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PSQL(1)                           PostgreSQL 12.3 Documentation                           PSQL(1)



NAME
       psql - PostgreSQL interactive terminal

SYNOPSIS
       psql [option...] [dbname [username]]

DESCRIPTION
       psql is a terminal-based front-end to PostgreSQL. It enables you to type in queries
       interactively, issue them to PostgreSQL, and see the query results. Alternatively, input
       can be from a file or from command line arguments. In addition, psql provides a number of
       meta-commands and various shell-like features to facilitate writing scripts and automating
       a wide variety of tasks.

OPTIONS
       -a
       --echo-all
           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 ECHO to
           all.

       -A
       --no-align
           Switches to unaligned output mode. (The default output mode is aligned.) This is
           equivalent to \pset format unaligned.

       -b
       --echo-errors
           Print failed SQL commands to standard error output. This is equivalent to setting the
           variable ECHO to errors.

       -c command
       --command=command
           Specifies that psql is to execute the given command string, command. This option can
           be repeated and combined in any order with the -f option. When either -c or -f is
           specified, psql does not read commands from standard input; instead it terminates
           after processing all the -c and -f options in sequence.

           command must be either a command string that is completely parsable by the server
           (i.e., it contains no psql-specific features), or a single backslash command. Thus you
           cannot mix SQL and psql meta-commands within a -c option. To achieve that, you could
           use repeated -c options or pipe the string into psql, for example:

               psql -c '\x' -c 'SELECT * FROM foo;'

           or

               echo '\x \\ SELECT * FROM foo;' | psql

           (\\ is the separator meta-command.)

           Each SQL command string passed to -c is sent to the server as a single request.
           Because of this, the server executes it as a single transaction even if the string
           contains multiple SQL commands, unless there are explicit BEGIN/COMMIT commands
           included in the string to divide it into multiple transactions. (See Section 52.2.2.1
           for more details about how the server handles multi-query strings.) Also, psql only
           prints the result of the last SQL command in the string. This is different from the
           behavior when the same string is read from a file or fed to psql's standard input,
           because then psql sends each SQL command separately.

           Because of this behavior, putting more than one SQL command in a single -c string
           often has unexpected results. It's better to use repeated -c commands or feed multiple
           commands to psql's standard input, either using echo as illustrated above, or via a
           shell here-document, for example:

               psql <<EOF
               \x
               SELECT * FROM foo;
               EOF


       --csv
           Switches to CSV (Comma-Separated Values) output mode. This is equivalent to \pset
           format csv.

       -d dbname
       --dbname=dbname
           Specifies the name of the database to connect to. This is equivalent to specifying
           dbname as the first non-option argument on the command line.

           If this parameter contains an = sign or starts with a valid URI prefix (postgresql://
           or postgres://), it is treated as a conninfo string. See Section 33.1.1 for more
           information.

       -e
       --echo-queries
           Copy all SQL commands sent to the server to standard output as well. This is
           equivalent to setting the variable ECHO to queries.

       -E
       --echo-hidden
           Echo the actual queries generated by \d and other backslash commands. You can use this
           to study psql's internal operations. This is equivalent to setting the variable
           ECHO_HIDDEN to on.

       -f filename
       --file=filename
           Read commands from the file filename, rather than standard input. This option can be
           repeated and combined in any order with the -c option. When either -c or -f is
           specified, psql does not read commands from standard input; instead it terminates
           after processing all the -c and -f options in sequence. Except for that, this option
           is largely equivalent to the meta-command \i.

           If filename is - (hyphen), then standard input is read until an EOF indication or \q
           meta-command. This can be used to intersperse interactive input with input from files.
           Note however that Readline is not used in this case (much as if -n had been
           specified).

           Using this option is subtly different from writing psql < filename. In general, both
           will do what you expect, but using -f enables some nice features such as error
           messages with line numbers. There is also a slight chance that using this option will
           reduce the start-up overhead. On the other hand, the variant using the shell's input
           redirection is (in theory) guaranteed to yield exactly the same output you would have
           received had you entered everything by hand.

       -F separator
       --field-separator=separator
           Use separator as the field separator for unaligned output. This is equivalent to \pset
           fieldsep or \f.

       -h hostname
       --host=hostname
           Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value
           begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix-domain socket.

       -H
       --html
           Switches to HTML output mode. This is equivalent to \pset format html or the \H
           command.

       -l
       --list
           List all available databases, then exit. Other non-connection options are ignored.
           This is similar to the meta-command \list.

           When this option is used, psql will connect to the database postgres, unless a
           different database is named on the command line (option -d or non-option argument,
           possibly via a service entry, but not via an environment variable).

       -L filename
       --log-file=filename
           Write all query output into file filename, in addition to the normal output
           destination.

       -n
       --no-readline
           Do not use Readline for line editing and do not use the command history. This can be
           useful to turn off tab expansion when cutting and pasting.

       -o filename
       --output=filename
           Put all query output into file filename. This is equivalent to the command \o.

       -p port
       --port=port
           Specifies the TCP port or the local Unix-domain socket file extension on which the
           server is listening for connections. Defaults to the value of the PGPORT environment
           variable or, if not set, to the port specified at compile time, usually 5432.

       -P assignment
       --pset=assignment
           Specifies printing options, in the style of \pset. 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 -P format=latex.

       -q
       --quiet
           Specifies that psql should do its work 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 -c option. This is equivalent to setting the variable QUIET to on.

       -R separator
       --record-separator=separator
           Use separator as the record separator for unaligned output. This is equivalent to
           \pset recordsep.

       -s
       --single-step
           Run in single-step mode. That means the user is prompted before each command is sent
           to the server, with the option to cancel execution as well. Use this to debug scripts.

       -S
       --single-line
           Runs in single-line mode where a newline terminates an SQL command, as a semicolon
           does.

               Note
               This mode is provided for those who insist on it, but you are not necessarily
               encouraged to use it. In particular, if you mix SQL and meta-commands on a line
               the order of execution might not always be clear to the inexperienced user.

       -t
       --tuples-only
           Turn off printing of column names and result row count footers, etc. This is
           equivalent to \t or \pset tuples_only.

       -T table_options
       --table-attr=table_options
           Specifies options to be placed within the HTMLtable tag. See \pset tableattr for
           details.

       -U username
       --username=username
           Connect to the database as the user username instead of the default. (You must have
           permission to do so, of course.)

       -v assignment
       --set=assignment
       --variable=assignment
           Perform a variable assignment, like the \set 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 set a variable with an empty value, use the equal sign
           but leave off the value. These assignments are done during command line processing, so
           variables that reflect connection state will get overwritten later.

       -V
       --version
           Print the psql version and exit.

       -w
       --no-password
           Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a
           password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection
           attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user
           is present to enter a password.

           Note that this option will remain set for the entire session, and so it affects uses
           of the meta-command \connect as well as the initial connection attempt.

       -W
       --password
           Force psql to prompt for a password before connecting to a database.

           This option is never essential, since psql will automatically prompt for a password if
           the server demands password authentication. However, psql will waste a connection
           attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing
           -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.

           Note that this option will remain set for the entire session, and so it affects uses
           of the meta-command \connect as well as the initial connection attempt.

       -x
       --expanded
           Turn on the expanded table formatting mode. This is equivalent to \x or \pset
           expanded.

       -X,
       --no-psqlrc
           Do not read the start-up file (neither the system-wide psqlrc file nor the user's
           ~/.psqlrc file).

       -z
       --field-separator-zero
           Set the field separator for unaligned output to a zero byte. This is equivalent to
           \pset fieldsep_zero.

       -0
       --record-separator-zero
           Set the record separator for unaligned output to a zero byte. This is useful for
           interfacing, for example, with xargs -0. This is equivalent to \pset recordsep_zero.

       -1
       --single-transaction
           This option can only be used in combination with one or more -c and/or -f options. It
           causes psql to issue a BEGIN command before the first such option and a COMMIT command
           after the last one, thereby wrapping all the commands into a single transaction. This
           ensures that either all the commands complete successfully, or no changes are applied.

           If the commands themselves contain BEGIN, COMMIT, or ROLLBACK, this option will not
           have the desired effects. Also, if an individual command cannot be executed inside a
           transaction block, specifying this option will cause the whole transaction to fail.

       -?
       --help[=topic]
           Show help about psql and exit. The optional topic parameter (defaulting to options)
           selects which part of psql is explained: commands describes psql's backslash commands;
           options describes the command-line options that can be passed to psql; and variables
           shows help about psql configuration variables.

EXIT STATUS
       psql returns 0 to the shell if it finished normally, 1 if a fatal error of its own occurs
       (e.g. out of memory, file not found), 2 if the connection to the server went bad and the
       session was not interactive, and 3 if an error occurred in a script and the variable
       ON_ERROR_STOP was set.

USAGE
   Connecting to a Database
       psql is a regular PostgreSQL client application. In order to connect to a database you
       need to know the name of your target database, the host name and port number of the
       server, and what user name you want to connect as.  psql can be told about those
       parameters via command line options, namely -d, -h, -p, and -U respectively. If an
       argument is found that does not belong to any option it will be interpreted as the
       database name (or the user name, if the database name is already given). Not all of these
       options are required; there are useful defaults. If you omit the host name, psql will
       connect via a Unix-domain socket to a server on the local host, or via TCP/IP to localhost
       on machines that don't have Unix-domain sockets. The default port number is 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 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.

       When the defaults aren't quite right, you can save yourself some typing by setting the
       environment variables PGDATABASE, PGHOST, PGPORT and/or PGUSER to appropriate values. (For
       additional environment variables, see Section 33.14.) It is also convenient to have a
       ~/.pgpass file to avoid regularly having to type in passwords. See Section 33.15 for more
       information.

       An alternative way to specify connection parameters is in a conninfo string or a URI,
       which is used instead of a database name. This mechanism give you very wide control over
       the connection. For example:

           $ psql "service=myservice sslmode=require"
           $ psql postgresql://dbmaster:5433/mydb?sslmode=require

       This way you can also use LDAP for connection parameter lookup as described in
       Section 33.17. See Section 33.1.2 for more information on all the available connection
       options.

       If the connection could not be made for any reason (e.g., insufficient privileges, server
       is not running on the targeted host, etc.), psql will return an error and terminate.

       If both standard input and standard output are a terminal, then psql sets the client
       encoding to “auto”, which will detect the appropriate client encoding from the locale
       settings (LC_CTYPE environment variable on Unix systems). If this doesn't work out as
       expected, the client encoding can be overridden using the environment variable
       PGCLIENTENCODING.

   Entering SQL Commands
       In normal operation, psql provides a prompt with the name of the database to which psql is
       currently connected, followed by the string =>. For example:

           $ psql testdb
           psql (12.3)
           Type "help" for help.

           testdb=>

       At the prompt, the user can type in SQL commands. Ordinarily, input lines are sent to the
       server when a command-terminating semicolon is reached. An end of line does not terminate
       a command. Thus commands can be spread over several lines for clarity. If the command was
       sent and executed without error, the results of the command are displayed on the screen.

       If untrusted users have access to a database that has not adopted a secure schema usage
       pattern, begin your session by removing publicly-writable schemas from search_path. One
       can add options=-csearch_path= to the connection string or issue SELECT
       pg_catalog.set_config('search_path', '', false) before other SQL commands. This
       consideration is not specific to psql; it applies to every interface for executing
       arbitrary SQL commands.

       Whenever a command is executed, psql also polls for asynchronous notification events
       generated by LISTEN(7) and NOTIFY(7).

       While C-style block comments are passed to the server for processing and removal,
       SQL-standard comments are removed by psql.

   Meta-Commands
       Anything you enter in psql that begins with an unquoted backslash is a psql meta-command
       that is processed by psql itself. These commands make psql more useful for administration
       or scripting. Meta-commands are often called slash or backslash commands.

       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 whitespace characters.

       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 \n (new
       line), \t (tab), \b (backspace), \r (carriage return), \f (form feed), \digits (octal),
       and \xdigits (hexadecimal). A backslash preceding any other character within single-quoted
       text quotes that single character, whatever it is.

       If an unquoted colon (:) followed by a psql variable name appears within an argument, it
       is replaced by the variable's value, as described in SQL Interpolation. The forms
       :'variable_name' and :"variable_name" described there work as well. The :{?variable_name}
       syntax allows testing whether a variable is defined. It is substituted by TRUE or FALSE.
       Escaping the colon with a backslash protects it from substitution.

       Within an argument, text that is enclosed in backquotes (`) 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. Within the text enclosed in backquotes, no special quoting
       or other processing occurs, except that appearances of :variable_name where variable_name
       is a psql variable name are replaced by the variable's value. Also, appearances of
       :'variable_name' are replaced by the variable's value suitably quoted to become a single
       shell command argument. (The latter form is almost always preferable, unless you are very
       sure of what is in the variable.) Because carriage return and line feed characters cannot
       be safely quoted on all platforms, the :'variable_name' form prints an error message and
       does not substitute the variable value when such characters appear in the value.

       Some commands take an SQL identifier (such as a table name) as argument. These arguments
       follow the syntax rules of SQL: Unquoted letters are forced to lowercase, while double
       quotes (") protect letters from case conversion and allow incorporation of whitespace into
       the identifier. Within double quotes, paired double quotes reduce to a single double quote
       in the resulting name. For example, FOO"BAR"BAZ is interpreted as fooBARbaz, and "A
       weird"" name" becomes A weird" name.

       Parsing for arguments stops at the end of the line, or when another unquoted backslash is
       found. An unquoted backslash is taken as the beginning of a new meta-command. The special
       sequence \\ (two backslashes) marks the end of arguments and continues parsing SQL
       commands, if any. That way SQL and psql commands can be freely mixed on a line. But in any
       case, the arguments of a meta-command cannot continue beyond the end of the line.

       Many of the meta-commands act on the current query buffer. This is simply a buffer holding
       whatever SQL command text has been typed but not yet sent to the server for execution.
       This will include previous input lines as well as any text appearing before the
       meta-command on the same line.

       The following meta-commands are defined:

       \a
           If the current table output format is unaligned, it is switched to aligned. If it is
           not unaligned, it is set to unaligned. This command is kept for backwards
           compatibility. See \pset for a more general solution.

       \c or \connect [ -reuse-previous=on|off ] [ dbname [ username ] [ host ] [ port ] |
       conninfo ]
           Establishes a new connection to a PostgreSQL server. The connection parameters to use
           can be specified either using a positional syntax, or using conninfo connection
           strings as detailed in Section 33.1.1.

           Where the command omits database name, user, host, or port, the new connection can
           reuse values from the previous connection. By default, values from the previous
           connection are reused except when processing a conninfo string. Passing a first
           argument of -reuse-previous=on or -reuse-previous=off overrides that default. When the
           command neither specifies nor reuses a particular parameter, the libpq default is
           used. Specifying any of dbname, username, host or port as - is equivalent to omitting
           that parameter. If hostaddr was specified in the original connection's conninfo, that
           address is reused for the new connection (disregarding any other host specification).

           If the new connection is successfully made, the previous connection is closed. If the
           connection attempt failed (wrong user name, access denied, etc.), the previous
           connection will only be kept if psql is in interactive mode. When executing a
           non-interactive script, processing will immediately stop with an error. This
           distinction was chosen as a user convenience against typos on the one hand, and a
           safety mechanism that scripts are not accidentally acting on the wrong database on the
           other hand.

           Examples:

               => \c mydb myuser host.dom 6432
               => \c service=foo
               => \c "host=localhost port=5432 dbname=mydb connect_timeout=10 sslmode=disable"
               => \c postgresql://tom@localhost/mydb?application_name=myapp

       \C [ title ]
           Sets the title of any tables being printed as the result of a query or unset any such
           title. This command is equivalent to \pset title title. (The name of this command
           derives from “caption”, as it was previously only used to set the caption in an HTML
           table.)

       \cd [ directory ]
           Changes the current working directory to directory. Without argument, changes to the
           current user's home directory.

               Tip
               To print your current working directory, use \! pwd.

       \conninfo
           Outputs information about the current database connection.

       \copy { table [ ( column_list ) ] | ( query ) } { from | to } { 'filename' | program
       'command' | stdin | stdout | pstdin | pstdout } [ [ with ] ( option [, ...] ) ]
           Performs a frontend (client) copy. This is an operation that runs an SQLCOPY(7)
           command, but instead of the server reading or writing the specified file, psql reads
           or writes the file and routes the data between the server and the local file system.
           This means that file accessibility and privileges are those of the local user, not the
           server, and no SQL superuser privileges are required.

           When program is specified, command is executed by psql and the data passed from or to
           command 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.

           For \copy ... from stdin, data rows are read from the same source that issued the
           command, continuing until \.  is read or the stream reaches EOF. This option is useful
           for populating tables in-line within a SQL script file. For \copy ... to stdout,
           output is sent to the same place as psql command output, and the COPY count command
           status is not printed (since it might be confused with a data row). To read/write
           psql's standard input or output regardless of the current command source or \o option,
           write from pstdin or to pstdout.

           The syntax of this command is similar to that of the SQLCOPY(7) command. All options
           other than the data source/destination are as specified for COPY(7). Because of this,
           special parsing rules apply to the \copy meta-command. Unlike most other
           meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to be the arguments of
           \copy, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion are performed in the
           arguments.

               Tip
               Another way to obtain the same result as \copy ... to is to use the SQLCOPY ... TO
               STDOUT command and terminate it with \g filename or \g |program. Unlike \copy,
               this method allows the command to span multiple lines; also, variable
               interpolation and backquote expansion can be used.

               Tip
               These operations are not as efficient as the SQLCOPY command with a file or
               program data source or destination, because all data must pass through the
               client/server connection. For large amounts of data the SQL command might be
               preferable.

       \copyright
           Shows the copyright and distribution terms of PostgreSQL.

       \crosstabview [ colV [ colH [ colD [ sortcolH ] ] ] ]
           Executes the current query buffer (like \g) and shows the results in a crosstab grid.
           The query must return at least three columns. The output column identified by colV
           becomes a vertical header and the output column identified by colH becomes a
           horizontal header.  colD identifies the output column to display within the grid.
           sortcolH identifies an optional sort column for the horizontal header.

           Each column specification can be a column number (starting at 1) or a column name. The
           usual SQL case folding and quoting rules apply to column names. If omitted, colV is
           taken as column 1 and colH as column 2.  colH must differ from colV. If colD is not
           specified, then there must be exactly three columns in the query result, and the
           column that is neither colV nor colH is taken to be colD.

           The vertical header, displayed as the leftmost column, contains the values found in
           column colV, in the same order as in the query results, but with duplicates removed.

           The horizontal header, displayed as the first row, contains the values found in column
           colH, with duplicates removed. By default, these appear in the same order as in the
           query results. But if the optional sortcolH argument is given, it identifies a column
           whose values must be integer numbers, and the values from colH will appear in the
           horizontal header sorted according to the corresponding sortcolH values.

           Inside the crosstab grid, for each distinct value x of colH and each distinct value y
           of colV, the cell located at the intersection (x,y) contains the value of the colD
           column in the query result row for which the value of colH is x and the value of colV
           is y. If there is no such row, the cell is empty. If there are multiple such rows, an
           error is reported.

