Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes:
> Are others OK with $COLUMNS controlling screen output and file/pipe, or
> perhaps COLUMNS controlling only file/pipe, as GNU ls does? I have
> heard a few people say they only want \pset columns to control
> file/pipe.
I agree with the latter. Anyone who is setting COLUMNS is going to set
it to reflect the *screen* width they want; it has zero to do with
what should happen for output going somewhere else than the screen.
regards, tom lane