Neil Conway wrote:
I really prefer the -t "schema.table" syntax over the scenario listed above. If you look at the syntax for psql "\" commands, and SQL commands, the structure "tablename, optionally schema-qualified" is seen time and time again. By allowing the same structure in arguments to pg_dump, you're helping add to an overall feeling of consistency in the postgres toolbox.I would be OK with just ignoring this case, but on reflection I would prefer removing the "-t schema.table" syntax. Removing the feature resolves the quoting issue and also simplifies pg_dump's behavior. We lose the ability to dump table t1 in schema s1 and table t2 in schema s2 in a single command, but
(a) you can specify "-t t1 -t t2 -n s1 -n s2", although this might also dump t1.s2 and/or t2.s1
(b) you can just run pg_dump twice, specifying the appropriate -t and -n options each time
So the behavior would be that suggested earlier by David Skoll:
pg_dump -t t1 -- Dump table t1 in any schema
pg_dump -n s1 -- Dump all of schema s1
pg_dump -t t1 -n s1 -- Dump t1 in s1
pg_dump -t t1 -t t2 -n s1 -- Dump s1.t1 and s1.t2
pg_dump -t t1 -t t2 -n s1 -n s2 -- Dump s1.t1, s1.t2, s2.t1 and s2.t2
We'd only raise an error if we found no matching tables/schemas, as was
hashed out in July.
My feeling is that, to an occasional or novice user of pg_dump, the proposed combination of -n and -t will seem daunting and idiosyncratic, especially for complex cases.
The fact that with -n -t there are some cases that are actually impossible to perform in a single dump is quite a powerful disadvantage IMO. Yes, you *can* just run pg_dump multiple times, but I think anyone using pg_dump would rather quote out a wilcard than issue virtually the same command with one changed argument over and over again. Or writing a script to loop through the desired schema/table combinations and dumping each one at a time.
Is command line quoting really that much of a hassle? And if so, what are the major hurdles?
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