       \d[S+] [ pattern ]
           For each relation (table, view, materialized view, index, sequence, or foreign table)
           or composite type matching the pattern, show all columns, their types, the tablespace
           (if not the default) and any special attributes such as NOT NULL or defaults.
           Associated indexes, constraints, rules, and triggers are also shown. For foreign
           tables, the associated foreign server is shown as well. (“Matching the pattern” is
           defined in Patterns below.)

           For some types of relation, \d shows additional information for each column: column
           values for sequences, indexed expressions for indexes, and foreign data wrapper
           options for foreign tables.

           The command form \d+ 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, a non-default
           replica identity setting.

           By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S modifier to
           include system objects.

               Note
               If \d is used without a pattern argument, it is equivalent to \dtvmsE which will
               show a list of all visible tables, views, materialized views, sequences and
               foreign tables. This is purely a convenience measure.

       \da[S] [ pattern ]
           Lists aggregate functions, together with their return type and the data types they
           operate on. If pattern is specified, only aggregates whose names match the pattern are
           shown. By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S
           modifier to include system objects.

       \dA[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists access methods. If pattern is specified, only access methods whose names match
           the pattern are shown. If + is appended to the command name, each access method is
           listed with its associated handler function and description.

       \db[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists tablespaces. If pattern is specified, only tablespaces whose names match the
           pattern are shown. If + is appended to the command name, each tablespace is listed
           with its associated options, on-disk size, permissions and description.

       \dc[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists conversions between character-set encodings. If pattern is specified, only
           conversions whose names match the pattern are listed. By default, only user-created
           objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S modifier to include system objects. If +
           is appended to the command name, each object is listed with its associated
           description.

       \dC[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists type casts. If pattern is specified, only casts whose source or target types
           match the pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each object is
           listed with its associated description.

       \dd[S] [ pattern ]
           Shows the descriptions of objects of type constraint, operator class, operator family,
           rule, and trigger. All other comments may be viewed by the respective backslash
           commands for those object types.

           \dd displays descriptions for objects matching the pattern, 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 S modifier to include system objects.

           Descriptions for objects can be created with the COMMENT(7)SQL command.

       \dD[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists domains. If pattern is specified, only domains whose names match the pattern are
           shown. By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S
           modifier to include system objects. If + is appended to the command name, each object
           is listed with its associated permissions and description.

       \ddp [ pattern ]
           Lists default access privilege settings. An entry is shown for each role (and schema,
           if applicable) for which the default privilege settings have been changed from the
           built-in defaults. If pattern is specified, only entries whose role name or schema
           name matches the pattern are listed.

           The ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES (ALTER_DEFAULT_PRIVILEGES(7)) command is used to set
           default access privileges. The meaning of the privilege display is explained in
           Section 5.7.

       \dE[S+] [ pattern ]
       \di[S+] [ pattern ]
       \dm[S+] [ pattern ]
       \ds[S+] [ pattern ]
       \dt[S+] [ pattern ]
       \dv[S+] [ pattern ]
           In this group of commands, the letters E, i, m, s, t, and v 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 of these types.
           For example, \dit lists indexes and tables. If + is appended to the command name, each
           object is listed with its physical size on disk and its associated description, if
           any. If pattern is specified, only objects whose names match the pattern are listed.
           By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S modifier to
           include system objects.

       \des[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists foreign servers (mnemonic: “external servers”). If pattern is specified, only
           those servers whose name matches the pattern are listed. If the form \des+ is used, a
           full description of each server is shown, including the server's access privileges,
           type, version, options, and description.

       \det[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists foreign tables (mnemonic: “external tables”). If pattern is specified, only
           entries whose table name or schema name matches the pattern are listed. If the form
           \det+ is used, generic options and the foreign table description are also displayed.

       \deu[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists user mappings (mnemonic: “external users”). If pattern is specified, only those
           mappings whose user names match the pattern are listed. If the form \deu+ is used,
           additional information about each mapping is shown.

               Caution
               \deu+ might also display the user name and password of the remote user, so care
               should be taken not to disclose them.

       \dew[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists foreign-data wrappers (mnemonic: “external wrappers”). If pattern is specified,
           only those foreign-data wrappers whose name matches the pattern are listed. If the
           form \dew+ is used, the access privileges, options, and description of the
           foreign-data wrapper are also shown.

       \df[anptwS+] [ pattern ]
           Lists functions, together with their result data types, argument data types, and
           function types, which are classified as “agg” (aggregate), “normal”, “procedure”,
           “trigger”, or “window”. To display only functions of specific type(s), add the
           corresponding letters a, n, p, t, or w to the command. If pattern is specified, only
           functions whose names match the pattern are shown. By default, only user-created
           objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S modifier to include system objects. If
           the form \df+ is used, additional information about each function is shown, including
           volatility, parallel safety, owner, security classification, access privileges,
           language, source code and description.

               Tip
               To look up functions taking arguments or returning values of a specific data type,
               use your pager's search capability to scroll through the \df output.

       \dF[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists text search configurations. If pattern is specified, only configurations whose
           names match the pattern are shown. If the form \dF+ is used, a full description of
           each configuration is shown, including the underlying text search parser and the
           dictionary list for each parser token type.

       \dFd[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists text search dictionaries. If pattern is specified, only dictionaries whose names
           match the pattern are shown. If the form \dFd+ is used, additional information is
           shown about each selected dictionary, including the underlying text search template
           and the option values.

       \dFp[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists text search parsers. If pattern is specified, only parsers whose names match the
           pattern are shown. If the form \dFp+ is used, a full description of each parser is
           shown, including the underlying functions and the list of recognized token types.

       \dFt[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists text search templates. If pattern is specified, only templates whose names match
           the pattern are shown. If the form \dFt+ is used, additional information is shown
           about each template, including the underlying function names.

       \dg[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists database roles. (Since the concepts of “users” and “groups” have been unified
           into “roles”, this command is now equivalent to \du.) By default, only user-created
           roles are shown; supply the S modifier to include system roles. If pattern is
           specified, only those roles whose names match the pattern are listed. If the form \dg+
           is used, additional information is shown about each role; currently this adds the
           comment for each role.

       \dl
           This is an alias for \lo_list, which shows a list of large objects.

       \dL[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists procedural languages. If pattern is specified, only languages whose names match
           the pattern are listed. By default, only user-created languages are shown; supply the
           S modifier to include system objects. If + is appended to the command name, each
           language is listed with its call handler, validator, access privileges, and whether it
           is a system object.

       \dn[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists schemas (namespaces). If pattern is specified, only schemas whose names match
           the pattern are listed. By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a
           pattern or the S modifier to include system objects. If + is appended to the command
           name, each object is listed with its associated permissions and description, if any.

       \do[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists operators with their operand and result types. If pattern is specified, only
           operators whose names match the pattern are listed. By default, only user-created
           objects are shown; supply a pattern or the S modifier to include system objects. If +
           is appended to the command name, additional information about each operator is shown,
           currently just the name of the underlying function.

       \dO[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists collations. If pattern is specified, only collations whose names match the
           pattern are listed. By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern
           or the S modifier to include system objects. If + is appended to the command name,
           each collation is listed with its associated description, if any. Note that only
           collations usable with the current database's encoding are shown, so the results may
           vary in different databases of the same installation.

       \dp [ pattern ]
           Lists tables, views and sequences with their associated access privileges. If pattern
           is specified, only tables, views and sequences whose names match the pattern are
           listed.

           The GRANT(7) and REVOKE(7) commands are used to set access privileges. The meaning of
           the privilege display is explained in Section 5.7.

       \dP[itn+] [ pattern ]
           Lists partitioned relations. If pattern is specified, only entries whose name matches
           the pattern are listed. The modifiers t (tables) and i (indexes) can be appended to
           the command, filtering the kind of relations to list. By default, partitioned tables
           and indexes are listed.

           If the modifier n (“nested”) is used, or a pattern is specified, then non-root
           partitioned relations are included, and a column is shown displaying the parent of
           each partitioned relation.

           If + is appended to the command name, the sum of the sizes of each relation's
           partitions is also displayed, along with the relation's description. If n is combined
           with +, two sizes are shown: one including the total size of directly-attached leaf
           partitions, and another showing the total size of all partitions, including indirectly
           attached sub-partitions.

       \drds [ role-pattern [ database-pattern ] ]
           Lists defined configuration settings. These settings can be role-specific,
           database-specific, or both.  role-pattern and database-pattern are used to select
           specific roles and databases to list, respectively. If omitted, or if * is specified,
           all settings are listed, including those not role-specific or database-specific,
           respectively.

           The ALTER ROLE (ALTER_ROLE(7)) and ALTER DATABASE (ALTER_DATABASE(7)) commands are
           used to define per-role and per-database configuration settings.

       \dRp[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists replication publications. If pattern is specified, only those publications whose
           names match the pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, the tables
           associated with each publication are shown as well.

       \dRs[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists replication subscriptions. If pattern is specified, only those subscriptions
           whose names match the pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name,
           additional properties of the subscriptions are shown.

       \dT[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists data types. If pattern is specified, only types whose names match the pattern
           are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each type is listed with its
           internal name and size, its allowed values if it is an enum type, and its associated
           permissions. By default, only user-created objects are shown; supply a pattern or the
           S modifier to include system objects.

       \du[S+] [ pattern ]
           Lists database roles. (Since the concepts of “users” and “groups” have been unified
           into “roles”, this command is now equivalent to \dg.) By default, only user-created
           roles are shown; supply the S modifier to include system roles. If pattern is
           specified, only those roles whose names match the pattern are listed. If the form \du+
           is used, additional information is shown about each role; currently this adds the
           comment for each role.

