Hello,
I'd like to suggest the following small patch (attached),
to give explicit example for COPY of new-vs-old syntax at the top of the page.
===
Starting with PostgreSQL version 9.0, the
COPY commands supports new syntax with parenthesis
and commas. The old syntax is still supported, see details
at the bottom of this page.
New syntax:
COPY country TO STDOUT (FORMAT CSV, NULL 'NA', HEADER ON);
Old syntax:
COPY country TO STDOUT NULL 'NA' CSV HEADER;
===
The web is full of examples, but many of them are for the old syntax.
The COPY documentation page mentions this critical difference only in passing,
and requires careful reading of the entire page to spot the culprit of syntax
errors.
A typical example is:
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/26320.1291391510%40sss.pgh.pa.us
I know examples usually go at the end of the page,
but I think in this case, a short example is worth at least 100 words :)
Comments (and rephrasing) are welcomed,
regards,
- assaf
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>From 9e96fa409f857e6e6649c7f201f9a802a87b70d3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Assaf Gordon <assafgor...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2016 11:06:35 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add new-vs-old COPY syntax example in documentation
---
doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 25 insertions(+)
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
index 07e2f45..531009b 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
@@ -86,6 +86,31 @@ COPY { <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
+ <title>New versus old syntax</title>
+ <para>
+ Starting with <productname>PostgreSQL</> version 9.0, the
+ <command>COPY</command> commands supports new syntax with parenthesis
+ and commas. The old syntax is still supported, see details
+ at the bottom of this page.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ New syntax:
+<programlisting>
+COPY country TO STDOUT (FORMAT CSV, NULL 'NA', HEADER ON);
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Old syntax:
+<programlisting>
+COPY country TO STDOUT NULL 'NA' CSV HEADER;
+</programlisting>
+ </para>
+
+ </refsect1>
+
+ <refsect1>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
--
2.8.2
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