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.

Sets query parameters for the next query execution, with the specified parameters passed for any parameter placeholders ($1 etc.).

Example:

INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES ($1, $2) \bind 'first value' 'second value' \g

This also works for query-execution commands besides \g, such as \gx and \gset.

This command causes the extended query protocol (see Section 55.1.2) to be used, unlike normal psql operation, which uses the simple query protocol. So this command can be useful to test the extended query protocol from psql. (The extended query protocol is used even if the query has no parameters and this command specifies zero parameters.) This command affects only the next query executed; all subsequent queries will use the simple query protocol by default.

Establishes a new connection to a Postgres Pro server. The connection parameters to use can be specified either using a positional syntax (one or more of database name, user, host, and port), or using a conninfo connection string as detailed in Section 34.1.1. If no arguments are given, a new connection is made using the same parameters as before.

Specifying any of dbname, username, host or port as - is equivalent to omitting that parameter.

The new connection can re-use connection parameters from the previous connection; not only database name, user, host, and port, but other settings such as sslmode. By default, parameters are re-used in the positional syntax, but not when a conninfo string is given. Passing a first argument of -reuse-previous=on or -reuse-previous=off overrides that default. If parameters are re-used, then any parameter not explicitly specified as a positional parameter or in the conninfo string is taken from the existing connection's parameters. An exception is that if the host setting is changed from its previous value using the positional syntax, any hostaddr setting present in the existing connection's parameters is dropped. Also, any password used for the existing connection will be re-used only if the user, host, and port settings are not changed. When the command neither specifies nor reuses a particular parameter, the libpq default is used.

If the new connection is successfully made, the previous connection is closed. If the connection attempt fails (wrong user name, access denied, etc.), the previous connection will be kept if psql is in interactive mode. But when executing a non-interactive script, the old connection is closed and an error is reported. That may or may not terminate the script; if it does not, all database-accessing commands will fail until another \connect command is successfully executed. 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. Note that whenever a \connect command attempts to re-use parameters, the values re-used are those of the last successful connection, not of any failed attempts made subsequently. However, in the case of a non-interactive \connect failure, no parameters are allowed to be re-used later, since the script would likely be expecting the values from the failed \connect to be re-used.

Examples:

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

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.)

Changes the current working directory to directory. Without argument, changes to the current user's home directory.

Outputs information about the current database connection.

Performs a frontend (client) copy. This is an operation that runs an SQL COPY 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 an 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 SQL COPY command. All options other than the data source/destination are as specified for COPY. 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.

Shows the copyright and distribution terms of Postgres Pro.

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.

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 and the access method name if the relation has an access method.

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

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.

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.

Lists operator classes (see Section 38.16.1). If access-method-pattern is specified, only operator classes associated with access methods whose names match that pattern are listed. If input-type-pattern is specified, only operator classes associated with input types whose names match that pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each operator class is listed with its associated operator family and owner.

Lists operator families (see Section 38.16.5). If access-method-pattern is specified, only operator families associated with access methods whose names match that pattern are listed. If input-type-pattern is specified, only operator families associated with input types whose names match that pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each operator family is listed with its owner.

Lists operators associated with operator families (see Section 38.16.2). If access-method-pattern is specified, only members of operator families associated with access methods whose names match that pattern are listed. If operator-family-pattern is specified, only members of operator families whose names match that pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, each operator is listed with its sort operator family (if it is an ordering operator).

Lists support functions associated with operator families (see Section 38.16.3). If access-method-pattern is specified, only functions of operator families associated with access methods whose names match that pattern are listed. If operator-family-pattern is specified, only functions of operator families whose names match that pattern are listed. If + is appended to the command name, functions are displayed verbosely, with their actual parameter lists.

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.

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.

Lists server configuration parameters and their values. If pattern is specified, only parameters whose names match the pattern are listed. Without a pattern, only parameters that are set to non-default values are listed. (Use \dconfig * to see all parameters.) If + is appended to the command name, each parameter is listed with its data type, context in which the parameter can be set, and access privileges (if non-default access privileges have been granted).

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.

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 SQL command.

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.

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 command is used to set default access privileges. The meaning of the privilege display is explained in Section 5.8.

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, \dti lists tables and indexes. If + is appended to the command name, each object is listed with its persistence status (permanent, temporary, or unlogged), physical size on disk, and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Any additional arguments are type-name patterns, which are matched to the type names of the first, second, and so on arguments of the function. (Matching functions can have more arguments than what you specify. To prevent that, write a dash - as the last arg_pattern.) 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, internal name (for C and internal functions only), and description. Source code for a specific function can be seen using \sf.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is an alias for \lo_list, which shows a list of large objects. If + is appended to the command name, each large object is listed with its associated permissions, if any.

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.

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, description, and the security officer, if any.

