SQL

Structured Query Language

The code snippets on this page are primarily geared towards the PostgreSQL dialect.

Fundamentals

Primary Key Relationships

Columns

• table_schema: PK schema name
• table_name: PK table name
• constraint_name: PK constraint name
• position: index of column in table (1, 2, …). 2 or higher means key is composite (contains more than one column)
• key_column: PK column name

Rows

• One row represents one primary key column
• Scope of rows: columns of all PK constraints in a database
• Ordered by table schema, table name, column position

select * from (
 -- Main query. Returns all tables
 select kcu.table_schema,
     kcu.table_name,
     tco.constraint_name,
     kcu.ordinal_position as position,
     kcu.column_name as key_column
 from information_schema.table_constraints tco
 join information_schema.key_column_usage kcu 
   on kcu.constraint_name = tco.constraint_name
   and kcu.constraint_schema = tco.constraint_schema
   and kcu.constraint_name = tco.constraint_name
 where tco.constraint_type = 'PRIMARY KEY'
 order by kcu.table_schema,
    kcu.table_name,
    position
) main
where table_name = 'd_location'

Foreign Key Relationships

Columns

• foreign_table: foreign table schema and name
• rel: relationship symbol implicating direction
• primary_table: primary (rerefenced) table schema and name
• fk_columns: list of FK column names, separated with “,”
• constraint_name: foreign key constraint name

Rows

• One row represents one foreign key.
• If foreign key consists of multiple columns (composite key) it is still represented as one row.
• Scope of rows: all foreign keys in a database.
• Ordered by foreign table schema name and table name.

Ordering Tables by FK

drop table if exists dependencies cascade;
create temporary table dependencies as
select 
  tc.table_name as child,
  tu.table_name as parent
from 
  information_schema.table_constraints as tc
  inner join information_schema.constraint_table_usage as tu
    on tu.constraint_name = tc.constraint_name
where 
  tc.constraint_type = 'FOREIGN KEY'
  and tc.table_name <> tu.table_name;

with recursive dep_depth as (
select
  dep.child, dep.parent, 1 as lvl
from
  dependencies as dep
union all
select
  dep.child, dep.parent, dd.lvl + 1 as lvl
from
  dep_depth as dd
  inner join dependencies as dep on dep.parent = dd.child
)
select
  table_name, table_order
from (
  select
    dd.parent as table_name, max(lvl) as table_order
  from
    dep_depth as dd
  group by
    table_name
  union
  select
    dd.child as table_name, max(lvl) + 1 as level
  from
    dep_depth as dd
    left join dependencies as dp on dp.parent = dd.child
  where
    dp.parent is null
  group by dd.child
) as all_levels
order by table_order;

Return FK relationships for all tables

select * from (
 -- Main query. Returns FK relationships for all tables
 select 
   kcu.table_schema as table_schema,
   kcu.table_name as foreign_table,
     '>-' as relationship,
     rel_tco.table_name as primary_table,
     string_agg(kcu.column_name, ', ') as fk_columns,
     kcu.constraint_name
 from information_schema.table_constraints tco
 join information_schema.key_column_usage kcu
     on tco.constraint_schema = kcu.constraint_schema
     and tco.constraint_name = kcu.constraint_name
 join information_schema.referential_constraints rco
     on tco.constraint_schema = rco.constraint_schema
     and tco.constraint_name = rco.constraint_name
 join information_schema.table_constraints rel_tco
     on rco.unique_constraint_schema = rel_tco.constraint_schema
     and rco.unique_constraint_name = rel_tco.constraint_name
 where tco.constraint_type = 'FOREIGN KEY'
 group by kcu.table_schema,
    kcu.table_name,
    rel_tco.table_name,
    rel_tco.table_schema,
    kcu.constraint_name
 order by kcu.table_schema,
    kcu.table_name
) main
where primary_table = 'd_location'

Most Table Relationships

List tables with most relationships.

