Thread: pg_restore -t table concerns

Hey hackers,

I have a few concerns with the usability and documentation for 
pg_restore (note: I'm on 8.3, but I've checked the documentation for 8.4).

In my attempts to restore a table (using -t) from a backup file with -v 
(verbose) selected, I noticed a few things:
  1. If a non-existent table is used, e.g., "-t idontexist" no warnings     are thrown. (It took me a while to figure
outwhy a table was not     being restored, since no warnings were issued.)  2. It appears that the -t (table) option
doesnot allow full table     names, such as "myschema.mytable", however this is not stated in     the documentation for
-ttable. Is it possible to allow -t table     to accept [schema.]table qualifiers? If not, the documentation     should
atleast suggest that "-n namespace" be used to specify the     schema where the table resides.  3. It appears the the
defaultfor -n namespace uses the default_path     variable (typically "public"). However, I'm only guessing this
basedon the behaviour, and it isn't mentioned in the     documentation for -n namespace.
 

Thanks for any input, and apologies if this has already been discussed.

-Mike

Mike Toews <mwtoews@sfu.ca> writes:
> I have a few concerns with the usability and documentation for 
> pg_restore (note: I'm on 8.3, but I've checked the documentation for 8.4).

There's a TODO item about that already...

* Add support for multiple pg_restore -t options, like pg_dump
pg_restore's -t switch is less useful than pg_dump's in quite afew ways: no multiple switches, no pattern matching, no
abilitytopick up indexes and other dependent items for a selectedtable. It should be made to handle this switch just
likepg_dumpdoes.
 
        regards, tom lane

Tom Lane wrote:
> Mike Toews <mwtoews@sfu.ca> writes:
>   
>> I have a few concerns with the usability and documentation for 
>> pg_restore (note: I'm on 8.3, but I've checked the documentation for 8.4).
>>     
>
> There's a TODO item about that already...
>
> * Add support for multiple pg_restore -t options, like pg_dump
>
>     pg_restore's -t switch is less useful than pg_dump's in quite a
>     few ways: no multiple switches, no pattern matching, no ability
>     to pick up indexes and other dependent items for a selected
>     table. It should be made to handle this switch just like pg_dump
>     does.
>
>             
>   

It should also be pointed out that there is a workaround using the 
--use-list option.

cheers

andrew