The following bug has been logged online:
Bug reference: 4927
Logged by: handling numeric literals with dots in psql \copy
command
Email address: filip.rembialkowski@gmail.com
PostgreSQL version: 8.4.0
Operating system: Linux
Description: psql does "spoil" the query before sending it to server
Details:
8.4.0:
filip@filip=# \copy ( select 1.23::numeric as num ) to 'out.csv' with csv
header
ERROR: syntax error at or near "."
LINE 1: COPY ( select 1 . 23::numeric as num ) TO STDOUT CSV HEADER
^
\copy: ERROR: syntax error at or near "."
LINE 1: COPY ( select 1 . 23::numeric as num ) TO STDOUT CSV HEADER
^
query inside parentheses is OK.
same bug reproduced in 8.3.7