select * from
(select relations.table_name as table_name, -- schema name and table name
       count(relations.table_name) as relationships, -- number of table relationships
       count(relations.referenced_tables) as foreign_keys, -- number of foreign keys in a table
       count(relations.referencing_tables) as references, -- number of foreign keys that are referring to this table
       count(distinct related_table) as related_tables, -- number of related tables
       count(distinct relations.referenced_tables) as referenced_tables, -- number of different tables referenced with FKs (multiple FKs can refer to one table, so number of FKs might be different than number of referenced tables)
       count(distinct relations.referencing_tables) as referencing_tables -- number of different tables that are referring to this table (similar to referenced_tables)
from(
     select pk_tco.table_schema || '.' || pk_tco.table_name as table_name,
            fk_tco.table_schema || '.' || fk_tco.table_name as related_table,
            fk_tco.table_name as referencing_tables,
            null::varchar(100) as referenced_tables
     from information_schema.referential_constraints rco
     join information_schema.table_constraints fk_tco
          on rco.constraint_name = fk_tco.constraint_name
          and rco.constraint_schema = fk_tco.table_schema
     join information_schema.table_constraints pk_tco
          on rco.unique_constraint_name = pk_tco.constraint_name
          and rco.unique_constraint_schema = pk_tco.table_schema
    union all
    select fk_tco.table_schema || '.' || fk_tco.table_name as table_name,
           pk_tco.table_schema || '.' || pk_tco.table_name as related_table,
           null as referencing_tables,
           pk_tco.table_name as referenced_tables
    from information_schema.referential_constraints rco
    join information_schema.table_constraints fk_tco 
         on rco.constraint_name = fk_tco.constraint_name
         and rco.constraint_schema = fk_tco.table_schema
    join information_schema.table_constraints pk_tco
         on rco.unique_constraint_name = pk_tco.constraint_name
         and rco.unique_constraint_schema = pk_tco.table_schema
) relations
group by table_name
order by relationships asc) results

where substring(table_name, 5, 2) = 'd_'; -- substring(string, start_position, length)

List column definitions and order between a set of tables

with recursive
main_tables (
    table_schema,
    table_name
) as (
values
    ('gsidb', 'd_document'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_docfile'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_study'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_location'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_studylocation'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_sampcoll'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_sampmain'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_sampsplit'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_labsample'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_labpkg'),
    ('gsidb', 'd_labresult')
),
exclude_columns (column_name) as (
    values
    ('gid'),
    ('studyloc_alias'),
    ('sampcoll_alias'),
    ('sample_alias'),
    ('analresult_alias'),
    ('rev_user'),
    ('rev_time')
),
dependencies as (
    select
        tc.table_name as child,
        tu.table_name as parent
    from
        information_schema.table_constraints as tc
        inner join information_schema.constraint_table_usage as tu
            on tu.constraint_name = tc.constraint_name
    where
        tc.constraint_type = 'FOREIGN KEY'
        and tc.table_name <> tu.table_name
),
dep_depth as (
    select
        dep.child, dep.parent, 1 as lvl
    from
        dependencies as dep
    union all
    select
        dep.child, dep.parent, dd.lvl + 1 as lvl
    from
        dep_depth as dd
        inner join dependencies as dep on dep.parent = dd.child
    ),
table_order as (
    select
        all_levels.table_name, all_levels.table_order
    from (
        select
            dd.parent as table_name, max(lvl) as table_order
        from
            dep_depth as dd
        group by
            table_name
        union
        select
            dd.child as table_name, max(lvl) + 1 as level
        from
            dep_depth as dd
            left join dependencies as dp on dp.parent = dd.child
        where
            dp.parent is null
        group by dd.child
    ) as all_levels
    order by table_order
),
cols as (
    select
        cc.table_name,
        -- Some column names need changing because they exist in multiple tables
        case
            when cc.column_name in ('comments', 'description', 'fraction')
            then replace(cc.table_name, 'd_', '') || '_' || cc.column_name
            else cc.column_name end as column_name,
        data_type,
        character_maximum_length,
        is_nullable,
        table_order,
        ordinal_position,
        row_number() over () as col_order
    from
        information_schema.columns as cc
        inner join table_order on table_order.table_name=cc.table_name
        inner join main_tables on 
            main_tables.table_schema=cc.table_schema 
            and main_tables.table_name=cc.table_name
        left join exclude_columns on cc.column_name=exclude_columns.column_name
    where exclude_columns.column_name is null
    order by table_order.table_order, table_order.table_name, cc.ordinal_position
)
select distinct
    cols.column_name,
    cols.column_name
        || ' '
        || data_type
        || case
                when character_maximum_length is null
                then ''
                else '(' || character_maximum_length || ')'
                end
     -- || case when not is_nullable::boolean then ' NOT NULL' else '' end as col_def,
        as col_def,
    cols.table_order, cols.table_name, cols.ordinal_position, row_number() over () as col_order
from cols
order by cols.table_order, cols.table_name, cols.ordinal_position