Lists operators with their operand and result types. If pattern is specified, only operators whose names match the pattern are listed. If one arg_pattern is specified, only prefix operators whose right argument's type name matches that pattern are listed. If two arg_patterns are specified, only binary operators whose argument type names match those patterns are listed. (Alternatively, write - for the unused argument of a unary operator.) 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.

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.

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

The GRANT and REVOKE commands are used to set access privileges. The meaning of the privilege display is explained in Section 5.8.

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.

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 and ALTER DATABASE commands are used to define per-role and per-database configuration settings.

Lists information about each granted role membership, including assigned options (ADMIN, INHERIT and/or SET) and grantor. See the GRANT command for information about role memberships.

By default, only grants to user-created roles are shown; supply the S modifier to include system roles. If pattern is specified, only grants to those roles whose names match the pattern are listed.

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 and schemas associated with each publication are shown as well.

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.

Lists profiles. If pattern is specified, only those profiles whose names match the pattern are listed. This command is only available for superusers.

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.

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.

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.

Lists extended statistics. If pattern is specified, only those extended statistics whose names match the pattern are listed.

The status of each kind of extended statistics is shown in a column named after its statistic kind (e.g. Ndistinct). defined means that it was requested when creating the statistics, and NULL means it wasn't requested. You can use pg_stats_ext if you'd like to know whether ANALYZE was run and statistics are available to the planner.

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.

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.

If you edit a file or the previous query, and you quit the editor without modifying the file, the query buffer is cleared. Otherwise, the new contents of the query buffer are 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 and removed from the query buffer. Whatever remains in the query buffer is redisplayed. 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.

Prints the evaluated arguments to standard output, separated by spaces 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 (nor is the first argument).

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. If you quit the editor without saving, the statement is discarded. If you save and exit the editor, the updated command is executed immediately if you added a semicolon to it. Otherwise it is redisplayed; 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.

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

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

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. If you quit the editor without saving, the statement is discarded. If you save and exit the editor, the updated command is executed immediately if you added a semicolon to it. Otherwise it is redisplayed; 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.

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

Sends the current query buffer to the server for execution.

If parentheses appear after \g, they surround a space-separated list of option=value formatting-option clauses, which are interpreted in the same way as \pset option value commands, but take effect only for the duration of this query. In this list, spaces are not allowed around = signs, but are required between option clauses. If =value is omitted, the named option is changed in the same way as for \pset option with no explicit value.

If a filename or |command 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 any arguments is essentially equivalent to a semicolon. With arguments, \g provides a “one-shot” alternative to the \o command, and additionally allows one-shot adjustments of the output formatting options normally set by \pset.

When the last argument begins with |, 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.

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.

Gets the value of the environment variable env_var and assigns it to the psql variable psql_var. If env_var is not defined in the psql process's environment, psql_var is not changed. Example:

=> \getenv home HOME
=> \echo :home
/home/postgres

Sends the current query buffer to the server, then treats each column of each row of the query's output (if any) as an 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.

Sends the current query buffer to the server and stores the query's output into psql variables (see Variables below). 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 is equivalent to \g, except that it forces expanded output mode for this query, as if expanded=on were included in the list of \pset options. See also \x.

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.

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.

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.

When the optional arguments are passed, psql parses them for variable substitution. If name=value is passed, a named variable is created. If only the value is specified, it is saved as a positional variable named PSQL_ARG1, PSQL_ARG2, PSQL_ARG3, etc. These parameter variables are temporary and will be deleted after the script execution. Example:

\i expfile.sql filename=myfile.dmp lines=12

You can mix named and positional parameters, for example:

\i expfile.sql filename=myfile.dmp lines=12 1 100

In the above example, four variables will be available in the expfile.sql script:

If there are other psql variables with the same name, the temporary variable overrides the existing one for the time of script execution. If a script calls another one, both of them have their own sets of temporary variables, and the caller's variables cannot be used by another script (though they are not deleted yet).

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

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.

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.)

Reads the large object with OID loid 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.

Stores the file into a Postgres Pro 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.

Shows a list of all Postgres Pro large objects currently stored in the database, along with any comments provided for them. If + is appended to the command name, each large object is listed with its associated permissions, if any.

Deletes the large object with OID loid from the database.

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

Illustrations of how these different formats look can be seen in Examples, below.

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

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

Resets (clears) the query buffer.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

This command is identical to \echo except that the output will be written to psql's standard error channel, rather than standard output.

Repeatedly execute the current query buffer (as \g does) until interrupted, or the query fails, or the execution count limit (if given) is reached, or the query no longer returns the minimum number of rows. Wait the specified number of seconds (default 2) between executions. For backwards compatibility, seconds can be specified with or without an interval= prefix. 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.

Sets or toggles expanded table formatting mode. As such it is equivalent to \pset expanded.

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

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

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.

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 an 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 55.2.2.1 for more details about how the server handles multi-query strings.)