Re: Error in ALTER DATABASE command

On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 11:49 AM, William Garrison
<postgres(at)mobydisk(dot)com> wrote:
> In Postgresql 8.2.9 on Windows, you cannot rename a database if the name
> contains mixed case.

> 3) Open a query window, or use PSQL to issue the following command
> ALTER DATABASE MixedCase RENAME TO anything_else;
> PostgreSQL will respond with:
> ERROR: database "mixedcase" does not exist
> SQL state: 3D000

You need to quote the identifier using double-quotes to avoid
case-folding (this is a general rule):

ALTER DATABASE "MixedCase" RENAME TO anything_else;

> Postgresql seems to force many things to lower case.

Yes, it's actually a variation on the SQL standard, which specifies
forcing to upper case (as Oracle does).

> Is it a bug that the
> admin tool lets you create a database with mixed case names?

The admin tool is a separate project and works by its own rules.

> Or is it a bug
> that you cannot rename them thereafter?

The FAQ has a good section on identifier case-folding and quoting, I
think. Probably worth a read.

-Doug