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Thread: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
"Osborn, Marty"
Date:

I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL file.

 

I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”, --field-separator=’\t’, etc, etc.

 

Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?

Any help?

 

Marty

, The Security Division of EMC

Information Security Services Group

 

CISSP

Marty Osborn, CISSP, RSA CSP
Principal Practice Consultant 214-676-9571
marty.osborn@rsasecurity.com

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Re: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
Adrian Klaver
Date:
On 04/07/2015 01:39 PM, Osborn, Marty wrote:
> I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL file.

More information is needed.

What is in the SQL file?

What do you want it to do when you load it?

>
> I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”, --field-separator=’\t’,
> etc, etc.
>
> Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?
>
> Any help?
>
> Marty
>


-- 
Adrian Klaver
adrian.klaver@aklaver.com

Re: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
"David G. Johnston"
Date:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Osborn, Marty <marty.osborn@rsa.com> wrote:

I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL file.

 

I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”, --field-separator=’\t’, etc, etc.

 

Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?

Any help?



​More context would helpful but keep in mind that within SQL the expression:

'\t'  is a literal back-slash and a literal "t"

E'\t' is escaped to mean <tab>​

Dealing with the shell complicates the issue so if you can avoid it I suggest that do avoid it.

David J.

Re: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
"David G. Johnston"
Date:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 2:48 PM, David G. Johnston <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Osborn, Marty <marty.osborn@rsa.com> wrote:

I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL file.

 

I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”, --field-separator=’\t’, etc, etc.

 

Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?

Any help?



​More context would helpful but keep in mind that within SQL the expression:

'\t'  is a literal back-slash and a literal "t"

E'\t' is escaped to mean <tab>​

Dealing with the shell complicates the issue so if you can avoid it I suggest that do avoid it.


​I should probably have tried my own advice first, and I still haven't, but the documentation states:

"​"""
fieldsep
Specifies the field separator to be used in unaligned output format. That way one can create, for example, tab- or comma-separated output, which other programs might prefer. To set a tab as field separator, type \pset fieldsep '\t'. The default field separator is '|' (a vertical bar).
​"""​

​So I'm not sure if this report is user-error or documentation error.  A self-contained test case would help...

David J.​

Re: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
"David G. Johnston"
Date:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 2:52 PM, David G. Johnston <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 2:48 PM, David G. Johnston <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Osborn, Marty <marty.osborn@rsa.com> wrote:

I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL file.

 

I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”, --field-separator=’\t’, etc, etc.

 

Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?

Any help?



​More context would helpful but keep in mind that within SQL the expression:

'\t'  is a literal back-slash and a literal "t"

E'\t' is escaped to mean <tab>​

Dealing with the shell complicates the issue so if you can avoid it I suggest that do avoid it.


​I should probably have tried my own advice first, and I still haven't, but the documentation states:

"​"""
fieldsep
Specifies the field separator to be used in unaligned output format. That way one can create, for example, tab- or comma-separated output, which other programs might prefer. To set a tab as field separator, type \pset fieldsep '\t'. The default field separator is '|' (a vertical bar).
​"""​

​So I'm not sure if this report is user-error or documentation error.  A self-contained test case would help...

David J.​


​sorry...

Two more random thoughts:

Do you maybe need to altering COPY behavior:

​http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/interactive/sql-copy.html

and, if you are indeed focused on "psql OUTPUT" are you making sure you are specifying the "unaligned" output format?

David J.


Re: Setting the Field Separator in PSQL

From
Adrian Klaver
Date:
On 04/07/2015 02:52 PM, David G. Johnston wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 2:48 PM, David G. Johnston
> <david.g.johnston@gmail.com <mailto:david.g.johnston@gmail.com>>wrote:
>
>     On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Osborn, Marty <marty.osborn@rsa.com
>     <mailto:marty.osborn@rsa.com>>wrote:
>
>         I need to change the field separator to a tab in an input SQL
>         file.____
>
>         __ __
>
>         I’ve tried every combination of tab, ‘\t’, “\t”,
>         --field-separator=’\t’, etc, etc.____
>
>         __ __
>
>         Should it be in the command line or in the SQL file?____
>
>         ____
>
>         Any help?____
>
>
>
>     ​More context would helpful but keep in mind that within SQL the
>     expression:
>
>     '\t'  is a literal back-slash and a literal "t"
>
>     E'\t' is escaped to mean <tab>​
>
>     Dealing with the shell complicates the issue so if you can avoid it
>     I suggest that do avoid it.
>
>
> ​I should probably have tried my own advice first, and I still haven't,
> but the documentation states:
>
> "​"""
> fieldsep
> Specifies the field separator to be used in unaligned output format.
> That way one can create, for example, tab- or comma-separated output,
> which other programs might prefer. To set a tab as field separator, type
> \pset fieldsep '\t'. The default field separator is '|' (a vertical bar).
> ​"""​
>
> ​So I'm not sure if this report is user-error or documentation error.  A
> self-contained test case would help...

Well the OP was talking about an input file, so I my suspicion they are 
looking for something like \copy.

>
> David J.​
>


-- 
Adrian Klaver
adrian.klaver@aklaver.com