Using native win32 psql.exe using alternative cygwin terminal

I hit this exact same problem, and my initial reaction was the same as
yours -- psql was "hanging". After much head-banging, I discovered that
it is not in fact hanging, but is instead getting confused by being run
from inside Putty, Cygwin, xterm, rxvt terminal, etc. Because psql is
not being run from a native Win32 console window, it puts itself into
non-interactive mode, so it shows no prompts, allows no line editing,
shows no command history, etc. But it is actually running. (And I
couldn't find any combination of TERM settings, security settings or any
other settings that would get around this.)

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no command-line flag to force psql
into "interactive" mode. I have the code (courtesy of Bruce Momjian) to
add a flag such as this, but I haven't had time to set up the
environment to actually recompile psql.

Alternatively, you can run Cygwin's version of psql against the native
Win32 PostgreSQL 8 database, assuming you install the base Cygwin
environment. This does work fine, and gives you the added benefit of
including "readline" support (something compiled out of the native Win32
version of psql), so tab-completion works even in the Windows
environment. Two caveats, however:

1) You can't install _just_ psql from the Cygwin setup -- you'll have to
install the complete PostgreSQL environment (database and all), then
copy just the psql-related files (psql.exe and pq.dll) to your
workstation. (So be sure to NOT install this on your main PostgreSQL
server -- no telling what will happen when the Cygwin version of the
PostgreSQL server tries to run at the same time as the native Win32
version already on there.)

2) The latest "release" version of PostgreSQL for Cygwin is v7.4.5.
There is v8.x code available in CVS, but you'll have to compile it
yourself. I'm also planning on doing this too, but I haven't had the
time.

- Bill

Bill Bartlett
meridianEMR, Inc.
http://www.meridianemr.com/

Bill Bartlett wrote:

I hit this exact same problem, and my initial reaction was the same as
yours -- psql was "hanging". After much head-banging, I discovered that
it is not in fact hanging, but is instead getting confused by being run
from inside Putty, Cygwin, xterm, rxvt terminal, etc. Because psql is
not being run from a native Win32 console window, it puts itself into
non-interactive mode, so it shows no prompts, allows no line editing,
shows no command history, etc. But it is actually running. (And I
couldn't find any combination of TERM settings, security settings or any
other settings that would get around this.)

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no command-line flag to force psql
into "interactive" mode. I have the code (courtesy of Bruce Momjian) to
add a flag such as this, but I haven't had time to set up the
environment to actually recompile psql.

Alternatively, you can run Cygwin's version of psql against the native
Win32 PostgreSQL 8 database, assuming you install the base Cygwin
environment. This does work fine, and gives you the added benefit of
including "readline" support (something compiled out of the native Win32
version of psql), so tab-completion works even in the Windows
environment. Two caveats, however:

1) You can't install _just_ psql from the Cygwin setup -- you'll have to
install the complete PostgreSQL environment (database and all), then
copy just the psql-related files (psql.exe and pq.dll) to your
workstation. (So be sure to NOT install this on your main PostgreSQL
server -- no telling what will happen when the Cygwin version of the
PostgreSQL server tries to run at the same time as the native Win32
version already on there.)

2) The latest "release" version of PostgreSQL for Cygwin is v7.4.5.
There is v8.x code available in CVS, but you'll have to compile it
yourself. I'm also planning on doing this too, but I haven't had the
time.

- Bill

as info -- if you use the cygwin setup program, and click the
Exp(erimental) tab, you'll get 8.0.0-cvs downloaded/installed.
You can check the box to download the source also/instead, if you want
to build yourself....

Reid Thompson wrote:

ala http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2003-03/msg01457.html perhaps...???

Yes, indeed. It seems like a generic problem with running native windows
appplications with buffered output under a cygwin terminal emulator.
It's good to know the root of the problem, so I can still use 'psql -f
foo.sql' safely.