Common Functions

• LENGTH(string): Returns the length of the provided string
• POSITION(string IN substring): Returns the position of the substring within the specified string.
• CAST(expression AS datatype): Converts an expression into the specified data type.
• `NOW: Returns the current date, including time.
• CEIL(input_val): Returns the smallest integer greater than the provided number.
• FLOOR(input_val): Returns the largest integer less than the provided number.
• ROUND(input_val, [round_to]): Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
• TRUNC(input_value, num_decimals): Truncates a number to a number of decimals.
• REPLACE(whole_string, string_to_replace, replacement_string): Replaces one string inside the whole string with another string.
• SUBSTRING(string, [start_pos], [length]): Returns part of a value, based on a position and length.

Add Role

1create user <username> with password 'password';
grant connect on database <db_name> to <username>;
grant usage on schema <schema_name> to <username>;
grant select on all tables in schema <schema_name> to <username>;
alter default privileges in schema <schema_name> grant select on tables to <username>;

2grant create on database <db_name> to <username>;
3grant insert on database <db_name> to <username>;
4grant update on database <db_name> to <username>;
5grant update on database <db_name> to <username>;

1

Create a read-only user.

2

Allow user to create database objects.

3

Allow user to insert rows to any schema and table.

4

Allow user to update rows in any schema and table.

5

Allow user to delete rows in any schema and table.

Create read only user - shorthand

Once already creating a specific user role, you can user the `pg_read_all_data` to grant read only access to all tables.

GRANT pg_read_all_data TO username;

Finding Temporary Objects

SELECT
 n.nspname as SchemaName,
 c.relname as RelationName,
 CASE c.relkind
  WHEN 'r' THEN 'table'
  WHEN 'v' THEN 'view'
  WHEN 'i' THEN 'index'
  WHEN 'S' THEN 'sequence'
  WHEN 's' THEN 'special'
  END as RelationType,
 pg_catalog.pg_get_userbyid(c.relowner) as RelationOwner,             
 pg_size_pretty(pg_relation_size(n.nspname ||'.'|| c.relname)) as RelationSize
FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace AS n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
 WHERE  c.relkind IN ('r','s') 
 AND  (n.nspname !~ '^pg_toast' and nspname like 'pg_temp%')
ORDER BY pg_relation_size(n.nspname ||'.'|| c.relname) DESC;

SQL

Terminate backends of a particular user (“test”)

This query will kill every backend user “test” is connected to.

WITH pids AS (
  SELECT pid
  FROM pg_stat_activity
  WHERE usename='test'
)

SELECT pg_terminate_backend(pid)
FROM pids;

Cancel every running SQL commands from a particular user (“test”)

This query will cancel every running query issued by the particular user “test”.