       \dx[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists installed extensions. If pattern is specified, only those extensions whose names
           match the pattern are listed. If the form \dx+ is used, all the objects belonging to
           each matching extension are listed.

       \dy[+] [ pattern ]
           Lists event triggers. If pattern is specified, only those event triggers whose names
           match the pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each object is
           listed with its associated description.

       \e or \edit [ filename ] [ line_number ]
           If filename is specified, the file is edited; after the editor exits, the file's
           content is copied into the current query buffer. If no filename is given, the current
           query buffer is copied to a temporary file which is then edited in the same fashion.
           Or, if the current query buffer is empty, the most recently executed query is copied
           to a temporary file and edited in the same fashion.

           The new contents of the query buffer are then re-parsed according to the normal rules
           of psql, treating the whole buffer as a single line. Any complete queries are
           immediately executed; that is, if the query buffer contains or ends with a semicolon,
           everything up to that point is executed. Whatever remains will wait in the query
           buffer; type semicolon or \g to send it, or \r to cancel it by clearing the query
           buffer. Treating the buffer as a single line primarily affects meta-commands: whatever
           is in the buffer after a meta-command will be taken as argument(s) to the
           meta-command, even if it spans multiple lines. (Thus you cannot make
           meta-command-using scripts this way. Use \i for that.)

           If a line number is specified, psql will position the cursor on the specified line of
           the file or query buffer. Note that if a single all-digits argument is given, psql
           assumes it is a line number, not a file name.

               Tip
               See under ENVIRONMENT for how to configure and customize your editor.

       \echo text [ ... ]
           Prints the arguments to the standard output, separated by one space and followed by a
           newline. This can be useful to intersperse information in the output of scripts. For
           example:

               => \echo `date`
               Tue Oct 26 21:40:57 CEST 1999

           If the first argument is an unquoted -n the trailing newline is not written.

               Tip
               If you use the \o command to redirect your query output you might wish to use
               \qecho instead of this command.

       \ef [ function_description [ line_number ] ]
           This command fetches and edits the definition of the named function or procedure, in
           the form of a CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION or CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE command.
           Editing is done in the same way as for \edit. After the editor exits, the updated
           command waits in the query buffer; type semicolon or \g to send it, or \r to cancel.

           The target function can be specified by name alone, or by name and arguments, for
           example foo(integer, text). The argument types must be given if there is more than one
           function of the same name.

           If no function is specified, a blank CREATE FUNCTION template is presented for
           editing.

           If a line number is specified, psql 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.)

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \ef, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion
           are performed in the arguments.

               Tip
               See under ENVIRONMENT for how to configure and customize your editor.

       \encoding [ encoding ]
           Sets the client character set encoding. Without an argument, this command shows the
           current encoding.

       \errverbose
           Repeats the most recent server error message at maximum verbosity, as though VERBOSITY
           were set to verbose and SHOW_CONTEXT were set to always.

       \ev [ view_name [ line_number ] ]
           This command fetches and edits the definition of the named view, in the form of a
           CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW command. Editing is done in the same way as for \edit. After
           the editor exits, the updated command waits in the query buffer; type semicolon or \g
           to send it, or \r to cancel.

           If no view is specified, a blank CREATE VIEW template is presented for editing.

           If a line number is specified, psql will position the cursor on the specified line of
           the view definition.

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \ev, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion
           are performed in the arguments.

       \f [ string ]
           Sets the field separator for unaligned query output. The default is the vertical bar
           (|). It is equivalent to \pset fieldsep.

       \g [ filename ]
       \g [ |command ]
           Sends the current query buffer to the server for execution. If an argument is given,
           the query's output is written to the named file or piped to the given shell command,
           instead of displaying it as usual. 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.

           If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently sent query is re-executed
           instead. Except for that behavior, \g without an argument is essentially equivalent to
           a semicolon. A \g with argument is a “one-shot” alternative to the \o command.

           If the argument begins with |, then the entire remainder of the line is taken to be
           the command to execute, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion are
           performed in it. The rest of the line is simply passed literally to the shell.

       \gdesc
           Shows the description (that is, the column names and data types) of the result of the
           current query buffer. The query is not actually executed; however, if it contains some
           type of syntax error, that error will be reported in the normal way.

           If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently sent query is described
           instead.

       \gexec
           Sends the current query buffer to the server, then treats each column of each row of
           the query's output (if any) as a SQL statement to be executed. For example, to create
           an index on each column of my_table:

               => SELECT format('create index on my_table(%I)', attname)
               -> FROM pg_attribute
               -> WHERE attrelid = 'my_table'::regclass AND attnum > 0
               -> ORDER BY attnum
               -> \gexec
               CREATE INDEX
               CREATE INDEX
               CREATE INDEX
               CREATE INDEX

           The generated queries are executed in the order in which the rows are returned, and
           left-to-right within each row if there is more than one column. NULL fields are
           ignored. The generated queries are sent literally to the server for processing, so
           they cannot be psql meta-commands nor contain psql variable references. If any
           individual query fails, execution of the remaining queries continues unless
           ON_ERROR_STOP is set. Execution of each query is subject to ECHO processing. (Setting
           ECHO to all or queries is often advisable when using \gexec.) Query logging,
           single-step mode, timing, and other query execution features apply to each generated
           query as well.

           If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently sent query is re-executed
           instead.

       \gset [ prefix ]
           Sends the current query buffer to the server and stores the query's output into psql
           variables (see Variables). 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:

               => SELECT 'hello' AS var1, 10 AS var2
               -> \gset
               => \echo :var1 :var2
               hello 10

           If you specify a prefix, that string is prepended to the query's column names to
           create the variable names to use:

               => SELECT 'hello' AS var1, 10 AS var2
               -> \gset result_
               => \echo :result_var1 :result_var2
               hello 10

           If a column result is NULL, the corresponding variable is unset rather than being set.

           If the query fails or does not return one row, no variables are changed.

           If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently sent query is re-executed
           instead.

       \gx [ filename ]
       \gx [ |command ]
           \gx is equivalent to \g, but forces expanded output mode for this query. See \x.

       \h or \help [ command ]
           Gives syntax help on the specified SQL command. If command is not specified, then psql
           will list all the commands for which syntax help is available. If command is an
           asterisk (*), then syntax help on all SQL commands is shown.

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \help, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote
           expansion are performed in the arguments.

               Note
               To simplify typing, commands that consists of several words do not have to be
               quoted. Thus it is fine to type \help alter table.

       \H or \html
           Turns on HTML query output format. If the HTML format is already on, it is switched
           back to the default aligned text format. This command is for compatibility and
           convenience, but see \pset about setting other output options.

       \i or \include filename
           Reads input from the file filename and executes it as though it had been typed on the
           keyboard.

           If filename is - (hyphen), then standard input is read until an EOF indication or \q
           meta-command. This can be used to intersperse interactive input with input from files.
           Note that Readline behavior will be used only if it is active at the outermost level.

               Note
               If you want to see the lines on the screen as they are read you must set the
               variable ECHO to all.

       \if expression
       \elif expression
       \else
       \endif
           This group of commands implements nestable conditional blocks. A conditional block
           must begin with an \if and end with an \endif. In between there may be any number of
           \elif clauses, which may optionally be followed by a single \else clause. Ordinary
           queries and other types of backslash commands may (and usually do) appear between the
           commands forming a conditional block.

           The \if and \elif commands read their argument(s) and evaluate them as a boolean
           expression. If the expression yields true then processing continues normally;
           otherwise, lines are skipped until a matching \elif, \else, or \endif is reached. Once
           an \if or \elif test has succeeded, the arguments of later \elif commands in the same
           block are not evaluated but are treated as false. Lines following an \else are
           processed only if no earlier matching \if or \elif succeeded.

           The expression argument of an \if or \elif command is subject to variable
           interpolation and backquote expansion, just like any other backslash command argument.
           After that it is evaluated like the value of an on/off option variable. So a valid
           value is any unambiguous case-insensitive match for one of: true, false, 1, 0, on,
           off, yes, no. For example, t, T, and tR will all be considered to be true.

           Expressions that do not properly evaluate to true or false will generate a warning and
           be treated as false.

           Lines being skipped are parsed normally to identify queries and backslash commands,
           but queries are not sent to the server, and backslash commands other than conditionals
           (\if, \elif, \else, \endif) are ignored. Conditional commands are checked only for
           valid nesting. Variable references in skipped lines are not expanded, and backquote
           expansion is not performed either.

           All the backslash commands of a given conditional block must appear in the same source
           file. If EOF is reached on the main input file or an \include-ed file before all local
           \if-blocks have been closed, then psql will raise an error.

           Here is an example:

               -- check for the existence of two separate records in the database and store
               -- the results in separate psql variables
               SELECT
                   EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM customer WHERE customer_id = 123) as is_customer,
                   EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM employee WHERE employee_id = 456) as is_employee
               \gset
               \if :is_customer
                   SELECT * FROM customer WHERE customer_id = 123;
               \elif :is_employee
                   \echo 'is not a customer but is an employee'
                   SELECT * FROM employee WHERE employee_id = 456;
               \else
                   \if yes
                       \echo 'not a customer or employee'
                   \else
                       \echo 'this will never print'
                   \endif
               \endif

       \ir or \include_relative filename
           The \ir command is similar to \i, but resolves relative file names differently. When
           executing in interactive mode, the two commands behave identically. However, when
           invoked from a script, \ir interprets file names relative to the directory in which
           the script is located, rather than the current working directory.

       \l[+] or \list[+] [ pattern ]
           List the databases in the server and show their names, owners, character set
           encodings, and access privileges. If pattern is specified, only databases whose names
           match the pattern are listed. If + 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 user can connect to.)

