> > > BEGIN WORK;
> > > LOCK oldtab;
> > > CREATE_X TABLE newtab AS SELECT * FROM oldtab;
> > > DELETE oldtab;
> > > COMMIT
> > >
> > > In this case, you would want the database to abort on a syntax error, right?
> >
> > Certainly not if I was typing this from the command line. Imagine the
> > frustration if the typo was in "DELETE oldtab" and the create statement took
> > hours.
>
> I suppose we could have a SET that psql could set when it was
> interactive and skip rollback on syntax errors, but that is pretty
> exotic. Also consider that other errors could abort a query aside from
> syntax errors, like deadlocks.
Can this be done entirely on the client side?
Have psql silently wrap every statement going out with a BEGIN and a
COMMIT or ROLLBACK depending on whether there was an error or not?
It depends on subtransactions but those are bound to appear eventually,
and be infinitely more useful.