WITH pids AS ( 
  SELECT pid 
  FROM pg_stat_activity 
  WHERE username='test' 
) 
SELECT pg_cancel_backend(pid) 
FROM pids;

List tables in database

SELECT table_schema, table_name 
FROM information_schema.tables 
ORDER BY table_schema,table_name;

List columns in table

SELECT column_name
FROM   information_schema.columns
WHERE  table_schema = 'schema'
AND    table_name = 'table';

Create a read-only user

grant connect on database db_name to user;
grant usage on schema schema_name to user;
grant select on all tables in schema schema_name to user;
alter default privileges in schema schema_name grant select on tables to user;

Create DB

create database <new_db_name> owner <user_or_group> template <name_of_db_to_use_as_template>;
-- show search_path;
set search_path to <default_schema>,public;
create extension if not exists postgis;
create extension if not exists dblink;

-- Database Creation
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
create database <new_db_name> owner <user_or_group> template <name_of_db_to_use_as_template>;
-- show search_path;
set search_path to gsidb, public;

grant connect, temporary on database <new_db_name> to public;
grant all on database <new_db_name> to <user>;
grant all on database <new_db_name> to <group>;

create extension if not exists postgis;
create extension if not exists dblink;

create schema staging;

-- Add a unique constraint to e_analyte.full_name and e_analyte.cas_rn so that
-- no full name or cas_rn can be used for more than one analyte
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
alter table e_analyte
  add constraint uc_fullname unique(full_name),
  add constraint uc_casrn unique(cas_rn);

DBLink

select
  a.*, b.*
from
  table1 as a
  left join (
    select * from dblink(
      'dbname=<database>',
      'select col1, col2, col3 from <table>'
    ) as d (
      col1 text, col2 text, col3 text
    )
  ) as b
  on a.col1 = b.col2

Partitioning

select * from (
    select *, row_number() over(
        partition by
            col1, col2, col3
        order by col1 desc
    ) rowid
    from sometable
) someid
where rowid > 1;

Current Database

select * from pg_catalog.current_database()

Current user/role

select * from current_role
select * from current_user

Process ID

select * from pg_catalog.pg_backend_pid()

List functions/defs/args

select 
 pg_get_userbyid(p.proowner) as owner,
 n.nspname as function_schema,
 p.proname as function_name,
 l.lanname as function_language,
 case when l.lanname = 'internal' then p.prosrc
  else pg_get_functiondef(p.oid)
  end as definition,
 pg_get_function_arguments(p.oid) as function_arguments,
 t.typname as return_type
from pg_proc p
 left join pg_namespace n on p.pronamespace = n.oid
 left join pg_language l on p.prolang = l.oid
 left join pg_type t on t.oid = p.prorettype 
where n.nspname not in ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema')
and n.nspname = 'gsidb'
order by function_schema, function_name;

Whose logged in

select * from pg_stat_activity
where usename != '' and usename != 'postgres'
order by usename, pid

Aggregate Functions

pg_aggregate catalog

-- pg_proc contains data for aggregate functions as well as plain functions
select * from pg_proc
-- pg_aggregate is an extension of pg_proc.
select * from pg_aggregate

List users

SELECT rolname FROM pg_roles;

Update From

UPDATE tablename
SET columnname = someothervalue
FROM ...
WHERE ...

Materialized View

Reference

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW view_name
AS
query
WITH [NO] DATA;

When you refresh data for a materialized view, PostgreSQL locks the entire table therefore you cannot query data against it. To avoid this, you can use the CONCURRENTLY option.

With CONCURRENTLY option, PostgreSQL creates a temporary updated version of the materialized view, compares two versions, and performs INSERT and UPDATE only the differences.

REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW CONCURRENTLY view_name;

Constants

WITH myconstants (analyte_search) as (
   values ('%Hexachlorocyclopentadiene%')
)

SELECT *
FROM e_analyte, myconstants
WHERE analyte ilike analyte_search
   OR full_name ilike analyte_search
   OR aliases ilike analyte_search;

Sequential Keys

seq_key bigint NOT NULL DEFAULT nextval('seq_key'::regclass)

ALTER SEQUENCE seq_key RESTART WITH 3;

Cross-Database Search

These could be refined further by creating a function.

with
const (param) as (
    values ('%solid%')
),
dbrows as (
   select analyte, full_name, chem_class, aliases, cas_rn, current_database() as db from e_analyte
  union
    select * from dblink(
        'dbname=database1',
        'select analyte, full_name, chem_class, aliases, cas_rn, current_database() as db from e_analyte'
        ) as d (analyte text, full_name text, chem_class text, aliases text, cas_rn text, db text)
  union
    select * from dblink(
        'dbname=database2',
        'select analyte, full_name, chem_class, aliases, cas_rn, current_database() as db from e_analyte'
        ) as d (analyte text, full_name text, chem_class text, aliases text, cas_rn text, db text)
  union
    select * from dblink(
     'dbname=database3',
     'select analyte, full_name, chem_class, aliases, cas_rn, current_database() as db from e_analyte'
 ) as d (analyte text, full_name text, chem_class text, aliases text, cas_rn text, db text)
)
select 
 analyte, full_name, chem_class, cas_rn, aliases, 
 count(*) as num_instances, string_agg(db, '; ') as db
from dbrows, const
where analyte ilike param
   or full_name ilike param
   or aliases ilike param
group by analyte, full_name, chem_class, cas_rn, aliases
order by chem_class, analyte;

Logging

Log slow queries by setting log_min_duration_statement

ALTER database postgres SET log_min_duration_statement = '250ms';

Control which statement types get logged

Control the types of statements that are logged for your database.

ALTER DATABASE postgres SET log_statement = 'all';

Valid values include all, ddl, none, mod

Log when waiting on a lock

Log when database is waiting on a lock.

ALTER DATABASE postgres SET log_lock_waits = 'on';

Performance

Use statement timeouts to control runaway queries

Setting a statement timeout prevents queries from running longer than the specified time. You can set a statement timeout on the database, user, or session level. We recommend you set a global timeout on Postgres and then override that one specific users or sessions that need a longer allowed time to run.

ALTER DATABASE mydatabase SET statement_timeout = '60s';

Use pg_stat_statements to find the queries and processes that use the most resources

SELECT
 total_exec_time,
 mean_exec_time as avg_ms,
 calls,
 query
FROM pg_stat_statements
ORDER BY mean_exec_time DESC
LIMIT 10;

Monitor connections in Postgres

This query will provide the number of connection based on type.

SELECT count(*),
    state
FROM pg_stat_activity
GROUP BY state;

If you see idle connections is above 20, it is recommended to explore using PgBouncer.

Query size of specific table

Will give you the size of the specific relation you pass in.

SELECT pg_relation_size('table_name');

-- For prettier formatting you can wrap with:

SELECT pg_size_pretty(pg_relation_size('table_name'));

Query all relation sizes

Will report on all table sizes in descending order

SELECT relname AS relation,
       pg_size_pretty (
         pg_total_relation_size (C .oid)
       ) AS total_size
FROM pg_class C
LEFT JOIN pg_namespace N ON (N.oid = C .relnamespace)
WHERE nspname NOT IN (
        'pg_catalog',
        'information_schema'
      )
  AND C .relkind <> 'i'
  AND nspname !~ '^pg_toast'
  ORDER BY pg_total_relation_size (C .oid) DESC

Check for unused indexes

Will return the unused indexes in descending order of size. Keep in mind you want to also check replicas before dropping indexes.

SELECT schemaname || '.' || relname AS table,
       indexrelname AS index,
       pg_size_pretty(pg_relation_size(i.indexrelid)) AS "index size",
       idx_scan as "index scans"
FROM pg_stat_user_indexes ui
JOIN pg_index i ON ui.indexrelid = i.indexrelid
WHERE NOT indisunique
  AND idx_scan < 50
  AND pg_relation_size(relid) > 5 * 8192
ORDER BY 
  pg_relation_size(i.indexrelid) / nullif(idx_scan, 0) DESC NULLS FIRST,
  pg_relation_size(i.indexrelid) DESC;

Get approximate counts for a table

Will return the approximate count for a table based on PostgreSQL internal statistics. Useful for large tables where performing a `SELECT count(*)` is costly on performance.

