Re: bug in on_error_rollback !? - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

I understand that psql commands are not SQL, but since psql is used to interact with SQL database, then the assumption of case-insensitivity in psql also comes naturally to the user.

\ds and \dS are commands (first token on the line) so it is acceptable that they be case-sensitive. But a command's parameters/arguments should not be case sensitive, unless quoted.

If it is documented that psql commands are case sensitive, then I would like to point to an ambiguity:

I have two tables:
postgres=# create table "t"( a int);
CREATE TABLE
postgres=# create table "T"( b int);
CREATE TABLE

Now, according to your statement, the \d command should report about two different tables in the following first two commands:

postgres=# \d t
       Table "public.t"
 Column |  Type   | Modifiers
--------+---------+-----------
 a      | integer |

postgres=# \d T
       Table "public.t"
 Column |  Type   | Modifiers
--------+---------+-----------
 a      | integer |

postgres=# \d "T"
       Table "public.T"
 Column |  Type   | Modifiers
--------+---------+-----------
 b      | integer |

postgres=#

But, as you can see, I had to d-quote T to get the intended result. IMHO, \d is behaving correctly, and other '\' commands should treat their parameters/arguments likewise.

For the more inquisitive (I know you'll go and try the -E switch to psql), here's what's sent to the backend for the three different \d commands:

postgres=# \d t
********* QUERY **********
SELECT c.oid,
  n.nspname,
  c.relname
FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
     LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
WHERE c.relname ~ '^t$'
      AND pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.oid)
ORDER BY 2, 3;
**************************

postgres=# \d T
********* QUERY **********
SELECT c.oid,
  n.nspname,
  c.relname
FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
     LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
WHERE c.relname ~ '^t$'
      AND pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.oid)
ORDER BY 2, 3;
**************************

postgres=# \d "T"
********* QUERY **********
SELECT c.oid,
  n.nspname,
  c.relname
FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
     LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
WHERE c.relname ~ '^T$'
      AND pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.oid)
ORDER BY 2, 3;
**************************

postgres=#


Regards,

--
gurjeet[.singh]@EnterpriseDB.com
singh.gurjeet@{ gmail | hotmail | yahoo }.com