psql is Awesome

06 Apr, 2025

See https://mydbanotebook.org/conf_talks.html and search for psql is Awesome for the slides and video.

You can get tips at https://psql-tips.org/

Service File

This file is a config file to connect to a service.

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cat ~/.pg_service.conf
[mydb]
host=localhost
# Port is same as default but I could use port=5432
user=test
dbname=laetitia

Then you can connect to psql:

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psql service=mydb
psql (15devel)
Type "htlp" for help.

laetitia=> \conninfo
You are connected to database "laetitia" as user "test" on host "localhost"
(address "::1") at port "5432".

Settings

To get the number of rows for the previous query

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laetitia#= select name from pg_settings limit 10;

          name
--------------------------
allow_in_place_tablespaces
allow_system_tables_mods
application_name
archive_cleanup_command
archive_command
archive_library
archive_mode
archive_timeout
array_nulls
authentication_timeout
(10 rows)

laetitia#= select :ROW_COUNT;
  ?column?
------------
        10
(1 row)

To default keywords to lowercase instead of upper case (ex. select instead of SELECT):

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laetitia#=\set COMP_KEYWORD_CASE lower

If you want to see the details:

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laetitia#=\set ECHO_HIDDEN on
laetitia#=\dt
******QUERY********
...shows the query that PostgreSQL used to get back a list of the tables in the
database.

If you only want the last query result:

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laetitia#=\set SHOW_ALL_RESULTS

Working everyday with psql

To show the query that has too many columns:

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postgres@raw_test_data=#\x
postgres@raw_test_data=# select * FROM "8l90_ts".vw_high limit 2;
+-[ RECORD 1 ]----+---------------------+
| StartDateTime1  | 2019-01-02 05:36:06 |
| ID              | 1                   |
| TransSN         | LF183625UJL70015    |
| TransModel      | 5UJL                |
| TorqueConvNum   | 8Q0L825410700214    |
| StandID         | 51                  |
| TransStatus     | Passed              |
| ExecutionTime   | 938.2469199         |
| StartEPOCH      | 1546407366.000000   |
| UserName        | Jose Luis           |
| Program         | 8L90                |
| Tested1stShift  | t                   |
| Built1stShift   | <NULL>              |
| BuildDate       | 2018-12-28          |
| BuildTimestamp  | <NULL>              |
| Age             | -5                  |
| SentToRootCause | f                   |
| SentToRack      | f                   |
| Accumulator     | f                   |
| ErrorCode       | 0                   |
| ErrorMessage    | <NULL>              |
| idx             | 1                   |
+-[ RECORD 2 ]----+---------------------+
| StartDateTime1  | 2019-01-02 05:59:21 |
| ID              | 2                   |
| TransSN         | LF183615UJL70013    |
| TransModel      | 5UJL                |
| TorqueConvNum   | 8Q0L825410390214    |
| StandID         | 51                  |
| TransStatus     | Passed              |
| ExecutionTime   | 742.6066612         |
| StartEPOCH      | 1546408761.000000   |
| UserName        | Jose Luis           |
| Program         | 8L90                |
| Tested1stShift  | t                   |
| Built1stShift   | <NULL>              |
| BuildDate       | 2018-12-27          |
| BuildTimestamp  | <NULL>              |
| Age             | -6                  |
| SentToRootCause | f                   |
| SentToRack      | f                   |
| Accumulator     | f                   |
| ErrorCode       | 0                   |
| ErrorMessage    | <NULL>              |
| idx             | 2                   |
+-----------------+---------------------+

To repeat the last query:

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laetitia=#\g

To output data to csv and read it back:

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raw_test_data=# \pset format csv
Output format is csv.
raw_test_data=# \o query_out.csv
raw_test_data=# select * from "8l90_ts".vw_high where "StartDateTime1" > '2023-04-01' limit 10;
raw_test_data=# \! cat query_out.csv
StartDateTime1,ID,TransSN,TransModel,TorqueConvNum,StandID,TransStatus,ExecutionTime,StartEPOCH,UserName,Program,Tested1stShift,Built1stShift,BuildDate,BuildTimestamp,Age,SentToRootCause,SentToRack,Accumulator,ErrorCode,ErrorMessage,idx
2023-04-01 03:09:40,10735,LF230877TJL70002,7TJL,8QML300545658484,51,Passed,821.7289483,1680318580.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-28,2023-03-29 18:35:20.67-05,-4,f,t,f,0,,84404
2023-04-01 03:31:13,10736,LF230878THL70011,8THL,8QML300545668484,51,Passed,866.8308236,1680319873.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-28,2023-03-29 17:23:36.593-05,-4,f,t,f,0,,84405
2023-04-01 03:55:19,10737,LF230906TEL70007,6TEL,8QML303343188484,51,Passed,845.9644845,1680321319.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 21:27:57.34-05,-1,f,f,f,0,,84406
2023-04-01 04:17:42,10738,LF230907TGL70001,7TGL,8QML300545458484,51,Passed,938.1772788,1680322662.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 22:57:38.027-05,-1,f,t,f,0,,84407
2023-04-01 04:47:52,10739,LF230726UIL70001,6UIL,8Q0L811203455998,51,Failed,287.9390379,1680324472.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L90,t,f,2023-03-13,2023-04-03 18:49:33.003-05,-19,t,f,f,0,,84408
2023-04-01 04:54:29,10740,LF230726UIL70001,6UIL,8Q0L811203455998,51,Failed,198.7150991,1680324869.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L90,t,f,2023-03-13,2023-04-03 18:49:33.003-05,-19,t,f,f,0,,84409
2023-04-01 05:32:31,10741,LF230906NLL70001,6NLL,8QML228537648483,51,Passed,939.9121306,1680327151.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 18:50:05.603-05,-1,f,t,t,0,,84410
2023-04-01 06:14:31,10742,LF230906TDL70003,6TDL,8QML228537638483,51,Passed,912.0541454,1680329671.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 17:23:20.077-05,-1,f,f,f,0,,84411
2023-04-01 06:36:45,10743,LF230906TDL70002,6TDL,8QML228537698483,51,Failed,298.3721537,1680331005.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 17:06:37.447-05,-1,t,f,f,0,,84412
2023-04-01 06:43:21,10744,LF230906TDL70002,6TDL,8QML228537698483,51,Passed,886.6135021,1680331401.000000,Jose Luis Carmona,8L45,t,f,2023-03-31,2023-03-31 17:06:37.447-05,-1,t,f,f,0,,84413
raw_test_data=#\o

\o without any options will stop saving to file. Keep in mind that \! will enable you to run any CLI command. Note that if you are using Windows, you may have problems running commands since it appears to use cmd.exe instead of PowerShell.

You can use \i can run a query file (ex. \i query.sql).

Getting Deeper

\watch 1 will repeat the query every 1 second. \gdesc will look at the last query provide the type for each column.

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raw_test_data=# select * from "8l90_ts".vw_high where "StartDateTime1" > '2023-04-01' limit 10;
raw_test_data=# \gdesc
     Column      |            Type
-----------------+-----------------------------
 StartDateTime1  | timestamp without time zone
 ID              | bigint
 TransSN         | text
 TransModel      | text
 TorqueConvNum   | text
 StandID         | text
 TransStatus     | text
 ExecutionTime   | text
 StartEPOCH      | numeric
 UserName        | text
 Program         | text
 Tested1stShift  | boolean
 Built1stShift   | boolean
 BuildDate       | date
 BuildTimestamp  | timestamp with time zone
 Age             | integer
 SentToRootCause | boolean
 SentToRack      | boolean
 Accumulator     | boolean
 ErrorCode       | numeric
 ErrorMessage    | text
 idx             | bigint
(22 rows)

\gexec Will play the previous statement (ex. think statements that begin with begin; and may end with rollback;).

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#Echo_hidden #Comp_keyword_case #Show_all_results #Pset #Gdesc #Gexec #Postgresql #Laetitia Avrot #Psql #Service File #Row_count