Thread: 7.1. Overview (The SQL Language)
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/queries-overview.html "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would retrieve all rows and all columns from table1." Maybe it's worth adding: "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would retrieve all rows and all columns (excluding system columns described at Section 5.4) from table1." Regards, G. Sz.
On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 3:38 PM, Grzegorz Szpetkowski <gszpetkowski@gmail.com> wrote: > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/queries-overview.html > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > retrieve all rows and all columns from table1." > > Maybe it's worth adding: > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > retrieve all rows and all columns (excluding system columns described > at Section 5.4) from table1." Since this is a basic SQL tutorial, we don't want to get too far down into the weeds, or people will get confused. The next sentence would need some thought, too: The select list specification <literal>*</literal> means all columns that the table expression happens to provide. Possibly we could add a footnote? -- Robert Haas EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> writes:
> On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 3:38 PM, Grzegorz Szpetkowski
> <gszpetkowski@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Maybe it's worth adding:
>>
>> "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would
>> retrieve all rows and all columns (excluding system columns described
>> at Section 5.4) from table1."
> Since this is a basic SQL tutorial, we don't want to get too far down
> into the weeds, or people will get confused.
I agree. Mentioning system columns at all in this place seems like
too much information.
regards, tom lane
Grzegorz Szpetkowski wrote: > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/queries-overview.html > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > retrieve all rows and all columns from table1." > > Maybe it's worth adding: > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > retrieve all rows and all columns (excluding system columns described > at Section 5.4) from table1." I considered this but it seems like too much detail for the overview section. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> http://momjian.us EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com + It's impossible for everything to be true. +
bruce wrote: > Grzegorz Szpetkowski wrote: > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/queries-overview.html > > > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > > retrieve all rows and all columns from table1." > > > > Maybe it's worth adding: > > > > "Assuming that there is a table called table1, this command would > > retrieve all rows and all columns (excluding system columns described > > at Section 5.4) from table1." > > I considered this but it seems like too much detail for the overview > section. On second thought, I added the "user-defined" modifier to the sentence; applid patch attached. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> http://momjian.us EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com + It's impossible for everything to be true. + commit 90108c9aab51840a0fa7bcb11a2da09204d5b003 Author: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> Date: Sat Sep 10 10:45:55 2011 -0400 Document that only user-defined columns are expanded by SELECT *. diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml new file mode 100644 index 7ca640e..a3dadbe *** a/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml --- b/doc/src/sgml/queries.sgml *************** *** 41,47 **** SELECT * FROM table1; </programlisting> Assuming that there is a table called <literal>table1</literal>, ! this command would retrieve all rows and all columns from <literal>table1</literal>. (The method of retrieval depends on the client application. For example, the <application>psql</application> program will display an ASCII-art --- 41,47 ---- SELECT * FROM table1; </programlisting> Assuming that there is a table called <literal>table1</literal>, ! this command would retrieve all rows and all user-defined columns from <literal>table1</literal>. (The method of retrieval depends on the client application. For example, the <application>psql</application> program will display an ASCII-art