgresql\psql_history</filename> on Windows.
</para>
+ <para>
+ The location of the history file can be set explicitly via
+ the <envar>PSQL_HISTORY</envar> environment variable.
+ </para>
</listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
+ </varlistentry>
+ </variablelist>
</refsect1>
</listitem>
<listitem>
+ <para><application>psql</application> works best with servers of the same
+ or an older major version. Backslash commands are particularly likely
+ to fail if the server is of a newer version than <application>psql</>
+ itself. However, backslash commands of the <literal>\d</> family should
+ work with servers of versions back to 7.4, though not necessarily with
+ servers newer than <application>psql</> itself. The general
+ functionality of running SQL commands and displaying query results
+ should also work with servers of a newer major version, but this cannot
+ be guaranteed in all cases.
+ </para>
<para>
- <application>psql</application> is only guaranteed to work smoothly
- with servers of the same version. That does not mean other combinations
- will fail outright, but subtle and not-so-subtle problems might come
- up. Backslash commands are particularly likely to fail if the
- server is of a newer version than <application>psql</> itself. However,
- backslash commands of the <literal>\d</> family should work with
- servers of versions back to 7.4, though not necessarily with servers
- newer than <application>psql</> itself.
+ If you want to use <application>psql</application> to connect to several
+ servers of different major versions, it is recommended that you use the
+ newest version of <application>psql</application>. Alternatively, you
+ can keep a copy of <application>psql</application> from each major
+ version around and be sure to use the version that matches the
+ respective server. But in practice, this additional complication should
+ not be necessary.
</para>
</listitem>
raster font does not work with the ANSI code page.
</para>
</listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
- </para>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
</refsect1>
-[ RECORD 4 ]-
first | 4
second | four
-</programlisting>
- </para>
+</programlisting></para>
</refsect1>
projects / postgresql / blobdiff