The problem seems to be, as alluded to by others attempting to help me
that the problem only exists when using -c on the same line as -v.
The word "line" here belies further misunderstanding of how shell-executed commands work (the following "two line" command is still just one actual multiple-option command invocation).
psql -v a=1 \
-c 'select :a'
It is best to just say "using -c and -v together".
It is correct that we haven't pointed out, probably because for experienced people it seems obvious, that using -v and -c (or putting \set in -c) is a pointless thing to do. But psql doesn't go about trying to analyze intent here so, yes, you either get useless successful output in response or a confused server.
That said...
psql -v a=1 -c '\echo :a' postgres
1
So it truly is just this specific SQL-related usage that is pointless, not combining -v and -c generally (I'm sure a useful backslash command can be substituted for \echo)
Related Question:
Documentation says:
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.
$psql -h anna -d GT7 -c "\set a '11117' \\ select evt_id from events where sport_mode_evt_id=:a"
Really not caring that you are turning on autocommit...
Anyway, what I believe you managed to accomplish here is to set the named variable "a" to the value <single-quote 11117 single-quote blah-blah-blah equals colon a>
Then proceeded to do nothing with that variable since the -c command was done being evaluated in the "single backslash command" mode.
David J.