       \lo_export loid filename
           Reads the large object with OIDloid from the database and writes it to filename. Note
           that this is subtly different from the server function lo_export, which acts with the
           permissions of the user that the database server runs as and on the server's file
           system.

               Tip
               Use \lo_list to find out the large object's OID.

       \lo_import filename [ comment ]
           Stores the file into a PostgreSQL large object. Optionally, it associates the given
           comment with the object. Example:

               foo=> \lo_import '/home/peter/pictures/photo.xcf' 'a picture of me'
               lo_import 152801

           The response indicates that the large object received object ID 152801, which can be
           used to access the newly-created large object in the future. For the sake of
           readability, it is recommended to always associate a human-readable comment with every
           object. Both OIDs and comments can be viewed with the \lo_list command.

           Note that this command is subtly different from the server-side lo_import because it
           acts as the local user on the local file system, rather than the server's user and
           file system.

       \lo_list
           Shows a list of all PostgreSQL large objects currently stored in the database, along
           with any comments provided for them.

       \lo_unlink loid
           Deletes the large object with OIDloid from the database.

               Tip
               Use \lo_list to find out the large object's OID.

       \o or \out [ filename ]
       \o or \out [ |command ]
           Arranges to save future query results to the file filename or pipe future results to
           the shell command command. If no argument is specified, the query output is reset to
           the standard output.

           If the argument begins with |, then the entire remainder of the line is taken to be
           the command to execute, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion are
           performed in it. The rest of the line is simply passed literally to the shell.

           “Query results” 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 \d); but not error messages.

               Tip
               To intersperse text output in between query results, use \qecho.

       \p or \print
           Print the current query buffer to the standard output. If the current query buffer is
           empty, the most recently executed query is printed instead.

       \password [ username ]
           Changes the password of the specified user (by default, the current user). This
           command prompts for the new password, encrypts it, and sends it to the server as an
           ALTER ROLE command. This makes sure that the new password does not appear in cleartext
           in the command history, the server log, or elsewhere.

       \prompt [ text ] name
           Prompts the user to supply text, which is assigned to the variable name. An optional
           prompt string, text, can be specified. (For multiword prompts, surround the text with
           single quotes.)

           By default, \prompt uses the terminal for input and output. However, if the -f command
           line switch was used, \prompt uses standard input and standard output.

       \pset [ option [ value ] ]
           This command sets options affecting the output of query result tables.  option
           indicates which option is to be set. The semantics of value vary depending on the
           selected option. For some options, omitting value causes the option to be toggled or
           unset, as described under the particular option. If no such behavior is mentioned,
           then omitting value just results in the current setting being displayed.

           \pset without any arguments displays the current status of all printing options.

           Adjustable printing options are:

           border
               The value must be a number. In general, the higher the number the more borders and
               lines the tables will have, but details depend on the particular format. In HTML
               format, this will translate directly into the border=...  attribute. In most 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 border = 2. The
               latex and latex-longtable formats additionally allow a value of 3 to add dividing
               lines between data rows.

           columns
               Sets the target width for the wrapped format, and also the width limit for
               determining whether output is wide enough to 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 COLUMNS, or the detected screen width
               if COLUMNS is not set. In addition, if columns is zero then the wrapped format
               only affects screen output. If columns is nonzero then file and pipe output is
               wrapped to that width as well.

           csv_fieldsep
               Specifies the field separator to be used in CSV output format. If the separator
               character appears in a field's value, that field is output within double quotes,
               following standard CSV rules. The default is a comma.

           expanded (or x)
               If value is specified it must be either on or off, which will enable or disable
               expanded mode, or auto. If value 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 “horizontal” mode. In
               the auto setting, the expanded mode is used whenever the query output has more
               than one column and 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.

           fieldsep
               Specifies the field separator to be used in unaligned output format. That way one
               can create, for example, tab-separated output, which other programs might prefer.
               To set a tab as field separator, type \pset fieldsep '\t'. The default field
               separator is '|' (a vertical bar).

           fieldsep_zero
               Sets the field separator to use in unaligned output format to a zero byte.

           footer
               If value is specified it must be either on or off which will enable or disable
               display of the table footer (the (n rows) count). If value is omitted the command
               toggles footer display on or off.

           format
               Sets the output format to one of aligned, asciidoc, csv, html, latex,
               latex-longtable, troff-ms, unaligned, or wrapped. Unique abbreviations are
               allowed.

               aligned format is the standard, human-readable, nicely formatted text output; this
               is the default.

               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. However, the field separator character is not treated
               specially if it appears in a column's value; so CSV format may be better suited
               for such purposes.

               csv format

               writes column values separated by commas, applying the quoting rules described in
               RFC 4180. This output is compatible with the CSV format of the server's COPY
               command. A header line with column names is generated unless the tuples_only
               parameter is on. Titles and footers are not printed. Each row is terminated by the
               system-dependent end-of-line character, which is typically a single newline (\n)
               for Unix-like systems or a carriage return and newline sequence (\r\n) for
               Microsoft Windows. Field separator characters other than comma can be selected
               with \pset csv_fieldsep.

               wrapped format is like 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 columns option. Note that psql will not attempt to wrap column header
               titles; therefore, wrapped format behaves the same as aligned if the total width
               needed for column headers exceeds the target.

               The asciidoc, html, latex, latex-longtable, and 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 necessary in HTML,
               but in LaTeX you must have a complete document wrapper. The latex format uses
               LaTeX's tabular environment. The latex-longtable format requires the
               LaTeXlongtable and booktabs packages.

           linestyle
               Sets the border line drawing style to one of ascii, old-ascii, or unicode. Unique
               abbreviations are allowed. (That would mean one letter is enough.) The default
               setting is ascii. This option only affects the aligned and wrapped output formats.

               ascii style uses plain ASCII characters. Newlines in data are shown using a +
               symbol in the right-hand margin. When the wrapped format wraps data from one line
               to the next without a newline character, a dot (.) is shown in the right-hand
               margin of the first line, and again in the left-hand margin of the following line.

               old-ascii style uses plain ASCII characters, using the formatting style used in
               PostgreSQL 8.4 and earlier. Newlines in data are shown using a : symbol in place
               of the left-hand column separator. When the data is wrapped from one line to the
               next without a newline character, a ; symbol is used in place of the left-hand
               column separator.

               unicode 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 is shown
               in the right-hand margin of the first line, and again in the left-hand margin of
               the following line.

               When the border setting is greater than zero, the linestyle option also determines
               the characters with which the border lines are drawn. Plain ASCII characters work
               everywhere, but Unicode characters look nicer on displays that recognize them.

           null
               Sets the string to be printed in place of a null value. The default is to print
               nothing, which can easily be mistaken for an empty string. For example, one might
               prefer \pset null '(null)'.

           numericlocale
               If value is specified it must be either on or off which will enable or disable
               display of a locale-specific character to separate groups of digits to the left of
               the decimal marker. If value is omitted the command toggles between regular and
               locale-specific numeric output.

           pager
               Controls use of a pager program for query and psql help output. If the environment
               variable PSQL_PAGER or PAGER is set, the output is piped to the specified program.
               Otherwise a platform-dependent default program (such as more) is used.

               When the pager option is off, the pager program is not used. When the pager option
               is on, the pager is used when appropriate, i.e., when the output is to a terminal
               and will not fit on the screen. The pager option can also be set to always, which
               causes the pager to be used for all terminal output regardless of whether it fits
               on the screen.  \pset pager without a value toggles pager use on and off.

           pager_min_lines
               If 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.

           recordsep
               Specifies the record (line) separator to use in unaligned output format. The
               default is a newline character.

           recordsep_zero
               Sets the record separator to use in unaligned output format to a zero byte.

           tableattr (or T)
               In HTML format, this specifies attributes to be placed inside the table tag. This
               could for example be cellpadding or bgcolor. Note that you probably don't want to
               specify border here, as that is already taken care of by \pset border. If no value
               is given, the table attributes are unset.

               In latex-longtable 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.  '0.2 0.2 0.6'. Unspecified output columns use the last
               specified value.

           title (or C)
               Sets the table title for any subsequently printed tables. This can be used to give
               your output descriptive tags. If no value is given, the title is unset.

           tuples_only (or t)
               If value is specified it must be either on or off which will enable or disable
               tuples-only mode. If value is omitted the command toggles between regular and
               tuples-only output. Regular output includes extra information such as column
               headers, titles, and various footers. In tuples-only mode, only actual table data
               is shown.

           unicode_border_linestyle
               Sets the border drawing style for the unicode line style to one of single or
               double.

           unicode_column_linestyle
               Sets the column drawing style for the unicode line style to one of single or
               double.

           unicode_header_linestyle
               Sets the header drawing style for the unicode line style to one of single or
               double.

           Illustrations of how these different formats look can be seen in the EXAMPLES section.

               Tip
               There are various shortcut commands for \pset. See \a, \C, \f, \H, \t, \T, and \x.

       \q or \quit
           Quits the psql program. In a script file, only execution of that script is terminated.

       \qecho text [ ... ]
           This command is identical to \echo except that the output will be written to the query
           output channel, as set by \o.

       \r or \reset
           Resets (clears) the query buffer.

       \s [ filename ]
           Print psql's command line history to filename. If filename is omitted, the history is
           written to the standard output (using the pager if appropriate). This command is not
           available if psql was built without Readline support.

       \set [ name [ value [ ... ] ] ]
           Sets the psql variable name to value, 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 to an
           empty-string value. To unset a variable, use the \unset command.

           \set without any arguments displays the names and values of all currently-set psql
           variables.

           Valid variable names can contain letters, digits, and underscores. See the section
           Variables below for details. Variable names are case-sensitive.

           Certain variables are special, in that they control psql's behavior or are
           automatically set to reflect connection state. These variables are documented in
           Variables, below.

