|
|
|
|
@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last updated: Fri Mar 12 08:51:11 EST 2004 |
|
|
|
|
Last updated: Mon Mar 29 00:07:11 EST 2004 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (pgman@candle.pha.pa.us) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@ -114,22 +114,24 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.1) What is PostgreSQL? How is it pronounced? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL is pronounced Post-Gres-Q-L. The name "Postgres" is also |
|
|
|
|
used in conversation. |
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL is pronounced Post-Gres-Q-L. An audio file is available at |
|
|
|
|
http://www.postgresql.org/postgresql.mp3 for those would like to hear |
|
|
|
|
the pronunciation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL is an enhancement of the POSTGRES database management |
|
|
|
|
system, a next-generation DBMS research prototype. While PostgreSQL |
|
|
|
|
retains the powerful data model and rich data types of POSTGRES, it |
|
|
|
|
replaces the PostQuel query language with an extended subset of SQL. |
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL is free and the complete source is available. |
|
|
|
|
system (and is still sometimes reffered to as simply "Postgres"), a |
|
|
|
|
next-generation DBMS research prototype. While PostgreSQL retains the |
|
|
|
|
powerful data model and rich data types of POSTGRES, it replaces the |
|
|
|
|
PostQuel query language with an extended subset of SQL. PostgreSQL is |
|
|
|
|
free and the complete source is available. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL development is performed by a team of developers who all |
|
|
|
|
subscribe to the PostgreSQL development mailing list. The current |
|
|
|
|
coordinator is Marc G. Fournier (scrappy@PostgreSQL.org). (See section |
|
|
|
|
1.6 on how to join). This team is now responsible for all development |
|
|
|
|
of PostgreSQL. It is a community project and is not controlled by any |
|
|
|
|
company. To get involved, see the developer's |
|
|
|
|
FAQ,http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html |
|
|
|
|
company. To get involved, see the developer's FAQ at |
|
|
|
|
http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The authors of PostgreSQL 1.01 were Andrew Yu and Jolly Chen. Many |
|
|
|
|
others have contributed to the porting, testing, debugging, and |
|
|
|
|
@ -149,7 +151,7 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL Data Base Management System |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portions copyright (c) 1996-2002, PostgreSQL Global Development Group |
|
|
|
|
Portions copyright (c) 1996-2004, PostgreSQL Global Development Group |
|
|
|
|
Portions Copyright (c) 1994-6 Regents of the University of California |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its |
|
|
|
|
@ -177,7 +179,7 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.3) What Unix platforms does PostgreSQL run on? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In general, a modern Unix-compatible platform should be able to run |
|
|
|
|
In general, any modern Unix-compatible platform should be able to run |
|
|
|
|
PostgreSQL. The platforms that had received explicit testing at the |
|
|
|
|
time of release are listed in the installation instructions. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@ -436,7 +438,7 @@ |
|
|
|
|
These include PgAccess http://www.pgaccess.org), PgAdmin III |
|
|
|
|
(http://www.pgadmin.org, RHDB Admin (http://sources.redhat.com/rhdb/ ) |
|
|
|
|
and Rekall ( http://www.thekompany.com/products/rekall/, proprietary). |
|
|
|
|
There is also PHPPgAdmin ( http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/ ), a |
|
|
|
|
There is also PhpPgAdmin ( http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/ ), a |
|
|
|
|
web-based interface to PostgreSQL. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See http://techdocs.postgresql.org/guides/GUITools for a more detailed |
|
|
|
|
@ -503,14 +505,14 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By default, PostgreSQL only allows connections from the local machine |
|
|
|
|
using Unix domain sockets. Other machines will not be able to connect |
|
|
|
|
unless you add the -i flag to postmaster, and enable host-based |
|
|
|
|
authentication by modifying the file $PGDATA/pg_hba.conf accordingly. |
|
|
|
|
This will allow TCP/IP connections. |
|
|
|
|
unless you turn on tcpip_sockets in the postgresql.conf and enable |
|
|
|
|
host-based authentication by modifying the file $PGDATA/pg_hba.conf |
|
|
|
|
accordingly. This will allow TCP/IP connections. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3.6) How do I tune the database engine for better performance? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Certainly, indexes can speed up queries. The EXPLAIN command allows |
|
|
|
|
you to see how PostgreSQL is interpreting your query, and which |
|
|
|
|
Certainly, indexes can speed up queries. The EXPLAIN ANALYZE command |
|
|
|
|
allows you to see how PostgreSQL is interpreting your query, and which |
|
|
|
|
indexes are being used. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you are doing many INSERTs, consider doing them in a large batch |
|
|
|
|
@ -657,11 +659,14 @@ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.3) How do I get a list of tables or other things I can see in psql? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can read the source code for psql in file |
|
|
|
|
pgsql/src/bin/psql/describe.c. It contains SQL commands that generate |
|
|
|
|
the output for psql's backslash commands. You can also start psql with |
|
|
|
|
the -E option so it will print out the queries it uses to execute the |
|
|
|
|
commands you give. |
|
|
|
|
Use the \dt command to see tables in psql. For a complete list of |
|
|
|
|
commands inside psql you can use \?. Alternatively you can read the |
|
|
|
|
source code for psql in file pgsql/src/bin/psql/describe.c, it |
|
|
|
|
contains SQL commands that generate the output for psql's backslash |
|
|
|
|
commands. You can also start psql with the -E option so it will print |
|
|
|
|
out the queries it uses to execute the commands you give. PostgreSQL |
|
|
|
|
also provides an SQLi compliant INFORMATION SCHEMA interface you can |
|
|
|
|
query to get information about the database. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4) How do you remove a column from a table, or change its data type? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bruce Momjian
22 years ago