Re: CSV mode option for pg_dump

Steve Atkins wrote:

>
> Would that be adequate, or do we really want to reimplement and
> maintain all
> the output format complexity in our own code, in C?
>
>

Code to produce CSVs is there, now, today, and has been since 8.0. That
is *not* what is at issue here. If you want to debate whether or not it
should be in the backend you are 2 years too late. The ONLY question
here is about whether or not to have it enabled as an option in pg_dump.

try these and see the interesting results:
COPY pg_class TO '/tmp/pg_class.csv' CSV;
or in psql
\copy pg_class to '/tmp/pg_class.csv' csv

As for XML which was also mentioned, you should be aware that there is a
Google Summer of Code project to implement SQL/XML, so watch this space.
(As for why that needs to be in the backend, see previous discussions)

cheers

andrew