SELECT reltuples::numeric as count
FROM pg_class
WHERE relname='table_name';

Non-blocking index creation

Adding `CONCURRENTLY` during index creation, while not permitted in a transaction, will not hold a lock on the table while creating your index.

CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY foobar ON foo (bar);

Replace nulls with other value

Coalesce will use the value and if the value is null display your specified string.

SELECT id, 
       coalesce(ip, 'no IP') 
FROM logs;

You can supply two columns as well prior to your replacement value and the function will use first not null value.

Import Schema with Mapping a Foreign Data Wrapper (FDW)

Import foreign schema creates foreign tables representing those from the foreign server.

IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA "public";

You can IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA when mapping a foreign data wrapper to save you from building a new one

Generate data with generate_series

Generates values from the start to the end values supplied based on the interval. Values can be numbers or timestamps. Can be used in a FROM or JOIN clause or CTE. Commonly used when building charts and reports that require all dates to be filled.

SELECT * FROM
generate_series(now() - '3 month'::interval, now(), '1 day');

Round dates with date_trunc

Will truncate the date to the specified level of precision. Some example precision levels include: month, week, day, hour, minute.

SELECT date_trunc('day', now());

Perform time math with intervals

You can add or subtract specific amounts of time of a timestamp by casting the value you want as an interval.

SELECT now() - '1 month'::interval;

Make your session rest a bit

This function will make your session sleep for 2.5 seconds. Useful in any testing tool executing a script in a given loop where you want to pause a bit between iterations, as an example.

select pg_sleep(2.5);

PL/pgSQL

Wipe Schema Tables

-- DROP FUNCTION IF EXISTS gsidb.wipe_staging();
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION gsidb.wipe_staging()
RETURNS TABLE(staging_schema text, deleted_tables integer) 
LANGUAGE 'plpgsql'
COST 100
VOLATILE PARALLEL UNSAFE
ROWS 1000
AS $BODY$
#variable_conflict use_column
DECLARE
  staging_schema TEXT;
  table_name TEXT;
  deleted_tables INTEGER := 0;
BEGIN
staging_schema = (select 'stg_' || user)::text;
FOR table_name IN (
    SELECT table_name 
    FROM information_schema.tables
    WHERE table_schema = staging_schema
)
LOOP
EXECUTE format('DROP TABLE %I.%I CASCADE', staging_schema, table_name );
deleted_tables := deleted_tables + 1;
END LOOP;
RETURN query select staging_schema, deleted_tables;
END;
$BODY$;
ALTER FUNCTION gsidb.wipe_staging()
    OWNER TO envdb_dm;

psql

Cheat sheet

import pandas as pd

f = "../../../static/development/commands.xlsx"

t4 = pd.read_excel(f, sheet_name="psql-commands")
t4.to_html(index=False)

Command	Detail
sudo -s postgres psql	Connect to PostgreSQL as admin
postgres=# \l	List all databases
postgres=# \c postgres	Connect to the database named postgres
postgres=# \q	Disconnect
postgres=# -d mydb	Connecting to database
postgres=# -U john mydb	Connecting as a specific user
postgres=# -h localhost -p 5432 mydb	Connecting to a host/port
postgres=# -U admin -h 192.168.1.5 -p 2506 -d mydb	Connect remote PostgreSQL
postgres=# -W mydb	Force password
postgres=# -c '\c postgres' -c '\dt'	Execute a SQL query or command
postgres=# -c “\l+” -H postgres > database.html	Generate HTML report
postgres=# -l	List all databases
postgres=# \dt	Show all tables in a database
postgres=# mydb -f file.sql	Execute commands from a file
postgres=# -V	Print the psql version
postgres=# \df <schema>	List functions in schema
postgres=# \du	Show current user permission
postgres=# \d <table>	Describe table
postgres=# \d+ <table>	Describe table with details
postgres=# \di	List indexes
postgres=# \du	List roles
postgres=# \ds	List sequences
postgres=# \copy …	Import/export table
postgres=# \echo [string]	Print string
postgres=# \i [file]	Execute file
postgres=# \o [file]	Export all results to file