Sincerely,

--
Richard van den Berg, CISSP
-------------------------------------------
Trust Factory B.V. | www.dna-portal.net
Bazarstraat 44a | www.trust-factory.com
2518AK The Hague | Phone: +31 70 3620684
The Netherlands | Fax : +31 70 3603009
-------------------------------------------

Bill Bartlett wrote:

I hit this exact same problem, and my initial reaction was the same as
yours -- psql was "hanging". After much head-banging, I discovered that
it is not in fact hanging, but is instead getting confused by being run
from inside Putty, Cygwin, xterm, rxvt terminal, etc. Because psql is
not being run from a native Win32 console window, it puts itself into
non-interactive mode, so it shows no prompts, allows no line editing,
shows no command history, etc. But it is actually running.

Thanks for sharing this insight. Reid Thompson pointed me to
http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2003-03/msg01457.html where the cause of
this problem is discussed. It's good to know I can still use 'psql -f
foo.sql' safely under these terminals.

Alternatively, you can run Cygwin's version of psql against the native
Win32 PostgreSQL 8 database, assuming you install the base Cygwin
environment.

I don't like the idea of running a different version of the client and
server, but the thought did cross my mind. I think I'll stick with the
cmd.exe terminal instead (for the time being).

Sincerely,

--
Richard van den Berg, CISSP
-------------------------------------------
Trust Factory B.V. | www.dna-portal.net
Bazarstraat 44a | www.trust-factory.com
2518AK The Hague | Phone: +31 70 3620684
The Netherlands | Fax : +31 70 3603009
-------------------------------------------

Bill Bartlett wrote:

I hit this exact same problem, and my initial reaction was

the same as

yours -- psql was "hanging". After much head-banging, I discovered
that it is not in fact hanging, but is instead getting confused by
being run from inside Putty, Cygwin, xterm, rxvt terminal, etc.
Because psql is not being run from a native Win32 console window, it
puts itself into non-interactive mode, so it shows no

prompts, allows

no line editing, shows no command history, etc. But it is actually
running. (And I couldn't find any combination of TERM settings,
security settings or any other settings that would get around this.)

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no command-line flag to force
psql into "interactive" mode. I have the code (courtesy of Bruce
Momjian) to add a flag such as this, but I haven't had time

to set up

the environment to actually recompile psql.

Alternatively, you can run Cygwin's version of psql against

the native

Win32 PostgreSQL 8 database, assuming you install the base Cygwin
environment. This does work fine, and gives you the added

benefit of

including "readline" support (something compiled out of the native
Win32 version of psql), so tab-completion works even in the Windows
environment. Two caveats, however:

1) You can't install _just_ psql from the Cygwin setup --

you'll have

to install the complete PostgreSQL environment (database and

all), then

copy just the psql-related files (psql.exe and pq.dll) to your
workstation. (So be sure to NOT install this on your main PostgreSQL
server -- no telling what will happen when the Cygwin version of the
PostgreSQL server tries to run at the same time as the native Win32
version already on there.)

2) The latest "release" version of PostgreSQL for Cygwin is v7.4.5.
There is v8.x code available in CVS, but you'll have to compile it
yourself. I'm also planning on doing this too, but I

haven't had the

time.

- Bill

as info -- if you use the cygwin setup program, and click the
Exp(erimental) tab, you'll get 8.0.0-cvs
downloaded/installed. You can check the box to download the
source also/instead, if you want
to build yourself....

I hadn't noticed this -- thanks much! (Apparently it is also possible
to keep clicking through on the "version" column in Cygwin's setup
program and setup will cycle through all the versions that it has
available, one of which is 8.0.0 Beta 3.)

One question: Not knowing the development history of psql, is there any
reason I should build the latest 8.0.x release version of psql vs simply
using this "8.0.0 Beta 3" version already supplied by Cygwin, assuming
that for the immediate future we are still staying with 8.0.4 servers?

Tip to anyone else who wants to use the Cygwin version of psql against a
Win32 native PostgreSQL server: you'll need to include "-h localhost" on
the command line in order to connect to the local server.

- Bill