Thread: doc for pg_dump

doc for pg_dump

From
"Horace A. Vallas, Jr."
Date:
I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
said to write here if looking for docs and such...

I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version.  What I have found mentioned
about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
and tables on the machine fail to dump).

Trying to move to a 7.0 version
 and simply moving the data dir from the old machine also will not seem
to work on the new...

SOOoooo - I guess I have to write my own pg_dump in order to get the
old data out --- but I don't know exactly what the format of pg_dump
and pg_dumpall might be --- nor which tables will actually be dumped
(for example, I can the the various pg_whatever tables in a base, but
I also see a bunch of tables named "regf12" and I have no idea what
those are or whether I should dump them in my pg_dump program)

Thanks for any pointers and/or docs to help me get this right -- there's
a BUNCH of data that can be lost if I cannot get it out of the old database.

--
Wishing you an "OOBA OOBA" 21st Century!!
Horace                            ...once known as "Kicker" :-)
================================================================
Horace Vallas   hav.Software                 http://www.hav.com/
                P.O. Box 354                         hav@hav.com
                Richmond, Tx. 77406-0354     voice: 281-341-5035
                USA                            fax: 281-341-5087

Thawte Web Of Trust Notary in SW Houston, Tx.
http://www.hav.com/?content=/thawteWOTnotary.htm
================================================================
...drop by and chat if I'm online       http://www.hav.com/chat/
===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ====
What is a Vet? ... He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five
wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite
bravery near the 38th parallel. ...   - Unknown
================================================================

Attachment

Re: doc for pg_dump

From
Peter Eisentraut
Date:
Horace A. Vallas, Jr. writes:

> I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
> said to write here if looking for docs and such...

This is the list for writing docs.

> I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
> pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version.  What I have found mentioned
> about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
> the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
> is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
> and tables on the machine fail to dump).

It would be more helpful to say what the error was rather than saying what
you think it meant.

--
Peter Eisentraut   peter_e@gmx.net   http://funkturm.homeip.net/~peter


Re: doc for pg_dump

From
"Horace A. Vallas, Jr."
Date:
Hi Peter -

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask - but I was looking for
some documentation of the pg_dump/pg_dumpall output format
AND/OR some pointers on how to recognize and correctly handle index
relations when grabbing all tables in a database.

Anyway - the error I get when using pg_dump (or pg_dumpall) is...

   SET TRANSACTION command failed.  Explanation from backend: \
   'ERROR:  parser: parse error at or near "transaction"'.

... which, from what I have found searching the postgresql site,
seems to indicate a mismatch in the version of pg_dump used -
OR funky values in one or more tables.

Either is certainly possible in my case, and I HAVE found some
funky values (even a col type of "_text") in the exercise of
writing a home-grown pg_dump.

I think I have been able to correct such bad cases in the output
I'm producing but I do not know the actual format of the pg_dump
(or pg_dumpall) output and I cannot find any documentation for that
format?

Perhaps none exists?  But I thought this was a good place to
ask??

What I do now is just output a bunch of \connect/CREATE
record pairs and then a bunch of "COPY ... from stdin"
sections.

I'm pretty much for sure that I need to include some handling of the
index relations that exist in the current databases (really really
don't want to think about having to redo all of those by hand 8-], but,
at the moment, I'm recognizing them based on exceptions and simply
skipping them because I'm not sure how to snarf them.

Any pointers to docs or how-to's would be greatly appreciated.

--
Wishing you an "OOBA OOBA" 21st Century!!
Horace                            ...once known as "Kicker" :-)
================================================================
Horace Vallas   hav.Software                 http://www.hav.com/
                P.O. Box 354                         hav@hav.com
                Richmond, Tx. 77406-0354     voice: 281-341-5035
                USA                            fax: 281-341-5087

Thawte Web Of Trust Notary in SW Houston, Tx.
http://www.hav.com/?content=/thawteWOTnotary.htm
================================================================
...drop by and chat if I'm online       http://www.hav.com/chat/
===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ====
What is a Vet? ... He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five
wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite
bravery near the 38th parallel. ...   - Unknown
================================================================


Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>
> Horace A. Vallas, Jr. writes:
>
> > I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
> > said to write here if looking for docs and such...
>
> This is the list for writing docs.
>
> > I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
> > pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version.  What I have found mentioned
> > about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
> > the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
> > is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
> > and tables on the machine fail to dump).
>
> It would be more helpful to say what the error was rather than saying what
> you think it meant.
>
> --
> Peter Eisentraut   peter_e@gmx.net   http://funkturm.homeip.net/~peter

Attachment

Re: doc for pg_dump

From
Tom Lane
Date:
"Horace A. Vallas, Jr." <hav@hav.com> writes:
> Anyway - the error I get when using pg_dump (or pg_dumpall) is...

>    SET TRANSACTION command failed.  Explanation from backend: \
>    'ERROR:  parser: parse error at or near "transaction"'.

It would seem that you are trying to use a 6.5-or-later pg_dump against
a pre-6.5 database server.  Use the version of pg_dump that came with
your server, instead.

            regards, tom lane