Re: all non-PK columns from information schema

On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 11:29 AM, Richard Broersma <
richard(dot)broersma(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 8:00 AM, Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz
> <postgresql6(at)numerixtechnology(dot)de> wrote:
> > Interesting. I have previously used the information_schema for similar
> > queries.
> >
> > What are the pros and cons for using either pg_catalog or
> > information_schema?
>
> My understanding is that pg_catalog tables and views *can* change
> between major releases while the information_schema is expected to be
> more stable between major releases.
>
> Applications that depend upon the information_schema rather than
> pg_catalog are less likely to break when the PostgreSQL server is
> upgraded.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Richard Broersma Jr.
>
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The reason for this is that the pg_* tables are obviously specific to
Postgres, and do change between versions.

The information_schema tables are actually part of the SQL standard so it
is a portable way to get information about the database structure.

-Adam Cornett