psql.1

.\" This is -*-nroff-*-
.\" XXX standard disclaimer belongs here....
.\" $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/src/man/Attic/psql.1,v 1.9 1997/06/03 03:35:46 momjian Exp $
.TH PSQL UNIX 1/20/96 PostgreSQL PostgreSQL
.SH NAME
psql \(em run the interactive query front-end
.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR psql
[\c
.BR "-a"
authsvc
]
[\c
.BR "-A"
]
[\c
.BR "-c"
query
]
[\c
.BR "-d"
dbName]
[\c
.BR "-e"
]
[\c
.BR "-f"
filename]
[\c
.BR "-h"
hostname]
[\c
.BR "-H"
]
[\c
.BR "-T"
table-options]
[\c
.BR "-l"
port]
[\c
.BR "-n"
]
[\c
.BR "-o"
filename
]
[\c
.BR "-p"
port]
[\c
.BR "-q"
]
[\c
.BR "-s"
]
[\c
.BR "-S"
]
[\c
.BR "-t"
]
[\c
.BR "-x"
]
[dbname]
.in -5n
.SH DESCRIPTION
psql is a interactive query front-end to Postgres.  It enables you to
type in queries interactively, issue them to Postgres, and see the query
results.
.IR psql
can be used in a pipe sequence, and automatically detects when it
is not listening or talking to a real tty.
.IR psql
is designed to be an enhanced version of the older
.IR "monitor"
program.
.PP
.IR "psql"
is a frontend application, like any other.  Hence, a
.IR "postmaster"
process must be running on the database server host before
.IR "psql"
is executed.  In addition, the correct
.IR "postmaster"
port number must be specified
as described below.
.PP
The optional argument
.IR dbname
specifies the name of the database to be accessed.  This database must
already have been created.
.IR dbname
defaults to the value of the
.SM USER
environment variable or, if that's not set, to the Unix account name of the
current user.
.PP
.IR "psql"
understands the following command-line options:
.TP
.BR "-a" " system"
Specifies an authentication system
.IR "system"
(see
.IR introduction (1))
to use in connecting to the
.IR postmaster
process.  The default is site-specific.
.TP
.BR "-A"
Turn off fill justification when printing out table elements.
.TP
.BR "-c" " query"
Specifies that
.IR "psql"
is to execute one query string,
.IR "query" ,
and then exit.  This is useful for shell scripts, typically in
conjunction with the
.BR -q ""
options.
.BR -c
option in shell scripts.
.TP
.BR "-d" " dbName"
Specifies the name of the database to connect to.
.TP
.BR "-e" " "
Echo the query sent to the backend
.TP
.BR "-f" " filename"
Use the file
.IR "filename"
as the source of queries instead of reading queries interactively.
.TP
.BR "-h" " hostname"
Specifies the hostname of the machine on which the
.IR postmaster
is running.  Defaults to the name of the local host, or the value of
the
.SM PGHOST
environment variable (if set).
.TP
.BR "-H"
Turns on
.SM HTML3.0
tabular output.
.TP
.BR "-T" " table-options"
Allows you to specify options to be placed within the <table ...> tag
for
.SM HTML3.0
tabular output. For example
.BR border
will give you tables with borders.
.TP
.BR "-l"
Lists all available databases
.TP
.BR "-n"
Do not use the readline library for input line editing and command history.
.TP
.BR "-p" " port"
Specifies the Internet TCP port on which the
.IR postmaster
is listening for connections.  Defaults to 5432, or the value of the
.SM PGPORT
environment variable (if set).
.TP
.BR "-q"
Specifies that
.IR psql
should do its work quietly.  By default, it
prints welcome and exit messages and prompts for each query, and prints
out the number of rows returned from a query.
If this option is used, none of this happens. This is useful with the
.BR -c
option in shell scripts.
.TP
.BR "-s"
Run in single-step mode where the user at prompted for each query before
it is sent to the backend.
.TP
.BR "-S"
Run ins single-line mode where each query is terminated by a newline,
instead of a semicolon.
.TP
.BR "-t"
Turn off printing of column names.
This is useful with the
.BR -c
option in shell scripts.
.TP
.BR "-x"
Turns on extended row format mode. When enabled each row will have its column
names printed on the left with the column values printed on the right.
This is useful for rows which are otherwise too long to fit into
one screen line. HTML row output supports this mode also.
.PP
You may set environment variables to avoid typing some of the above
options.  See the
.SM "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
section below.
.SH "CONNECTING TO A DATABASE"
.IR psql
attempts to make a connection to the database at the hostname and
port number specified on the command line.   If the connection could not
be made for any reason (e.g. insufficient privileges, postmaster is not
running on the server, etc)
.IR psql
will return an error that says
.nf
Connection to database failed.
.fi
The reason for the connection failure is not provided.
.SH "ENTERING QUERIES"
In normal operation, psql provides a prompt with the name of the
database that psql is current connected to followed by the string "=>".
For example,
.nf
Welcome to the POSTGRESQL interactive sql monitor:
  Please read the file COPYRIGHT for copyright terms of POSTGRESQL

