I had this problem just yesterday. I found it was due to an error a few
lines before my copy command started.
-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-admin-owner@postgresql.org
[mailto:pgsql-admin-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Momjian
Sent: Wednesday, 18 February 2004 2:49 AM
To: Mike Miller
Cc: pgsql-admin@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: [ADMIN] Restoring pg_dump's made using COPY commands
Mike Miller wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm trying to restore two dumps, one from 7.1.3 and the other from a
> 6.5.3
> series PgSQL server. These dumps were both made using standard
'pg_dump >
> output' commands (specifying the host where needed on one of them).
When I
> run the database restore by doing execute-file in psql, piping the
file to
> psql, or even attempting pg_restore (whcih doesn't work on these plain
text
> databases), I receive messages pertaining to:
> invalid command \N
> invalid command \.
> parse error at the end of line
> <occasionally messages about missing fields>
>
> However this dump just came from a pg_dump, so it really should be
> working.
> I've tried every combination of pg_dump and psql versions from 7.4.1,
7.3.3,
> 7.1.3, 6.5.3 in order to get this to work right without any luck.
>
> Can anyone help me out with what is wrong? I'm looking to make this a
> backup method, and if I can't restore the data, it doesn't do me much
good
> (and I'm trying to restore some existing data). Ultimately want to
move
> them all up to 7.4.x
>
> Any ideas as to what causes these errors? Anything I can do to fix
> the
> output of pg_dump?
Strange. We used \N for NULLs way back in 6.5 and earlier. I wonder if
you have carriage returns in the file accidentally. Any way to see the
lines that are failing?
--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
19073
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