Re: making postgresql "source" its data feed from external csv file ...

On 01/04/2011 09:55 AM, Albretch Mueller wrote:

> As I understand postgresql "COPY FROM" does in effect copy the data
> to the DBMS, but what I need is for the DBMS to "source" its data feed
> with the outer file and synchronize it as it changes without having to
> run "COPY TO". Is this possible? This way I can keep the data in a way
> that I can try on any DBMS

No, that's not currently possible. What you describe is covered by
SQL/MED. There's ongoing work to implement SQL/MED for 9.1 / 9.2, but
there is no support for it in any current release version of PostgreSQL.
SQL/MED is intended for a lot more than just accessing flat files, but
should be capable of that.

There's a reason relational databases don't store their backing data as
CSV files - because they're *SLOW* to work with, in particular to
update. You can expect horribly slow write performance with any scheme
like this even if you do get it working.

--
Craig Ringer