Please don't top-post on the PostgreSQL lists. You've been around here long enough to know that bottom posting is our custom.
I posted a patch for this in 2013 at <http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/50F2FA92.9040000@dunslane.net> but it can apply to a SELECT, and doesn't need COPY. Nobody seemed very interested, so I dropped it. Apparently people now want something along these lines, which is good.
It's a shame that both solutions are restricted to either COPY or psql.
Both of those are working on suggestions from Tom, so there is no history of preference there.
Can we have both please, gentlemen?
If we implemented Andrew's solution, how would we request it in a COPY statement? Seems like we would want the RAW format keyword anyway.
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Simon Riggs http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/ PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services