QUERIES AND COMMANDS THAT CAN BE USED IN PSQL

QUERIES AND COMMANDS THAT CAN BE USED IN PSQL

Postgresql provides attractive way to check all the queries and keywords that can be used with a backslash ‘\’

Below command can be used to check all the backslash commands in psql utility

postgres=# \?
General
  \copyright             show PostgreSQL usage and distribution terms
  \crosstabview [COLUMNS] execute query and display results in crosstab
  \errverbose            show most recent error message at maximum verbosity
  \g [FILE] or ;         execute query (and send results to file or |pipe)
  \gexec                 execute query, then execute each value in its result
  \gset [PREFIX]         execute query and store results in psql variables
  \gx [FILE]             as \g, but forces expanded output mode
  \q                     quit psql
  \watch [SEC]           execute query every SEC seconds

Help
  \? [commands]          show help on backslash commands
  \? options             show help on psql command-line options
  \? variables           show help on special variables
  \h [NAME]              help on syntax of SQL commands, * for all commands

Query Buffer
  \e [FILE] [LINE]       edit the query buffer (or file) with external editor
  \ef [FUNCNAME [LINE]]  edit function definition with external editor
  \ev [VIEWNAME [LINE]]  edit view definition with external editor
  \p                     show the contents of the query buffer
  \r                     reset (clear) the query buffer
  \s [FILE]              display history or save it to file
  \w FILE                write query buffer to file

Input/Output
  \copy ...              perform SQL COPY with data stream to the client host
  \echo [STRING]         write string to standard output
  \i FILE                execute commands from file
  \ir FILE               as \i, but relative to location of current script
  \o [FILE]              send all query results to file or |pipe
  \qecho [STRING]        write string to query output stream (see \o)

Conditional
  \if EXPR               begin conditional block
  \elif EXPR             alternative within current conditional block
  \else                  final alternative within current conditional block
  \endif                 end conditional block

Informational
  (options: S = show system objects, + = additional detail)
  \d[S+]                 list tables, views, and sequences
  \d[S+]  NAME           describe table, view, sequence, or index
  \da[S]  [PATTERN]      list aggregates
  \dA[+]  [PATTERN]      list access methods
  \db[+]  [PATTERN]      list tablespaces
  \dc[S+] [PATTERN]      list conversions
  \dC[+]  [PATTERN]      list casts
  \dd[S]  [PATTERN]      show object descriptions not displayed elsewhere
  \dD[S+] [PATTERN]      list domains
  \ddp    [PATTERN]      list default privileges
  \dE[S+] [PATTERN]      list foreign tables
  \det[+] [PATTERN]      list foreign tables
  \des[+] [PATTERN]      list foreign servers
  \deu[+] [PATTERN]      list user mappings
  \dew[+] [PATTERN]      list foreign-data wrappers
  \df[antw][S+] [PATRN]  list [only agg/normal/trigger/window] functions
  \dF[+]  [PATTERN]      list text search configurations
  \dFd[+] [PATTERN]      list text search dictionaries
  \dFp[+] [PATTERN]      list text search parsers
  \dFt[+] [PATTERN]      list text search templates
  \dg[S+] [PATTERN]      list roles
  \di[S+] [PATTERN]      list indexes
  \dl                    list large objects, same as \lo_list
  \dL[S+] [PATTERN]      list procedural languages
  \dm[S+] [PATTERN]      list materialized views
  \dn[S+] [PATTERN]      list schemas
  \do[S+] [PATTERN]      list operators
  \dO[S+] [PATTERN]      list collations
  \dp     [PATTERN]      list table, view, and sequence access privileges
  \drds [PATRN1 [PATRN2]] list per-database role settings
  \dRp[+] [PATTERN]      list replication publications
  \dRs[+] [PATTERN]      list replication subscriptions
  \ds[S+] [PATTERN]      list sequences
  \dt[S+] [PATTERN]      list tables
  \dT[S+] [PATTERN]      list data types
  \du[S+] [PATTERN]      list roles
  \dv[S+] [PATTERN]      list views
  \dx[+]  [PATTERN]      list extensions
  \dy[+]  [PATTERN]      list event triggers
  \l[+]   [PATTERN]      list databases
  \sf[+]  FUNCNAME       show a function's definition
  \sv[+]  VIEWNAME       show a view's definition
  \z      [PATTERN]      same as \dp

Formatting
  \a                     toggle between unaligned and aligned output mode
  \C [STRING]            set table title, or unset if none
  \f [STRING]            show or set field separator for unaligned query output
  \H                     toggle HTML output mode (currently off)
  \pset [NAME [VALUE]]   set table output option
                         (NAME := {border|columns|expanded|fieldsep|fieldsep_zero|
                         footer|format|linestyle|null|numericlocale|pager|
                         pager_min_lines|recordsep|recordsep_zero|tableattr|title|
                         tuples_only|unicode_border_linestyle|
                         unicode_column_linestyle|unicode_header_linestyle})
  \t [on|off]            show only rows (currently off)
  \T [STRING]            set HTML <table> tag attributes, or unset if none
  \x [on|off|auto]       toggle expanded output (currently off)