Export table to CSV

• \copy table TO '<path>' CSV
• \copy table(col1,col1) TO '<path>' CSV
• \copy (SELECT...) TO '<path>' CSV

Backup

Use pg_dumpall to backup all databases

pg_dumpall -U postgres > all.sql

Use pg_dump to backup a database

pg_dump -d mydb -f mydb_backup.sql

• -a   Dump only the data, not the schema
• -s   Dump only the schema, no data
• -c   Drop database before recreating
• -C   Create database before restoring
• -t   Dump the named table(s) only
• -F   Format (c: custom, d: directory, t: tar)

Use pg_dump -? to get the full list of options

Restore

psql -U user mydb < mydb_backup.sql

pg_restore

pg_restore -d mydb mydb_backup.sql -c

• -U Specify a database user
• -c Drop database before recreating
• -C Create database before restoring
• -e Exit if an error has encountered
• -F Format (c: custom, d: directory, t: tar, p: plain text sql(default))

Use pg_restore -? to get the full list of options

Automatically log query time in psql

Will automatically print the time it took to run a query from within psql. *Of note this is the round trip time not simply query execution time.*

\timing

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting

Autoformat query results in psql

Will automatically reorganize the query output based on your terminal window for better readability.

\x auto

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting

Edit your psql queries in editor of your choice

Will automatically open your last run query in your default $EDITOR. When you save and close it will execute that query.

\e

Set a value for nulls

Will render the nulls as whatever character you specify. Handy for easier parsing of nulls vs. blank text.

\pset null 👻

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting

Save your query history per database locally

Will automatically save a history file for each **DBNAME**.

\set HISTFILE ~/.psql_history- :DBNAME

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting

Show queries issued by internal psql commands

Add “-E” (or –echo-hidden) option to psql in the command line. This option will display queries that internal psql commands generate (like “\dt mytable”). This is a cool way to learn more about system catalogs, or reuse queries issued by psql in your own tool.

psql -E

Get data back, and only the data

Add “-qtA” options to psql in the command line. Those options will have psql run in quiet mode (“-q”), return tuples only (“-t”) in an unaligned fashion (“-A”). Combined with “-c” option to send a single query, it can be useful for your scripts if you want the data and only that back from Postgres. Returns one line per row.

psql -qtA

Get results as an HTML table

Add “-qtH” options to psql in the command line. Those options will have psql run in quiet mode (“-q”), return tuples only (“-t”) in an HTML table (“-H”). Combined with “-c” option to send a single query, can be a fast way to embed the result of a query in an HTML page.

psql -qtH

Clear your psql screen

Will clear your screen in current psql session

\! clear

Continually run a query with watch

Will automatically run the last query every 2 seconds and display the output. You can also specify the query that will run after watch as well.

\watch

Rollback to previous statement on error when in interactive mode

When you encounter an error when in interactive mode this will automatically rollback to just before the previous command, allowing you to continue working as you would expect.

\set ON_ERROR_ROLLBACK interactive

Export a CSV from directly in psql

When providing the --csv value with a query, this command will run the specific query and return CSV to STDOUT.

psql <connection-string> --csv -c 'select * from test;'

Run a query from a file in psql

Will execute the specified file when inside psql.

\i filename

Provide clean border within psql

Will give you a border around the output of your queries when in psql

\pset border 2

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting

Set linestyle to unicode

Changes the linestyle to unicode, which when combined with above tip leads to much cleaner formatting

\pset linestyle unicode

You can save this in your .psqlrc to be a default setting