doc for pg_dump

Started by Horace A. Vallas, Jr.over 24 years ago4 messagesdocs

hav@hav.com

over 24 years ago

I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
said to write here if looking for docs and such...

I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version. What I have found mentioned
about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
and tables on the machine fail to dump).

Trying to move to a 7.0 version
and simply moving the data dir from the old machine also will not seem
to work on the new...

SOOoooo - I guess I have to write my own pg_dump in order to get the
old data out --- but I don't know exactly what the format of pg_dump
and pg_dumpall might be --- nor which tables will actually be dumped
(for example, I can the the various pg_whatever tables in a base, but
I also see a bunch of tables named "regf12" and I have no idea what
those are or whether I should dump them in my pg_dump program)

Thanks for any pointers and/or docs to help me get this right -- there's
a BUNCH of data that can be lost if I cannot get it out of the old database.

--
Wishing you an "OOBA OOBA" 21st Century!!
Horace ...once known as "Kicker" :-)
================================================================
Horace Vallas hav.Software http://www.hav.com/
P.O. Box 354 hav@hav.com
Richmond, Tx. 77406-0354 voice: 281-341-5035
USA fax: 281-341-5087

Thawte Web Of Trust Notary in SW Houston, Tx.
http://www.hav.com/?content=/thawteWOTnotary.htm
================================================================
...drop by and chat if I'm online http://www.hav.com/chat/
=== === === === === === === === === === ====
What is a Vet? ... He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five
wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite
bravery near the 38th parallel. ... - Unknown
================================================================

Peter Eisentraut

peter_e@gmx.net

over 24 years ago

In reply to: Horace A. Vallas, Jr. (#1)

Re: doc for pg_dump

Horace A. Vallas, Jr. writes:

I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
said to write here if looking for docs and such...

This is the list for writing docs.

I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version. What I have found mentioned
about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
and tables on the machine fail to dump).

It would be more helpful to say what the error was rather than saying what
you think it meant.

--
Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net http://funkturm.homeip.net/~peter

Horace A. Vallas, Jr.

hav@hav.com

over 24 years ago

In reply to: Peter Eisentraut (#2)

Re: doc for pg_dump

Hi Peter -

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask - but I was looking for
some documentation of the pg_dump/pg_dumpall output format
AND/OR some pointers on how to recognize and correctly handle index
relations when grabbing all tables in a database.

Anyway - the error I get when using pg_dump (or pg_dumpall) is...

SET TRANSACTION command failed. Explanation from backend: \
'ERROR: parser: parse error at or near "transaction"'.

... which, from what I have found searching the postgresql site,
seems to indicate a mismatch in the version of pg_dump used -
OR funky values in one or more tables.

Either is certainly possible in my case, and I HAVE found some
funky values (even a col type of "_text") in the exercise of
writing a home-grown pg_dump.

I think I have been able to correct such bad cases in the output
I'm producing but I do not know the actual format of the pg_dump
(or pg_dumpall) output and I cannot find any documentation for that
format?

Perhaps none exists? But I thought this was a good place to
ask??

What I do now is just output a bunch of \connect/CREATE
record pairs and then a bunch of "COPY ... from stdin"
sections.

I'm pretty much for sure that I need to include some handling of the
index relations that exist in the current databases (really really
don't want to think about having to redo all of those by hand 8-], but,
at the moment, I'm recognizing them based on exceptions and simply
skipping them because I'm not sure how to snarf them.

Any pointers to docs or how-to's would be greatly appreciated.

Peter Eisentraut wrote:

Show quoted text

Horace A. Vallas, Jr. writes:

I'm writing to this address because the links for mail lists fail and
said to write here if looking for docs and such...

This is the list for writing docs.

I have some problem that is keeping me from being able to use
pg_dump or pg_dumpall on a 6.4 version. What I have found mentioned
about the error indicates either that my pg_xxxx applications are
the wrong versions for the database (very possible) or that there
is a problem with one or more table values (possibly but all databases
and tables on the machine fail to dump).

It would be more helpful to say what the error was rather than saying what
you think it meant.

--
Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net http://funkturm.homeip.net/~peter

Tom Lane

tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us

over 24 years ago

In reply to: Horace A. Vallas, Jr. (#3)

Re: doc for pg_dump

"Horace A. Vallas, Jr." <hav@hav.com> writes:

Anyway - the error I get when using pg_dump (or pg_dumpall) is...

SET TRANSACTION command failed. Explanation from backend: \
'ERROR: parser: parse error at or near "transaction"'.

It would seem that you are trying to use a 6.5-or-later pg_dump against
a pre-6.5 database server. Use the version of pg_dump that came with
your server, instead.

regards, tom lane