On Dec 19, 2009, at 2:59 AM, Filip Rembiałkowski wrote:
2009/12/18 Gauthier, Dave
<dave.gauthier@intel.com>Can you define your own commands in PG.
In psql, yes:
\set sel 'SELECT * FROM'
:sel clients;
\set desc '\\d'
:desc table
E.g., if users from other DBs use “describe foo” to get the metadata for foo, is there a way I can create a command “describe” to = “\d” ?
But what's wrong with "\d"? For me, its like the first thing people learn when practicing postgres.
It is even faster to type than DESCRIBE, right?
Just to put in my 2¢, I write a program that can use a MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite database as its backend, depending on user preference. As a result, I spend time in all three databases each day. It can get a bit confusing at times trying to remember "ok, in this terminal window I need to do a 'describe foo', in that one I need to do a '\d foo' and in the third '.schema foo'". So being able to simplify that at least somewhat is nice :) That said, I'd be just as happy getting MySQL to recognize the \d command as I would be getting postgres to recognize describe-perhaps more so.
IMO, when you will bend postgres to mimick other DBMS, you will hide its real power from users.
Filip Rembiałkowski
JID,mailto:filip.rembialkowski@gmail.com
http://filip.rembialkowski.net/
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