               Note
               This command is unrelated to the SQL command SET(7).

       \setenv name [ value ]
           Sets the environment variable name to value, or if the value is not supplied, unsets
           the environment variable. Example:

               testdb=> \setenv PAGER less
               testdb=> \setenv LESS -imx4F

       \sf[+] function_description
           This command fetches and shows the definition of the named function or procedure, in
           the form of a CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION or CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE command. The
           definition is printed to the current query output channel, as set by \o.

           The target function can be specified by name alone, or by name and arguments, for
           example foo(integer, text). The argument types must be given if there is more than one
           function of the same name.

           If + is appended to the command name, then the output lines are numbered, with the
           first line of the function body being line 1.

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \sf, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion
           are performed in the arguments.

       \sv[+] view_name
           This command fetches and shows the definition of the named view, in the form of a
           CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW command. The definition is printed to the current query output
           channel, as set by \o.

           If + is appended to the command name, then the output lines are numbered from 1.

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \sv, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion
           are performed in the arguments.

       \t
           Toggles the display of output column name headings and row count footer. This command
           is equivalent to \pset tuples_only and is provided for convenience.

       \T table_options
           Specifies attributes to be placed within the table tag in HTML output format. This
           command is equivalent to \pset tableattr table_options.

       \timing [ on | off ]
           With a parameter, turns displaying of how long each SQL statement takes on or off.
           Without a parameter, toggles the display between on and off. The display is in
           milliseconds; intervals longer than 1 second are also shown in minutes:seconds format,
           with hours and days fields added if needed.

       \unset name
           Unsets (deletes) the psql variable name.

           Most variables that control psql's behavior cannot be unset; instead, an \unset
           command is interpreted as setting them to their default values. See Variables, below.

       \w or \write filename
       \w or \write |command
           Writes the current query buffer to the file filename or pipes it to the shell command
           command. If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently executed query is
           written instead.

           If the argument begins with |, then the entire remainder of the line is taken to be
           the command to execute, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion are
           performed in it. The rest of the line is simply passed literally to the shell.

       \watch [ seconds ]
           Repeatedly execute the current query buffer (as \g does) until interrupted or the
           query fails. Wait the specified number of seconds (default 2) between executions. Each
           query result is displayed with a header that includes the \pset title string (if any),
           the time as of query start, and the delay interval.

           If the current query buffer is empty, the most recently sent query is re-executed
           instead.

       \x [ on | off | auto ]
           Sets or toggles expanded table formatting mode. As such it is equivalent to \pset
           expanded.

       \z [ pattern ]
           Lists tables, views and sequences with their associated access privileges. If a
           pattern is specified, only tables, views and sequences whose names match the pattern
           are listed.

           This is an alias for \dp (“display privileges”).

       \! [ command ]
           With no argument, escapes to a sub-shell; psql resumes when the sub-shell exits. With
           an argument, executes the shell command command.

           Unlike most other meta-commands, the entire remainder of the line is always taken to
           be the argument(s) of \!, and neither variable interpolation nor backquote expansion
           are performed in the arguments. The rest of the line is simply passed literally to the
           shell.

       \? [ topic ]
           Shows help information. The optional topic parameter (defaulting to commands) selects
           which part of psql is explained: commands describes psql's backslash commands; options
           describes the command-line options that can be passed to psql; and variables shows
           help about psql configuration variables.

       \;
           Backslash-semicolon is not a meta-command in the same way as the preceding commands;
           rather, it simply causes a semicolon to be added to the query buffer without any
           further processing.

           Normally, psql will dispatch a SQL command to the server as soon as it reaches the
           command-ending semicolon, even if more input remains on the current line. Thus for
           example entering

               select 1; select 2; select 3;

           will result in the three SQL commands being individually sent to the server, with each
           one's results being displayed before continuing to the next command. However, a
           semicolon entered as \; will not trigger command processing, so that the command
           before it and the one after are effectively combined and sent to the server in one
           request. So for example

               select 1\; select 2\; select 3;

           results in sending the three SQL commands to the server in a single request, when the
           non-backslashed semicolon is reached. The server executes such a request as a single
           transaction, unless there are explicit BEGIN/COMMIT commands included in the string to
           divide it into multiple transactions. (See Section 52.2.2.1 for more details about how
           the server handles multi-query strings.)  psql prints only the last query result it
           receives for each request; in this example, although all three SELECTs are indeed
           executed, psql only prints the 3.

       Patterns
           The various \d commands accept a pattern parameter to specify the object name(s) to be
           displayed. In the simplest case, a pattern is just the exact name of the object. The
           characters within a pattern are normally folded to lower case, just as in SQL names;
           for example, \dt FOO will display the table named foo. As in SQL names, placing double
           quotes around a pattern stops folding to lower case. Should you need to include an
           actual double quote character in a pattern, write it as a pair of double quotes within
           a double-quote sequence; again this is in accord with the rules for SQL quoted
           identifiers. For example, \dt "FOO""BAR" will display the table named FOO"BAR (not
           foo"bar). Unlike the normal rules for SQL names, you can put double quotes around just
           part of a pattern, for instance \dt FOO"FOO"BAR will display the table named
           fooFOObar.

           Whenever the pattern parameter is omitted completely, the \d commands display all
           objects that are visible in the current schema search path — this is equivalent to
           using * as the pattern. (An object is said to be visible if its containing schema is
           in the search path and no object of the same kind and name appears earlier in the
           search path. This is equivalent to the statement that the object can be referenced by
           name without explicit schema qualification.) To see all objects in the database
           regardless of visibility, use *.*  as the pattern.

           Within a pattern, * matches any sequence of characters (including no characters) and ?
           matches any single character. (This notation is comparable to Unix shell file name
           patterns.) For example, \dt int* displays tables whose names begin with int. But
           within double quotes, * and ?  lose these special meanings and are just matched
           literally.

           A pattern that contains a dot (.) is interpreted as a schema name pattern followed by
           an object name pattern. For example, \dt foo*.*bar* displays all tables whose table
           name includes bar that are in schemas whose schema name starts with foo. When no dot
           appears, then the pattern matches only objects that are visible in the current schema
           search path. Again, a dot within double quotes loses its special meaning and is
           matched literally.

           Advanced users can use regular-expression notations such as character classes, for
           example [0-9] to match any digit. All regular expression special characters work as
           specified in Section 9.7.3, except for .  which is taken as a separator as mentioned
           above, * which is translated to the regular-expression notation .*, ?  which is
           translated to ., and $ which is matched literally. You can emulate these pattern
           characters at need by writing ?  for ., (R+|) for R*, or (R|) for R?.  $ is not needed
           as a regular-expression character since the pattern must match the whole name, unlike
           the usual interpretation of regular expressions (in other words, $ is automatically
           appended to your pattern). Write * at the beginning and/or end if you don't wish the
           pattern to be anchored. Note that within double quotes, all regular expression special
           characters lose their special meanings and are matched literally. Also, the regular
           expression special characters are matched literally in operator name patterns (i.e.,
           the argument of \do).

   Advanced Features
       Variables
           psql 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. The name must consist of letters (including non-Latin letters), digits, and
           underscores.

           To set a variable, use the psql meta-command \set. For example,

               testdb=> \set foo bar

           sets the variable foo to the value bar. To retrieve the content of the variable,
           precede the name with a colon, for example:

               testdb=> \echo :foo
               bar

           This works in both regular SQL commands and meta-commands; there is more detail in SQL
           Interpolation, below.

           If you call \set without a second argument, the variable is set to an empty-string
           value. To unset (i.e., delete) a variable, use the command \unset. To show the values
           of all variables, call \set without any argument.

               Note
               The arguments of \set are subject to the same substitution rules as with other
               commands. Thus you can construct interesting references such as \set :foo
               'something' and get “soft links” or “variable variables” of Perl or PHP fame,
               respectively. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), there is no way to do anything
               useful with these constructs. On the other hand, \set bar :foo is a perfectly
               valid way to copy a variable.

           A number of these variables are treated specially by psql. They represent certain
           option settings that can be changed at run time by altering the value of the variable,
           or in some cases represent changeable state of psql. 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.

           Variables that control psql's behavior generally cannot be unset or set to invalid
           values. An \unset command is allowed but is interpreted as setting the variable to its
           default value. A \set command without a second argument is interpreted as setting the
           variable to on, for control variables that accept that value, and is rejected for
           others. Also, control variables that accept the values on and off will also accept
           other common spellings of Boolean values, such as true and false.

           The specially treated variables are:

           AUTOCOMMIT
               When on (the default), each SQL command is automatically committed upon successful
               completion. To postpone commit in this mode, you must enter a BEGIN or START
               TRANSACTION SQL command. When off or unset, SQL commands are not committed until
               you explicitly issue COMMIT or END. The autocommit-off mode works by issuing an
               implicit BEGIN for you, just before any command that is not already in a
               transaction block and is not itself a BEGIN or other transaction-control command,
               nor a command that cannot be executed inside a transaction block (such as VACUUM).

                   Note
                   In autocommit-off mode, you must explicitly abandon any failed transaction by
                   entering ABORT or ROLLBACK. Also keep in mind that if you exit the session
                   without committing, your work will be lost.

                   Note
                   The autocommit-on mode is PostgreSQL's traditional behavior, but
                   autocommit-off is closer to the SQL spec. If you prefer autocommit-off, you
                   might wish to set it in the system-wide psqlrc file or your ~/.psqlrc file.

           COMP_KEYWORD_CASE
               Determines which letter case to use when completing an SQL key word. If set to
               lower or upper, the completed word will be in lower or upper case, respectively.
               If set to preserve-lower or preserve-upper (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.

