SQL Commands COPY

On Wed, 2021-06-09 at 19:54 +0000, PG Doc comments form wrote:

Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/13/sql-copy.html
Description:

The synopsis and parameters for the COPY command show the FORCE_QUOTE option
with an underscore and requires column names to be enclosed with round
brackets, but the example in the compatibility section shows the option name
as FORCE QUOTE (no underscore) and has no requirement to enclose the column
names with round brackets.

When using psql (version 13.3) against a version 13 cluster, the method
shown in the compatibility section works whereas the methods shown in the
synopsis and parameters sections do not work and will throw a syntax
error.

You must be misreading something, the new syntax works:

COPY (SELECT 42 AS x) TO STDOUT (FORMAT 'csv', FORCE_QUOTE (x));

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

Laurenz Albe <laurenz.albe@cybertec.at> writes:

On Wed, 2021-06-09 at 19:54 +0000, PG Doc comments form wrote:

When using psql (version 13.3) against a version 13 cluster, the method
shown in the compatibility section works whereas the methods shown in the
synopsis and parameters sections do not work and will throw a syntax
error.

You must be misreading something, the new syntax works:
COPY (SELECT 42 AS x) TO STDOUT (FORMAT 'csv', FORCE_QUOTE (x));

The most probable explanation seems to be that the OP is actually
connecting to an 8.4 (or older) PG server.

regards, tom lane

It was a picnic. I was confusing the 9+ version syntax with the pre-9
version syntax at the bottom of the page. Most of the options between the
two versions are the same and the pre-9 version still works with the newer
versions of PostgreSQL.

I was connecting to a version 13 server at the time. I've been using this
same syntax for several years and never noticed the one key difference
between the older and newer versions of the syntax of having to enclose the
options within round brackets until Laurenz's example.

Thanks!

On Wed, 9 Jun 2021 at 15:47, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote: