Re: How to use long list of columns with COPY command

Am 11.06.23 um 23:44 schrieb M Sarwar:
> Hello,
> I have some problem while loading the data using COPY command.
>
> *_My environment_*:
> Amazon RDS
> Postgres - Database
> PgAdmin --  with PSQL tool.
> Command -- COPY
>
> I am trying to use COPY command to load the data. Table
> TEST_GLOBAL_MCM_RAW has 209 columns. In COPY command, I am trying to
> use around 200 columns to load the data.
> When I try to span COPY command into multiple lines, COPY command is
> not working. I am forced to use all the command in a single line and
> which is not legible.
> Do I have any options to make the COPY command legible while using all
> the columns of any table.
> I have tried \n and this is not working.
>
> It is possible that someone  has faced this situation in the past.
>
> Thank you,
> Sarwar
>
Hi Sarwar,

Page https://www.postgresql.org/docs/15/app-psql.html says:

Another way to obtain the same result as |\copy ... to| is to use the
SQL |COPY ... TO STDOUT| command and terminate it with |\g /|filename|/|
or |\g |/|program|/|. Unlike |\copy|, this method allows the command to
span multiple lines; also, variable interpolation and backquote
expansion can be used.

So, when loading FROM  a file using \COPY (you were writing about COPY,
which allows line breaks like all SQL commands), line breaks aren't
allowed. It's the same for all backslash meta commands of psql.

It seems that you'll have to write the complete \COPY command in one
line. It's usually quite short, unless you have to name a hell of a lot
of column names.

Regards,

Holger

--
Holger Jakobs, Bergisch Gladbach, Tel. +49-178-9759012