           DBNAME
               The name of the database you are currently connected to. This is set every time
               you connect to a database (including program start-up), but can be changed or
               unset.

           ECHO
               If set to all, 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 -a. If set to queries, psql prints each query
               to standard output as it is sent to the server. The switch to select this behavior
               is -e. If set to errors, then only failed queries are displayed on standard error
               output. The switch for this behavior is -b. If set to none (the default), then no
               queries are displayed.

           ECHO_HIDDEN
               When this variable is set to on and a backslash command queries the database, the
               query is first shown. This feature helps you to study PostgreSQL internals and
               provide similar functionality in your own programs. (To select this behavior on
               program start-up, use the switch -E.) If you set this variable to the value
               noexec, the queries are just shown but are not actually sent to the server and
               executed. The default value is off.

           ENCODING
               The current client character set encoding. This is set every time you connect to a
               database (including program start-up), and when you change the encoding with
               \encoding, but it can be changed or unset.

           ERROR
               true if the last SQL query failed, false if it succeeded. See also SQLSTATE.

           FETCH_COUNT
               If this variable is set to an integer value greater than zero, the results of
               SELECT queries are fetched and displayed in groups of that many rows, rather than
               the default behavior of collecting the entire result set before display. Therefore
               only a limited amount of memory is used, regardless of the size of the result set.
               Settings of 100 to 1000 are commonly used when enabling this feature. Keep in mind
               that when using this feature, a query might fail after having already displayed
               some rows.

                   Tip
                   Although you can use any output format with this feature, the default aligned
                   format tends to look bad because each group of FETCH_COUNT rows will be
                   formatted separately, leading to varying column widths across the row groups.
                   The other output formats work better.

           HIDE_TABLEAM
               If this variable is set to true, a table's access method details are not
               displayed. This is mainly useful for regression tests.

           HISTCONTROL
               If this variable is set to ignorespace, lines which begin with a space are not
               entered into the history list. If set to a value of ignoredups, lines matching the
               previous history line are not entered. A value of ignoreboth combines the two
               options. If set to none (the default), all lines read in interactive mode are
               saved on the history list.

                   Note
                   This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from Bash.

           HISTFILE
               The file name that will be used to store the history list. If unset, the file name
               is taken from the PSQL_HISTORY environment variable. If that is not set either,
               the default is ~/.psql_history, or %APPDATA%\postgresql\psql_history on Windows.
               For example, putting:

                   \set HISTFILE ~/.psql_history- :DBNAME

               in ~/.psqlrc will cause psql to maintain a separate history for each database.

                   Note
                   This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from Bash.

           HISTSIZE
               The maximum number of commands to store in the command history (default 500). If
               set to a negative value, no limit is applied.

                   Note
                   This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from Bash.

           HOST
               The database server host you are currently connected to. This is set every time
               you connect to a database (including program start-up), but can be changed or
               unset.

           IGNOREEOF
               If set to 1 or less, sending an EOF character (usually Control+D) to an
               interactive session of psql will terminate the application. If set to a larger
               numeric value, that many consecutive EOF characters must be typed to make an
               interactive session terminate. If the variable is set to a non-numeric value, it
               is interpreted as 10. The default is 0.

                   Note
                   This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from Bash.

           LASTOID
               The value of the last affected OID, as returned from an INSERT or \lo_import
               command. This variable is only guaranteed to be valid until after the result of
               the next SQL command has been displayed.  PostgreSQL servers since version 12 do
               not support OID system columns anymore, thus LASTOID will always be 0 following
               INSERT when targeting such servers.

           LAST_ERROR_MESSAGE
           LAST_ERROR_SQLSTATE
               The primary error message and associated SQLSTATE code for the most recent failed
               query in the current psql session, or an empty string and 00000 if no error has
               occurred in the current session.

           ON_ERROR_ROLLBACK
               When set to on, if a statement in a transaction block generates an error, the
               error is ignored and the transaction continues. When set to interactive, such
               errors are only ignored in interactive sessions, and not when reading script
               files. When set to off (the default), a statement in a transaction block that
               generates an error aborts the entire transaction. The error rollback mode works by
               issuing an implicit SAVEPOINT for you, just before each command that is in a
               transaction block, and then rolling back to the savepoint if the command fails.

           ON_ERROR_STOP
               By default, command processing continues after an error. When this variable is set
               to on, processing will instead stop immediately. In interactive mode, psql will
               return to the command prompt; otherwise, psql 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.

           PORT
               The database server port to which you are currently connected. This is set every
               time you connect to a database (including program start-up), but can be changed or
               unset.

           PROMPT1
           PROMPT2
           PROMPT3
               These specify what the prompts psql issues should look like. See Prompting below.

           QUIET
               Setting this variable to on is equivalent to the command line option -q. It is
               probably not too useful in interactive mode.

           ROW_COUNT
               The number of rows returned or affected by the last SQL query, or 0 if the query
               failed or did not report a row count.

           SERVER_VERSION_NAME
           SERVER_VERSION_NUM
               The server's version number as a string, for example 9.6.2, 10.1 or 11beta1, and
               in numeric form, for example 90602 or 100001. These are set every time you connect
               to a database (including program start-up), but can be changed or unset.

           SHOW_CONTEXT
               This variable can be set to the values never, errors, or always to control whether
               CONTEXT fields are displayed in messages from the server. The default is errors
               (meaning that context will be shown in error messages, but not in notice or
               warning messages). This setting has no effect when VERBOSITY is set to terse or
               sqlstate. (See also \errverbose, for use when you want a verbose version of the
               error you just got.)

           SINGLELINE
               Setting this variable to on is equivalent to the command line option -S.

           SINGLESTEP
               Setting this variable to on is equivalent to the command line option -s.

           SQLSTATE
               The error code (see Appendix A) associated with the last SQL query's failure, or
               00000 if it succeeded.

           USER
               The database user you are currently connected as. This is set every time you
               connect to a database (including program start-up), but can be changed or unset.

           VERBOSITY
               This variable can be set to the values default, verbose, terse, or sqlstate to
               control the verbosity of error reports. (See also \errverbose, for use when you
               want a verbose version of the error you just got.)

           VERSION
           VERSION_NAME
           VERSION_NUM
               These variables are set at program start-up to reflect psql's version,
               respectively as a verbose string, a short string (e.g., 9.6.2, 10.1, or 11beta1),
               and a number (e.g., 90602 or 100001). They can be changed or unset.

       SQL Interpolation
           A key feature of psql variables is that you can substitute (“interpolate”) them into
           regular SQL statements, as well as the arguments of meta-commands. Furthermore, psql
           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 (:). For example,

               testdb=> \set foo 'my_table'
               testdb=> SELECT * FROM :foo;

           would query the table my_table. Note that this may be unsafe: the value of the
           variable is copied literally, so it can contain unbalanced quotes, or even backslash
           commands. You must make sure that it makes sense where you put it.

           When a value is to be used as an SQL literal or identifier, it is 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 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:

               testdb=> \set foo 'my_table'
               testdb=> SELECT * FROM :"foo";

           Variable interpolation will not be performed within quoted SQL literals and
           identifiers. Therefore, a construction such as ':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).

           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:

               testdb=> \set content `cat my_file.txt`
               testdb=> INSERT INTO my_table VALUES (:'content');

           (Note that this still won't work if my_file.txt contains NUL bytes.  psql does not
           support embedded NUL bytes in variable values.)

           Since colons can legally appear in SQL commands, an apparent attempt at interpolation
           (that is, :name, :'name', or :"name") is not 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 :{?name} special syntax returns TRUE or FALSE depending on whether the variable
           exists or not, and is thus always substituted, unless the colon is backslash-escaped.

           The colon syntax for variables is standard SQL for embedded query languages, such as
           ECPG. The colon syntaxes for array slices and type casts are PostgreSQL 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 psql extension.

       Prompting
           The prompts psql issues can be customized to your preference. The three variables
           PROMPT1, PROMPT2, and PROMPT3 contain strings and special escape sequences that
           describe the appearance of the prompt. Prompt 1 is the normal prompt that is issued
           when psql requests a new command. Prompt 2 is issued when more input is expected
           during command entry, for example because the command was not terminated with a
           semicolon or a quote was not closed. Prompt 3 is issued when you are running an
           SQLCOPY FROM STDIN command and you need to type in a row value on the terminal.

           The value of the selected prompt variable is printed literally, except where a percent
           sign (%) is encountered. Depending on the next character, certain other text is
           substituted instead. Defined substitutions are:

           %M
               The full host name (with domain name) of the database server, or [local] if the
               connection is over a Unix domain socket, or [local:/dir/name], if the Unix domain
               socket is not at the compiled in default location.

           %m
               The host name of the database server, truncated at the first dot, or [local] if
               the connection is over a Unix domain socket.

           %>
               The port number at which the database server is listening.

           %n
               The database session user name. (The expansion of this value might change during a
               database session as the result of the command SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION.)

           %/
               The name of the current database.

           %~
               Like %/, but the output is ~ (tilde) if the database is your default database.

           %#
               If the session user is a database superuser, then a #, otherwise a >. (The
               expansion of this value might change during a database session as the result of
               the command SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION.)

           %p
               The process ID of the backend currently connected to.

           %R
               In prompt 1 normally =, but @ if the session is in an inactive branch of a
               conditional block, or ^ if in single-line mode, or !  if the session is
               disconnected from the database (which can happen if \connect fails). In prompt 2
               %R is replaced by a character that depends on why psql expects more input: - if
               the command simply wasn't terminated yet, but * if there is an unfinished /* ...
               */ comment, a single quote if there is an unfinished quoted string, a double quote
               if there is an unfinished quoted identifier, a dollar sign if there is an
               unfinished dollar-quoted string, or ( if there is an unmatched left parenthesis.
               In prompt 3 %R doesn't produce anything.