Connection
  \c[onnect] {[DBNAME|- USER|- HOST|- PORT|-] | conninfo}
                         connect to new database (currently "postgres")
  \conninfo              display information about current connection
  \encoding [ENCODING]   show or set client encoding
  \password [USERNAME]   securely change the password for a user

Operating System
  \cd [DIR]              change the current working directory
  \setenv NAME [VALUE]   set or unset environment variable
  \timing [on|off]       toggle timing of commands (currently off)
  \! [COMMAND]           execute command in shell or start interactive shell

Variables
  \prompt [TEXT] NAME    prompt user to set internal variable
  \set [NAME [VALUE]]    set internal variable, or list all if no parameters
  \unset NAME            unset (delete) internal variable

Large Objects
  \lo_export LOBOID FILE
  \lo_import FILE [COMMENT]
  \lo_list
  \lo_unlink LOBOID      large object operations

All DDL commands that can be used are printed using help \h

postgres=# \h
Available help:
  ABORT                            CLUSTER                          CREATE VIEW                      DROP USER MAPPING
  ALTER AGGREGATE                  COMMENT                          DEALLOCATE                       DROP VIEW
  ALTER COLLATION                  COMMIT                           DECLARE                          END
  ALTER CONVERSION                 COMMIT PREPARED                  DELETE                           EXECUTE
  ALTER DATABASE                   COPY                             DISCARD                          EXPLAIN
  ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES         CREATE ACCESS METHOD             DO                               FETCH
  ALTER DOMAIN                     CREATE AGGREGATE                 DROP ACCESS METHOD               GRANT
  ALTER EVENT TRIGGER              CREATE CAST                      DROP AGGREGATE                   IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA
  ALTER EXTENSION                  CREATE COLLATION                 DROP CAST                        INSERT
  ALTER FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER       CREATE CONVERSION                DROP COLLATION                   LISTEN
  ALTER FOREIGN TABLE              CREATE DATABASE                  DROP CONVERSION                  LOAD
  ALTER FUNCTION                   CREATE DOMAIN                    DROP DATABASE                    LOCK
  ALTER GROUP                      CREATE EVENT TRIGGER             DROP DOMAIN                      MOVE
  ALTER INDEX                      CREATE EXTENSION                 DROP EVENT TRIGGER               NOTIFY
  ALTER LANGUAGE                   CREATE FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER      DROP EXTENSION                   PREPARE
  ALTER LARGE OBJECT               CREATE FOREIGN TABLE             DROP FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER        PREPARE TRANSACTION
  ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW          CREATE FUNCTION                  DROP FOREIGN TABLE               REASSIGN OWNED
  ALTER OPERATOR                   CREATE GROUP                     DROP FUNCTION                    REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW
  ALTER OPERATOR CLASS             CREATE INDEX                     DROP GROUP                       REINDEX
  ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY            CREATE LANGUAGE                  DROP INDEX                       RELEASE SAVEPOINT
  ALTER POLICY                     CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW         DROP LANGUAGE                    RESET
  ALTER PUBLICATION                CREATE OPERATOR                  DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW           REVOKE
  ALTER ROLE                       CREATE OPERATOR CLASS            DROP OPERATOR                    ROLLBACK
  ALTER RULE                       CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY           DROP OPERATOR CLASS              ROLLBACK PREPARED
  ALTER SCHEMA                     CREATE POLICY                    DROP OPERATOR FAMILY             ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT
  ALTER SEQUENCE                   CREATE PUBLICATION               DROP OWNED                       SAVEPOINT
  ALTER SERVER                     CREATE ROLE                      DROP POLICY                      SECURITY LABEL
  ALTER STATISTICS                 CREATE RULE                      DROP PUBLICATION                 SELECT
  ALTER SUBSCRIPTION               CREATE SCHEMA                    DROP ROLE                        SELECT INTO
  ALTER SYSTEM                     CREATE SEQUENCE                  DROP RULE                        SET
  ALTER TABLE                      CREATE SERVER                    DROP SCHEMA                      SET CONSTRAINTS
  ALTER TABLESPACE                 CREATE STATISTICS                DROP SEQUENCE                    SET ROLE
  ALTER TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION  CREATE SUBSCRIPTION              DROP SERVER                      SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION
  ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY     CREATE TABLE                     DROP STATISTICS                  SET TRANSACTION
  ALTER TEXT SEARCH PARSER         CREATE TABLE AS                  DROP SUBSCRIPTION                SHOW
  ALTER TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE       CREATE TABLESPACE                DROP TABLE                       START TRANSACTION
  ALTER TRIGGER                    CREATE TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION DROP TABLESPACE                  TABLE
  ALTER TYPE                       CREATE TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY    DROP TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION   TRUNCATE
  ALTER USER                       CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER        DROP TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY      UNLISTEN
  ALTER USER MAPPING               CREATE TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE      DROP TEXT SEARCH PARSER          UPDATE
  ALTER VIEW                       CREATE TRANSFORM                 DROP TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE        VACUUM
  ANALYZE                          CREATE TRIGGER                   DROP TRANSFORM                   VALUES
  BEGIN                            CREATE TYPE                      DROP TRIGGER                     WITH
  CHECKPOINT                       CREATE USER                      DROP TYPE
  CLOSE                            CREATE USER MAPPING              DROP USER

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