   type \e? for help on slash commands
   type \eq to quit
   type \eg or terminate with semicolon to execute query
 You are currently connected to the database: testdb

testdb=>
.fi
.PP
At the prompt, the user may type in SQL queries.  Unless the -S option
is set, input lines are sent to the backend when a query-terminating
semicolon is reached.
.PP
Whenever a query is executed, psql also polls for asynchronous notification
events generated by
.IR listen (l)
and
.IR notify (l).
.PP
.SH "PSQL COMMANDS"
Anything you enter in psql that begins with an unquoted backslash is a psql
command.  Anything else is SQL and simply goes into the current query buffer
(and once you have at least one complete query, it gets automatically 
submitted to the backend).  Psql commands are also called slash commands.
.PP
The format of a psql command is the backslash, followed immediately by
a command verb, then any arguments.  The arguments are separated from the
command verb and each other by any number of white space characters.
.PP
With single character command verbs, you don't actually need to separate the
command verb from the argument with white space, for historical reasons.
You should anyway.
.IP "\ea"
Toggle field alignment when printing out table elements.
.IP "\eC \fIcaption\fR"
Set the HTML3.0 table caption.
.IP "\econnect \fIdbname\fR \fIusername\fR"
Establish a connection to a new database. The previous connection is closed.
.IP "\ecopy \fItable\fR {FROM | TO} \fIfilename\fR"
Perform a frontend copy.  This is an operation that runs a SQL COPY command,
but instead of the backend reading or writing a specified file, and 
consequently requiring special user privilege, psql reads or writes the 
file and routes the data to or from the backend.
.IP "\ed [\fItable\fR]"
List tables in the database, or if
.IR table
is specified, list the columns in
.IR table.
If table name is
.IR *,
list all tables and column information for each tables.
.IP "\edi"
List only indexes.
.IP "\edt"
List only tables.
.IP "\ee [\fIfilename\fR]"
Edit the current query buffer or \fIfile\fR.
.IP "\eE [\fIfilename\fR]"
Edit the current query buffer or \fIfile\fR and execute it
upon editor exit.
.IP "\ef [\fIseparator\fR]"
Set the field separator.  Default is a single blank space.
.IP "\eg [\fI|command\fR] | [\fIfilename\fR]"
Send the current query input buffer to the backend and optionally
save the output in
.IR filename
or pipe the output into
.IR "|command".
.IP "\eh [\fIcommand\fR]"
Give syntax help on the specified SQL command.  If the
.IR command
is not specified, list all the commands for which syntax help is
available.  If the
.IR command
is
.IR *,
give syntax help on all SQL commands.
.IP "\eH"
Toggle html3 output.
.IP "\ei \fIfilename\fR"
Read queries from
.IR filename
into the query input buffer.
.IP "\el"
List all the databases in the server.
.IP "\em"
Toggle monitor-like table display.
This is standard SQL output (i.e extra border characters).
.IP "\eo [\fI|command\fR] | [\fIfilename\fR]"
Send query results to
.IR filename .
Or pipe into
.IR command .
If no arguments are specified, send query results to
.IR stdout .
.IP "\ep"
Print the current query buffer.
.IP \eq
Quit the psql program.
.IP "\er"
Reset(clear) the query buffer.
.IP "\es [\fIfilename\fR]"
Print or save the command line history to \fIfilename\fR.  (Only available if psql is
configured to use readline)
.IP "\et"
Toggle display of output column name headings and row count (defaults to on).
.IP "\eT"
Set html3.0 <table ...> options.
.IP "\ex"
Toggles extended row format mode. When enabled each row will have its column
names printed on the left with the column values printed on the right.
This is useful for rows which are otherwise too long to fit into
one screen line. HTML row output mode supports this flag too.
.IP "\ez"
Produces a list of all tables in database with their appropriate ACLs
(grant/revoke permissions) listed.
.IP "\e! [\fIcommand\fR]"
Escape to shell or execute
.IR command.
.IP \e?
Get help information about the \e commands.
.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
You may set any of the following environment variables to avoid
specifying command-line options:
.nf
hostname:	PGHOST
port:		PGPORT
tty:		PGTTY
options:		PGOPTION
realm:		PGREALM
.fi
.PP
If
.SM PGOPTION
is specified, then the options it contains are parsed
.BR before
any command-line options.
.PP
.SM PGREALM
only applies if
.IR Kerberos
authentication is in use.  If this environment variable is set, Postgres
will attempt authentication with servers for this realm and use
separate ticket files to avoid conflicts with local ticket files.  See
.IR introduction (1)
for additional information on
.IR Kerberos .
.PP
See
.IR introduction (libpq)
for additional details.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
.IR psql
returns 0 to the shell on successful completion of all queries,
1 for errors, 2 for abrupt disconnection from the backend.
.IR psql
will also return 1 if the connection to a database could not be made for
any reason.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
introduction(libpq),
monitor(1)
postgres(1),
postmaster(1).