           %x
               Transaction status: an empty string when not in a transaction block, or * when in
               a transaction block, or !  when in a failed transaction block, or ?  when the
               transaction state is indeterminate (for example, because there is no connection).

           %l
               The line number inside the current statement, starting from 1.

           %digits
               The character with the indicated octal code is substituted.

           %:name:
               The value of the psql variable name. See the section Variables for details.

           %`command`
               The output of command, similar to ordinary “back-tick” substitution.

           %[ ... %]
               Prompts can contain terminal control characters which, for example, change the
               color, background, or style of the prompt text, or change the title of the
               terminal window. In order for the line editing features of Readline to work
               properly, these non-printing control characters must be designated as invisible by
               surrounding them with %[ and %]. Multiple pairs of these can occur within the
               prompt. For example:

                   testdb=> \set PROMPT1 '%[%033[1;33;40m%]%n@%/%R%[%033[0m%]%# '

               results in a boldfaced (1;) yellow-on-black (33;40) prompt on VT100-compatible,
               color-capable terminals.
           To insert a percent sign into your prompt, write %%. The default prompts are '%/%R%# '
           for prompts 1 and 2, and '>> ' for prompt 3.

               Note
               This feature was shamelessly plagiarized from tcsh.

       Command-Line Editing
           psql supports the Readline library for convenient line editing and retrieval. The
           command history is automatically saved when psql exits and is reloaded when psql
           starts up. Tab-completion is also supported, although the completion logic makes no
           claim to be an SQL parser. The queries generated by tab-completion can also interfere
           with other SQL commands, e.g.  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
           .inputrc in your home directory:

               $if psql
               set disable-completion on
               $endif

           (This is not a psql but a Readline feature. Read its documentation for further
           details.)

ENVIRONMENT
       COLUMNS
           If \pset columns is zero, controls the width for the wrapped format and width for
           determining if wide output requires the pager or should be switched to the vertical
           format in expanded auto mode.

       PGDATABASE
       PGHOST
       PGPORT
       PGUSER
           Default connection parameters (see Section 33.14).

       PG_COLOR
           Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always,
           auto and never.

       PSQL_EDITOR
       EDITOR
       VISUAL
           Editor used by the \e, \ef, and \ev commands. These variables are examined in the
           order listed; the first that is set is used. If none of them is set, the default is to
           use vi on Unix systems or notepad.exe on Windows systems.

       PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG
           When \e, \ef, or \ev 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 Emacs or 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:

               PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG='+'
               PSQL_EDITOR_LINENUMBER_ARG='--line '

           The default is + on Unix systems (corresponding to the default editor vi, and useful
           for many other common editors); but there is no default on Windows systems.

       PSQL_HISTORY
           Alternative location for the command history file. Tilde (~) expansion is performed.

       PSQL_PAGER
       PAGER
           If a query's results do not fit on the screen, they are piped through this command.
           Typical values are more or less. Use of the pager can be disabled by setting
           PSQL_PAGER or PAGER to an empty string, or by adjusting the pager-related options of
           the \pset command. These variables are examined in the order listed; the first that is
           set is used. If none of them is set, the default is to use more on most platforms, but
           less on Cygwin.

       PSQLRC
           Alternative location of the user's .psqlrc file. Tilde (~) expansion is performed.

       SHELL
           Command executed by the \!  command.

       TMPDIR
           Directory for storing temporary files. The default is /tmp.

       This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables
       supported by libpq (see Section 33.14).

FILES
       psqlrc and ~/.psqlrc
           Unless it is passed an -X option, psql attempts to read and execute commands from the
           system-wide startup file (psqlrc) and then the user's personal startup file
           (~/.psqlrc), 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 \set and SET commands.

           The system-wide startup file is named psqlrc and is sought in the installation's
           “system configuration” directory, which is most reliably identified by running
           pg_config --sysconfdir. By default this directory will be ../etc/ relative to the
           directory containing the PostgreSQL executables. The name of this directory can be set
           explicitly via the PGSYSCONFDIR environment variable.

           The user's personal startup file is named .psqlrc and is sought in the invoking user's
           home directory. On Windows, which lacks such a concept, the personal startup file is
           named %APPDATA%\postgresql\psqlrc.conf. The location of the user's startup file can be
           set explicitly via the PSQLRC environment variable.

           Both the system-wide startup file and the user's personal startup file can be made
           psql-version-specific by appending a dash and the PostgreSQL major or minor release
           number to the file name, for example ~/.psqlrc-9.2 or ~/.psqlrc-9.2.5. The most
           specific version-matching file will be read in preference to a non-version-specific
           file.

       .psql_history
           The command-line history is stored in the file ~/.psql_history, or
           %APPDATA%\postgresql\psql_history on Windows.

           The location of the history file can be set explicitly via the HISTFILEpsql variable
           or the PSQL_HISTORY environment variable.

NOTES
       ·   psql 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 psql itself.
           However, backslash commands of the \d family should work with servers of versions back
           to 7.4, though not necessarily with servers newer than 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.

           If you want to use psql to connect to several servers of different major versions, it
           is recommended that you use the newest version of psql. Alternatively, you can keep
           around a copy of psql from each major version and be sure to use the version that
           matches the respective server. But in practice, this additional complication should
           not be necessary.

       ·   Before PostgreSQL 9.6, the -c option implied -X (--no-psqlrc); this is no longer the
           case.

       ·   Before PostgreSQL 8.4, psql allowed the first argument of a single-letter backslash
           command to start directly after the command, without intervening whitespace. Now, some
           whitespace is required.

NOTES FOR WINDOWS USERS
       psql is built as a “console application”. Since the Windows console windows use a
       different encoding than the rest of the system, you must take special care when using
       8-bit characters within psql. If psql detects a problematic console code page, it will
       warn you at startup. To change the console code page, two things are necessary:

       ·   Set the code page by entering cmd.exe /c chcp 1252. (1252 is a code page that is
           appropriate for German; replace it with your value.) If you are using Cygwin, you can
           put this command in /etc/profile.

       ·   Set the console font to Lucida Console, because the raster font does not work with the
           ANSI code page.

EXAMPLES
       The first example shows how to spread a command over several lines of input. Notice the
       changing prompt:

           testdb=> CREATE TABLE my_table (
           testdb(>  first integer not null default 0,
           testdb(>  second text)
           testdb-> ;
           CREATE TABLE

       Now look at the table definition again:

           testdb=> \d my_table
                         Table "public.my_table"
            Column |  Type   | Collation | Nullable | Default
           --------+---------+-----------+----------+---------
            first  | integer |           | not null | 0
            second | text    |           |          |

       Now we change the prompt to something more interesting:

           testdb=> \set PROMPT1 '%n@%m %~%R%# '
           peter@localhost testdb=>

       Let's assume you have filled the table with data and want to take a look at it:

           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT * FROM my_table;
            first | second
           -------+--------
                1 | one
                2 | two
                3 | three
                4 | four
           (4 rows)


       You can display tables in different ways by using the \pset command:

           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset border 2
           Border style is 2.
           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT * FROM my_table;
           +-------+--------+
           | first | second |
           +-------+--------+
           |     1 | one    |
           |     2 | two    |
           |     3 | three  |
           |     4 | four   |
           +-------+--------+
           (4 rows)

           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset border 0
           Border style is 0.
           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT * FROM my_table;
           first second
           ----- ------
               1 one
               2 two
               3 three
               4 four
           (4 rows)

           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset border 1
           Border style is 1.
           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset format csv
           Output format is csv.
           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset tuples_only
           Tuples only is on.
           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT second, first FROM my_table;
           one,1
           two,2
           three,3
           four,4
           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset format unaligned
           Output format is unaligned.
           peter@localhost testdb=> \pset fieldsep '\t'
           Field separator is "    ".
           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT second, first FROM my_table;
           one     1
           two     2
           three   3
           four    4

       Alternatively, use the short commands:

           peter@localhost testdb=> \a \t \x
           Output format is aligned.
           Tuples only is off.
           Expanded display is on.
           peter@localhost testdb=> SELECT * FROM my_table;
           -[ RECORD 1 ]-
           first  | 1
           second | one
           -[ RECORD 2 ]-
           first  | 2
           second | two
           -[ RECORD 3 ]-
           first  | 3
           second | three
           -[ RECORD 4 ]-
           first  | 4
           second | four

       When suitable, query results can be shown in a crosstab representation with the
       \crosstabview command:

           testdb=> SELECT first, second, first > 2 AS gt2 FROM my_table;
            first | second | gt2
           -------+--------+-----
                1 | one    | f
                2 | two    | f
                3 | three  | t
                4 | four   | t
           (4 rows)

           testdb=> \crosstabview first second
            first | one | two | three | four
           -------+-----+-----+-------+------
                1 | f   |     |       |
                2 |     | f   |       |
                3 |     |     | t     |
                4 |     |     |       | t
           (4 rows)

       This second example shows a multiplication table with rows sorted in reverse numerical
       order and columns with an independent, ascending numerical order.

           testdb=> SELECT t1.first as "A", t2.first+100 AS "B", t1.first*(t2.first+100) as "AxB",
           testdb(> row_number() over(order by t2.first) AS ord
           testdb(> FROM my_table t1 CROSS JOIN my_table t2 ORDER BY 1 DESC
           testdb(> \crosstabview "A" "B" "AxB" ord
            A | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104
           ---+-----+-----+-----+-----
            4 | 404 | 408 | 412 | 416
            3 | 303 | 306 | 309 | 312
            2 | 202 | 204 | 206 | 208
            1 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104
           (4 rows)





PostgreSQL 12.3                                2020                                       PSQL(1)


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